THE NEW YORK TIMES—SEEMINGLY CATCHING ON PART 1

SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY RECOGNIZED IT back in April 2025 and SimanaitisSays agreed at the time. It is significant, albeit lamentable, that more than six months later The Editorial Board of The New York Times seemingly finally catches on with “Donald Trump Has Wielded Power As No Previous President Has, Often in Open Defiance of the Law. His Actions Have Raised a Chilling Question: Are We Losing Our Democracy?”

Damn straight we’re losing it—in more ways than one! And not only recently.

Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits gleaned from this Times Editorial Board Opinion, together with my own personal views of “Democracy to Autocracy.”

I applaud the Editorial Board’s perceptions, but feel it is being overly gracious of Trump in its rating scales.

“Over the past year,” the Board writes, “President Trump and his allies have impinged on free speech to a degree that the federal government has not since perhaps the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s…. Many forms of speech and dissent remain vibrant in the United States. But the president has tried to dull them.”

“Has tried to”? Less than half way on the scale from Democracy to Autocracy?? 

I’ve researched the Red Scare era and found nothing there of masked agents capturing people off the streets.

The Board notes, “Mr. Trump’s Justice Department has become an enforcer of his personal interests, targeting people for legally dubious reasons while creating a culture in which his allies can act with impunity.” 

The phrase “Mr. Trump’s Justice Department” is reason enough for serious concern. It’s not his; it’s ours.

“His administration,” the Board observes, “has violated federal law at least six times by withholding funding authorized by Congress for libraries, preschools, scientific research and more, the Government Accountability Office found. He has gutted or dismantled congressionally authorized agencies like the Department of Education and U.S.A.I.D. He has also imposed new taxes — his tariffs — without congressional approval.” 

Even the Board’s “Bottom Line” assessment is chilling: “Mr. Trump has defied the Constitution by trampling on Congress’s power of the purse. In full autocracies, legislatures often formally transfer some of their authority to the executive, and some congressional Republicans have proposed such changes.” 

Still less than half-way? A frightening thought. 

The Board writes, “Mr. Trump’s use of the military for domestic control has been limited. But his willingness to use it as he has—and his threats to expand that use, through the invocation of the Insurrection Act and with troops beyond the National Guard—is extremely worrisome.” 

I wonder if the people of Chicago, Portland, or Los Angeles recognize who’s doing the gassing? Regardless who is performing it—or authorizing it—the actions are militaristic.

A fifth of the way on the scale? Ludicrous.

The Board writes, “It is a hopeful sign that he has not ignored the Supreme Court, and the court may yet block his most blatant power grabs. Still, the court’s reluctance to restrain him appears to have emboldened him to sidestep lower court orders he does not like.”

And what about other crass ignorance of less than Supreme rulings?? See SimanaitisSays for more on culpability.

Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll continue this analysis of The Times Editorial Board’s assessment. And mine. ds 

 © Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025