The Enemy is Amongst Us

Dave

Hi and thanks for joining my podcast today.

Dave

I had been thinking about what I should talk about in my next podcast for the last few days. However, after the horrible treatment of President Zelensky in the oval office of the white house this past Friday, I have quickly decided on what to talk about today.

Dave

The United States has become a threat to all democracies with Trump in office. If this was not evident before that Friday debacle, it is clear now. The Trump regime is bent on enforcing fascism on the U.S. and aligning with other authoritarian nations, especially Russia. If it was not evident during Trump’s first term in office that he was partial to Putin and Russia, it has become very clear now. For whatever reason, he is beholding to Putin and is going to side with him on any peace negotiations that take place on ending the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Dave

To their credit, the European Union, along with Canada, which are being led by the UK and France are taking up the challenge of providing ongoing support of Ukraine without U.S. involvement as witnessed by the meeting in London this past weekend. However, they are still expecting that the U.S. will be the back stop to the plan that they are proposing.

Dave

The plan, which was announced after the meeting on Sunday, includes the following four points.

Dave

One, to keep military aid flowing into Ukraine, and to keep increasing the economic pressure on Russia

Dave

Two, that any lasting peace must ensure Ukraine's sovereignty and security and Ukraine must be present at any peace talks

Dave

Three, in the event of a peace deal, to boost Ukraine's defensive capabilities to deter any future invasion

Dave

Four, to develop a "coalition of the willing" to defend a deal in Ukraine and to guarantee peace afterwards

Dave

UK Prime Minister Starmer also announced an additional 1.6 billion pounds which is 2 billion US dollars of UK export finance to allow the purchase of more than 5,000 air defense missiles. This comes on top of a 2.2 billion pound loan to provide more military aid to Ukraine backed by profits from frozen Russian assets. He was quoted as saying "We have to learn from the mistakes of the past, we cannot accept a weak deal which Russia can breach with ease, instead any deal must be backed by strength”. He also said that the UK would back its commitment with "boots on the ground, and planes in the air".

Dave

Starmer also emphasized that "Europe must do the heavy lifting”, before adding that the agreement would need US backing and had to include Russia, but that Moscow could not be allowed to dictate terms.

Dave

This belief that the U.S. would back any agreement like this is where the UK and other EU and NATO countries are making a mistake in my opinion. It was obvious after the fiasco that took place in the Oval office last Friday, that the Trump regime has no interest in any compromise that would provide further support and security guarantees for Ukraine. They are only interested in getting what they can in terms of minerals etc. out of any agreements with Ukraine and then let Russia have their way with a weakened Ukraine and with the knowledge that Russia will in turn agree to let the U.S. have whatever they need from Ukraine in any case.

Dave

This ongoing concept that the U.S. under Trump will eventually come around to backing any UK and EU proposals for a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia or any ongoing support for Ukraine to keep fighting Russia is a fools dilemma. The European and NATO members need to quickly come to the conclusion that the U.S. will no longer be a reliable partner in anything to do with security guarantees or support for Ukraine or the protection of other European countries, especially those in the east which border on Russia. To continue to appease Trump in this way is a big mistake. It is reminiscent of the Neville Chamberlainism which took place in the late 1930s. As it is often said, those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.

Dave

The undeniable allure of Trump to authoritarian rule as present in Russia and other countries has been evident since his first rise to power in 2017. The fact that the Trump regime is bent on bringing fascism to the U.S. is beyond doubt at this point. Their actions so far and the blueprint laid out in Project 2025 are affirmations of a movement bent on achieving an authoritarian rule in that country. There are views that Trump and his supporters envision a future world in which the U.S., Russia and China essentially control everything.

Dave

To reinforce this, I am now going to draw parallels to the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s. Before doing this, I will point out that these are my views and may not come to pass but, as I said previously, those who ignore history are bound to repeat it. Having read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” in the last year, I have some knowledge of the rise to power of the Nazi power in the 1930s, although I do not pretend to be an expert.

