CASH MICHAELS
BONFIRE OF OUR LEGALITIES
by Cash Michaels
I was watching the news the other day when I heard the Texas Democratic Party chairman say, “When you elect a clown, you should expect a circus.”
Naturally he was talking about Donald Trump, and I defy anyone to look me dead in the eye and say with a straight face that what we’re going through right now in this country, is not a circus.
The normalcy we all expect from our government is now a thing of the past. Every day we wake up, expecting to hear more ridiculous nonsense sent out via social media from the president about what or who he likes or doesn’t like that is so beyond what the office calls for, that we’re now emotionally immune to the crazy crap he tries to shove down our throats on a regular basis.
And that’s dangerous, very dangerous! We'll completely lose our country if we’re not careful!
But let’s cut right to it, shall we? In the ten months since Donald Trump has returned to the White House, the important values that we’ve lost as a nation, and the important values that we are yet to lose, are not important at all to the man who is taking them from us.
In fact, he considered them to be so useless to him, and to the new America he’s constructing, that they're essentially meaningless now, or will be soon.
And that’s why I call this period we’re living in with Trump, "the bonfire of our legalities," coined after that famous 1987 Tom Wolfe bestseller, “The Bonfire of the Vanities.”
But unlike Tom Wolfe’s classic novel, Trump’s bonfire is about all of the societal and governmental norms he has, and is, expected to trash and burn to turn this country into the authoritarian regime he’s always dreamed of.
Let’s start with what he’s done to the White House. All of the garish changes he’s made in the past ten months may not mean much to you beyond just ostentatious symbols of obscene wealth, but those changes tell us - the American people and the world - what kind of leader Trump sees himself as, and thus, how he will continue to govern.
Apparently American public housing is way below Trump’s usual standard of living. The White House has traditionally been known as “the people’s house” because it belongs to ALL of us, and reflects what we consider best represents our nation.
Or at least we always thought it did.
Now, Trump can’t breathe unless he’s surrounded by gold and marble garnishments. Apparently he needs a 14-carat toilet bowl to inspire his best thinking. Can’t function unless the very ground he walks on is constructed in tribute to him. He even wants a giant archway built in his honor in the nation’s capital to tout his legacy.
So the guy has a big ego problem, big deal, you say? What laws is he breaking remaking the White House and Washington, D.C. in his image? The question should be what laws isn’t Trump breaking?
Bulldozing the East Wing of the White House for a $300 million gold-encrusted ballroom that none of us as taxpayers will ever actually get to see or step in, paid for by wealthy corporations, without any official clearance or permissions from another governing body, is clearly another one of Trump’s “break the law first, say 'so what' later” schemes.
And trust me, I get it. The old White House simply wasn’t as glam as Donald and Melania may have wanted it. But trust me, it had a lot more style than the damn prison cell his crooked -ss truly belongs in!
The bottomline here is Trump has no respect for the country he was elected president of - its values, laws or traditions. Only the power that the office wields, and he’s done everything possible to corrupt that.
When he tells folks, “I can do anything I want,” that should betray the mind of a man who does not see himself as an elected leader and responsible representative of the people, but a ruthless dictator. A figure above our laws, above our beliefs and way below our common decency.
That bonfire is burning, and with it, many of the values we all treasure, and virtually everything we used to pride ourselves as a nation as being.
What else is in that bonfire pile so far? Our democracy to start, along with basic principles like free and fair elections. Soon, the very right to vote itself.
The historic shutdown we’re still in the midst of after over 36 days, has also clued us in to what else serves as social and legal kindling for Trump’s bonfire.
- Not caring about whether 42 million Americans, including children, eat or not by denying them their full SNAP benefits.
- Terminating so-called “Democrat federal workers” he doesn’t have the power to fire from their employment without due process at so-called “Democrat federal agencies,” which have been closed, promising that they will “never” get their jobs back because of their politics.
- Sending masked ICE, FBI and Border Patrol agents to so-called “Blue” (read Democrat-run) cities in a deliberate effort to terrorize people Trump wants out of the country.
- Grabbing so-called “criminals" off the street and shipping them off to prisons in other countries without legal due process.
We can call all of the above “legalities" because federal judges either have, or have been asked to rule on them. But there's more...
- Ensuring that the wealthy of this country have disproportionate advantages from the federal government compared to the average taxpaying citizen.
- Making the executive branch omnipotent by seizing the power of the legislative branch to make laws, levy tariffs and stop congressional appropriations, then ignoring contrarian legal rulings of the judicial branch that threaten exercising that power.
- Weaponizing the power of the criminal justice system for political retribution against perceived enemies, and rewarding convicted lawbreakers, like 1600 convicted participants in the Jan. 6th, 2021 Capital riot with pardons, thus turning the rule of law on its head.
- Ordering the Justice Dept. to investigate and/or prosecute specific American citizens.
- Threatening war on non-white nations by indiscriminately killing people in international waters under contrived pretenses.
