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I've been thinking about why some people are terrified of Trump while others, like me, are more indifferent. I mostly tune out Trump news because I assume much of it involves scare tactics or misleading framing by his detractors. When my wife brings up concerns about his supposedly authoritarian actions, my general response is that if what he's doing is illegal, the governmental process will handle it - and if it's legal, then that's how the system is supposed to work. I have faith that our institutions have the checks and balances to deal with any presidential overreach appropriately.
This reminded me of a mirror situation during 2020-2021 with the BLM movement, where our positions were reversed. I was deeply concerned about social media mobs pressuring corporations, governments, and individuals to conform under threat of job loss, boycotts, and riots, while my wife thought these social pressures were justified and would naturally self-correct if they went too far. The key difference I see is that the government has built-in checks and balances designed to prevent abuse of power, while social movements and mob pressure operate without those same institutional restraints. It seems like we each trust different institutional mechanisms, but I can't help but think that formal governmental processes with built-in restraints are more reliable than grassroots social pressure that operates without those same safeguards. Furthermore, the media seems incentivized to amplify fear about Trump but not about grassroots social movements - Trump generates clicks and outrage regardless of which side you're on, while criticizing social movements risks alienating the platforms' own user base and advertiser-friendly demographics.
I think one faulty assumption in your logic is that entities which Trump acts unlawfully and adversely against will always press their legal claims. Take Intel's recent announcement about them giving the US government a 10% stake in the company in exchange for grants in the CHIPS Act. There is nothing in the actual law passed by Congress that permits the executive to withhold these grants or condition their distribution on an exchange of equity. The Trump administration's actions are 100% unlawful. Yet, Intel did it anyway. Unlawful actions can create a lot of short term pain for a company such that they may decide it is better to eat the cost than press their claims. That does not mean the action was lawful.
Re: lawlessness. Who is the plaintiff here? Intel took the deal. There's some presumed upside for having the government truly in your corner now as a stakeholder. The funds were authorized. Taxpayers presumably got more for it as well. They got equity. The executive had some authority to administer the deal.
Who is going to sue over it? What does it look like? This is an example of Trump just doing things that violate norms but might not be that illegal.
Right, this may or may not be unlawful, as with the Nvidia export tax. But Trump is taking a page from his opponent's playbook and doing it better -- no one with an interest in making a case actually has standing.
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