Dave

First of all, the Nazi party came to power legally in 1933. There was no bloody coup involved in Hitler becoming Chancellor. However, once he gained the Chancellery, he quickly moved to eliminate any opposition parties in the existing Viemar republic. The German Parliament was requested to turn over its constitutional functions to Hitler. The statutes were changed to abolish the committee and give Hitler dictatorial powers as president. Parliament turned over its constitutional authority to Hitler through passing the “Enabling Act” and by doing so, committed suicide. It was this Enabling Act alone which formed the legal basis for Hitler's dictatorship. So, similarly, Trump and the GOP came to power legally, but are now in the process of dismantling democratic institutions in the U.S. by executive orders and the actions of Musk and DOGE. The U.S. congress and judicial branches are being side-stepped in all of this, although some judges are resisting through hearing the many lawsuits that are arising from Trump’s executive orders and Musk’s actions. However, there is little chance that U.S. Supreme Court will oppose any of these actions.

Dave

Taking this similarity further, one could say that the Project 2025 manifesto could be compared to “Mein Kampf” which directed the Nazi party in much of its takeover and rule of Germany after they came to power. Although Trump denied any knowledge of Project 2025 or association with those who created it during the election, it has become obvious that much of its content is being implemented currently.

Dave

Next, although I don’t want to go here in any detail, there is a parallel between what the Nazi party did with respect to the Jewish population, first in Germany and later in conquered countries, in blaming them for the state of affairs in Germany and using them as scapegoats. The attack on immigrants in the U.S. by the Trump regime is very similar to this as they blame them for numerous issues like crime, loss of jobs by white Americans etc.

Dave

Also, the elimination of DEI within the government and the pressure on private organizations to follow the same policy is a direct move to eliminate the non-white element in the U.S. government and private organizations, not to mention to remove women from positions of power. This is reminiscent of the Nazi’s obsession with maintaining the superiority of the Aryan race.

Dave

I will make one more comparison here as I believe that it deserves mention. Although the Trump regime has promoted an isolationist position through its so-called “America First” policy, it has so far exhibited an expansionist desire by Trump’s rhetoric concerning Canada becoming the 51st state, invading Mexico to force them to comply with its desire to control the southern border, the threat of taking over the Panama canal and the threat of annexing Greenland. It was always Hitler’s desire to take over the lands to Germany’s east to provide more land and resources to support the German population. In Mein Kampf, Hitler expressed a clear desire for Germany to expand into Eastern Europe to acquire Lebensraum translated as living space. He saw this expansion as essential for Germany's future. I believe that the motive behind the Trump regime’s focus on these external entities mentioned above is to achieve the same result, that is the acquisition of more land and resources to serve the needs of the U.S.

Dave

I could make more comparisons to the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany, but these are sufficient in my opinion to draw a parallel to what is occurring today in the U.S. with respect to the rise of authoritarianism. Again, these are my views and you may or may not agree with them.

Dave

As per my country, Canada, outside of Trump’s attack on us with the use of tariffs, I have one other major concern, short of an actual invasion of us by the U.S. This is the rapid destruction of the democratic institutions by the Trump regime and the long term affects on that country. The U.S. has been a democracy since its formation in 1776 and has, despite some rocky times over the years, remained a democracy. However, what the Trump regime is doing today at such a rapid pace, is destroying institutions formed through their constitution and meant to protect them against the rise of authoritarianism and rule of a King which they fought to free themselves from. If this is not checked soon, it may reach a point where so much damage has been done that the preservation of a democracy will no longer be possible by peaceful means. We are seeing the rise of peaceful protests in the U.S. against the Trump moves and that of DOGE to date, but how effective will that be, especially if future mid-term elections and presidential elections are either curtailed or manipulated such that peaceful means of retraining a democracy are thwarted. There is already a movement within the Trump regime to assure that he runs for a third term and you have to ask what strings may be pulled to make sure that he wins.

Dave

If this attack on democracy and peaceful means to prevent its demise are not successful, it may come to the point that the only way to remove the Trump regime is through violent means. I sincerely hope that it does not come to this, but, if it does, Canada will be in a very vulnerable position having a shared border of more than 8,000 kilometres. That is my major concern, realistic or not.

Dave

In closing, I would like to invoke a quote by a famous pacifist and humanitarian, Mahatma Gandhi. He once said “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always”. Hopefully, this will come to pass in our time.

Dave

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. Please hit the like button if you have found it informative and enlightening and please share it. Until next time, stay strong and have a great day.