- Seeking to violate Constitutional law by undermining Americans’ birthright citizenship.
- Not improving the quality of life or lowering costs for everyday citizens as promised.
- Stealing classified documents, then claiming that the federal government is liable for $230 million because it raided his home to reclaim them.
- Developing a closer, warmer relationship with America’s traditional enemies like Russia and North Korea, and a more antagonistic relationship with traditional allies like Canada.
- Threatening not to send federal funding to Democrat-run cities, or already canceling funding for needed municipal projects.
- Canceling millions in research funding to colleges and universities that maintain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
- Threatening powerful law firms that represent people the Trump Administration considers enemies with cancellation of government contracts.
- Successfully suing the news media, demoting established news organizations and expelling reporters from the Pentagon, in order to gain control of administration coverage.
- Dismantling the U.S. Dept. of Education, putting the educational rights of poor, non-English speaking and handicapped students at risk.
- Threatening the limitation of freedom of speech.
- Using government influence to personally enrich himself, family and businesses.
- Threatening the use of the U.S. military on American soil.
- Accepting expensive gifts from foreign countries and donations from wealthy benefactors.
- Threatening American civil liberties, including the right to protest.
That’s a pretty long list of violated traditional American values - many with legal implications - that Trump has corrupted and burned through just in the past ten months.
And the damn shame of it is, it is not a compete list by any measure.
A year ago, Zack Beauchamp wrote in Vox before the 2024 presidential election that if Trump won, he would turn “…the government into an extension of his personal will.”
By all accounts, he’s well on his way to doing just that.
How did we get here?
Beauchamp argues in his book, The Reactionary Spirit, that "...rising political antagonism in America is a perennial outgrowth of its defining conflict over race and national identity — with the current round of conflict sparked largely (albeit not entirely) by backlash to Barack Obama’s 2008 victory."
"The sense among some Americans that they were losing their country to something new, defined by a more diverse population and a more equal social hierarchy, made the idea of a strongman who could roll back change quite appealing to a significant chunk of the American population. These voters had come to constitute a plurality, if not an outright majority, of Republican primary voters — creating the conditions for Trump to rise."
Beauchamp continued, “In 2016, Trump seized on this reactionary discontent and married it to a whole-scale agenda of backlash against the current political order. His policies and political rhetoric — on everything from immigration to gender to trade to foreign policy — were calculated to deepen America’s divisions and mainstream ideas once consigned to the fringes."
But then something unexpected happened in 2016, Beauchamp reminds us. Trump won, and had to scramble to put a government together he was not ready to lead. There was no Project 2025 then, so he had no real roadmap. Some of the people he hired to lead his administration were not as loyal as he demanded, and instead, began working against him.
Trump learned from that experience, and used the four years out of office from 2021 to 2025, to prepare for a second presidency in which he could command more control, demand more loyalty, and become a world power not restricted by the law, but only his own whims.
And from all telltale signs, Trump has no inclination of giving this power up, because as far as he’s concerned, America is just one of his prized possessions like one of his golf courses or resort clubs. Which means he and his family, along with his rich supporters, will now have dominion over that which rightfully belongs to us, the people.
“Cash is making this stuff up,” some of you are saying. Oh, then ask yourself why Trump is closely following the model of other brutal world dictators and how they took power in their respective countries.Vladimir Putin in Russia. Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary. Kim Jong Un in North Korea.
Even Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, otherwise known as the “Quiet General” and “The Pimp.”
These are all longtime autocratic strongmen who do not tolerate dissent, have no problem sending troops in to manhandle or even kill demonstrators, and maintain a tight grip on the levers of their government’s power.
It’s safe to say that Trump loves this style, and doing everything he can corrupt our government to the extent that he can get away with instituting much of this “strongman” stuff here.
And that’s why time is running out for Americans who don’t want a dictatorship of any kind to first pay attention to what’s really going on; second, CARE about what’s really going on, and how it affects ALL of us; and third, seriously prepare to do everything in your power to stop Trump’s power grab and reckless bonfire of our legalities.
It was heartening indeed to see the tremendous Democratic enthusiasm and victories in New York City, Virginia, New Jersey, California and other places during Tuesday night’s elections, and hopefully Dems can not just hold onto that energy going into 2026, but spread it like wildfire all over this country. No, Trump wasn't on the ballot, but the tremendous mess from his bonfire was!
I’ll share with you what my good friend and colleague, Law Professor Irving Joyner of North Carolina Central University School of Law, told me recently:
For…those who still believe in a progressive Democracy, the test of that commitment must be demonstrated during the coming thirteen months. If there is no visible resistance to the steady destruction of this Democracy before the 2026 mid-term election, this Democracy will be completely destroyed. While it will take decades to restore what we previously achieved in this country, the first steps toward restoration must be taken now!
“This is not only how we stop Donald Trump, but how we stop the next one,” vowed New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani Tuesday night.
Amen!
