Summary
Despite concerns over Donald Trump’s past mishandling of classified information, including an FBI raid at his home in 2022, the Biden Administration is preparing to grant him access to national security briefings as part of a standard presidential transition.
This approach aligns with tradition, although intelligence experts are apprehensive, given Trump’s history of allegedly revealing sensitive information, notably to Russian officials.
Trump’s team is negotiating terms for office space and transition protocols but previously delayed signing a formal agreement with the General Services Administration.
Some Trump advisers have proposed bypassing standard security clearance procedures for incoming staff.
I’m GLAD the people who told us Trump was going to be the FASCIST DOWNFALL of America are Happily giving him TOP SECRET INTELLIGENCE!
What else should they do? End Democracy themselves?
The american voters gave Trump access to Top Secret Intelligence (again!), so this is on them (as is every fucked up thing Trump can and will do for the next four years or longer).
Our country was literally founded on the concept that what’s morally right isn’t always legal.
Every group in this country who has fought to gain equality with white men reinforced that concept.
Breaking the law in the name of freedom is part of the fabric of this country, if the people are willing to do so.
I get your point and I’m not saying that everything lawful is inherently morally right. But we’re not talking about challenging and improving laws here and there. The transition of power in a democracy must be honored, otherwise it’s not a democracy anymore.
Neither are we. We’re talking about a man who wants to be a dictator and has said as much. We’re talking about the political party backing him that has a complete disregard for the aspirational ideals this country was founded on- a secular government that ensures equality for all. We’re talking about the greatest wealth inequality in the history of the country. We’re talking about the looting of public services to continue to drive that inequality even higher. We’re talking about the language of fear and hate being spread from a coordinated political party and media that is enriched by that language.
Transferring power to someone who wants to improve your country but wants to do so in a way you disagree with is fine. Giving power to someone who said he is going to break everything is not.
And now the dilemma becomes clear: you either give up democracy to prevent a fascist takeover, or you give up democracy because the fascists have taken over. Either way you’ve lost it, the question is whether you want the hope of it returning once purging fascists is done, or whether you want concentration camps and minority rule?
Democracy does not work when the electorate is uneducated and heavily propagandized, exactly the way America is now. Prioritizing the concept of democracy over the rights of people who will be hurt by the people you’re handing power to, makes you complicit.
I don’t think I agree. You haven’t lost democracy yet and while “purging the facists” surely sounds nice, it’s still a pipedream that most certainly would just result in civil war.
My argument is that the GOP is going to do what they say they’re going to do, and your argument is that they aren’t.
Frankly, I think you’re being optimistic.
It sucks, but it’s the right move. We need to be prepared for what the Trump team does, but we can’t just say “we think you’ll do evil, so we’re not giving you power.” That would actually give them all the power. They’d, as the people willed it, take power by force, and then there’d be no resistance. The military would be “in the right” siding with them.
The correct move, I’m fairly certain, is to give them power and prepare a resistance. Let them make their move and show their hand, then a resistance will be justified.
Ideally, we’re wrong and he doesn’t do what we expect. I don’t suspect this will be the case, but we would be wrong to assume it isn’t possible and to ignore the will of the people.
We need to ensure Trump isn’t a martyr and is instead a symbol of what happens when you become a tyrant. If he’s martyred then his movement lives on. If he becomes what we suspect he will then the people will ally against him and the military will be right in turning against him.
…then we have to win.