Now conservatives are also warning of a Trump dictatorship. Israel Expands Ground Operations and Faces Increasing Criticism – 4 Questions and Answers

No one can say that Liz Cheney isn’t conservative enough and is just a ‘RINO’, a Republican in name only. During Donald Trump’s term, she voted with him about 90 percent of the time, more than typical sycophants of the former president like Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan. Additionally, Cheney was number three in the Grand Old Party (GOP) until she fell out with the party.

Of all people, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney – a hardcore conservative to his name – is now urgently warning against a second term for Trump. The message of her recently published book can be summarized as follows: Americans have a decision to make. Or the Constitution – or Trump.

In several interviews, Cheney has made it clear that Trump’s re-election would mean the end of democracy. She also states matter-of-factly that the ex-president clearly uses fascist methods. She also complains that the vast majority of Republican Party members now support the “Orange Jesus” unconditionally and against their beliefs. And finally, she warns against downplaying Trump’s rhetoric, which is reminiscent of Hitler and Mussolini, and dismissing it as clownish. “He’s telling us what he plans to do,” Cheney said. “And the steps he wants to take are obvious.”

Liz Cheney is not a lone cryer in the desert. The Wall Street Journal, a fixture in the conservative media landscape, published an article this weekend describing how Trump wants to overturn the Republican Party’s traditional positions and completely transform the party. It is a platform that bears little recognizable similarity to Republican positions of previous generations, according to the Wall Street Journal, which quotes Lanhee Chen of the conservative think tank Hoover Institution as saying: “If Trump wins, the days of the lean will be – Government conservatism will be over.”

However, historian Robert Kagan – also a conservative thinker – makes the most pointed notes. The title of his long essay, which appeared in the Washington Post, leaves no doubt. It reads: “A Trump dictatorship is becoming increasingly inevitable. We have to stop pretending.” (A Trump dictatorship is becoming increasingly inevitable. We need to stop lying to ourselves.)

Kagan’s essay can almost be described as dystopian. He predicts that political momentum will soon move in the ex-president’s favor, noting: “So far, Republicans and conservatives have been able to express their anti-Trump sentiments relatively openly. (…) That will change once Trump wins Super Tuesday (on this date in March, primaries will be held in more than a dozen states. Editor’s note). Votes are the currency in our system, and the money will follow.”

Trump’s potential challenger Ron DeSantis is now being written off by most political pundits. Although she has the mighty Koch group behind her, Nikki Haley’s efforts are unlikely to lead to tangible results. That’s why conservative Republican Party donors like Charles Koch would give Trump their support, even if reluctantly, Kagan said.

The result of this development is as follows: “In the spring, Trump will be able to run for the White House with growing momentum, supported by financial resources and a party that stands behind him.” Joe Biden, on the other hand, must rely on a Democratic Party that is once again becoming increasingly divided. Moreover, the president must face the discomfort of the majority of voters. “Trump is going against the system,” Kagan said. “Biden is literally the embodiment of the system. Advantage Trump.”

And what about the four criminal trials with a total of 91 charges that the ex-president has to his name? No problem for Trump, says Kagan. “Neither the courts nor the rule of law will stop Trump. Rather, he will use the trials to demonstrate his power. (…) Accusing Trump of an attempted coup is akin to trying to accuse Caesar after he crossed the Rubicon, and just as effective. Like Caesar, Trump has the power that breaks the laws and institutions of government because it rests on the unwavering loyalty of his army of followers.”

Brief historical explanation: The Rubicon, a small river south of Ravenna, formed the border between the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy in the time of Caesar. When Caesar crossed this river with his soldiers, it was clear that he would overthrow the Republic and establish a dictatorship.

Comparing Trump to Caesar is becoming increasingly popular among his supporters. For example, Michael Anton, a former security adviser in the Trump administration, writes on this topic in his book “The Stakes”: “Caesarism often, though not always, offers the opportunity to prevent conflict. It may be sad to see a proud republic bow to the rule of one, but when the alternative is a bloody civil war, it becomes difficult to reject that solution outright.”

Kagan also believes that Caesar’s rule will face little resistance from the majority of Americans. “If citizens can continue with their daily activities, they – like many Russians and Hungarians – don’t care,” the historian says disillusionedly.

For Michael Anton, it is clear that the Republican Party needs to fundamentally change. The Republicans must abandon the principles of free trade and lean government. The new clientele is no longer golfing businessmen, but the neglected working class. In short: it must transform itself into a National Socialist party. “Republicans need to become more like Democrats – more labor-friendly and put more emphasis on fair wages and prosperity,” Anton says. “But it (the Republican Party) must also be the opposite of today’s Democratic Party: overtly nationalistic when it comes to economics and trade, resolutely traditional when it comes to morality and culture.”

Back to Kagan. The historian sees his dystopian scenario as a wake-up call. That is why he ends his essay with the following sentences: “We are drifting more than ever towards a dictatorship. We still hope for an intervention that will allow us to escape the consequences of our collective cowardice, our complacency, our willful ignorance and, above all, our lack of commitment to liberal democracy. As someone once said, we’re not going down with a bang, we’re going down with a whimper.”