My new book, Dictator From Day One, launched today.
You can find it on Amazon here.
Not coincidentally, today is Constitution Day, commemorating the day 238 years ago when the delegates at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the final document. It seems an appropriate day to warn people that the current president is busy putting the Constitution through the shredder. This day is also known as Citizenship Day, a day to remember all the immigrants over the centuries who have enriched this country by becoming citizens—which also seems an appropriate occasion for a protest against the current administration.
Here’s the description for the book.
Donald Trump warned us that if he returned to the White House, he would be “a dictator on day one.” It wasn’t just on day one.
Dictator from Day One describes, in breadth and detail, the story of America’s political devolution from a free society to an authoritarian dictatorship.
The policies of Donald Trump’s second term in office are a political revolution against our constitutional order, concentrating all power in Trump’s hands and creating a system of one-man rule.
This book lays out, systematically and dispassionately, the five prongs of this attack on the American system: stealing from Congress the power to control government spending and to decide what government agencies exist; creating a police state that can seize and imprison people without due process and occupy our cities; defying the courts and controlling the legal profession; imposing centralized control over the economy with arbitrary powers to tax and regulate; dominating independent institutions like universities and the press.
This is the best short guide to give us the big picture of our current political moment, its unprecedented danger—and how to fight back.
This has been something of an emergency rush project, but in the limited time between writing and publication, I did manage to get a couple of blurbs from prominent people—and honestly, I’m a little bowled over.
Here they are:
“The best short summary of how Trump is turning the US into a dictatorship.”—Steven Pinker
“They say journalism is the first draft of history. Dictator from Day One is journalism of a very high order, and therefore an immensely clarifying first cut at writing a history of our deeply disturbing present. With a cool and discerning eye for the details of what Donald Trump is doing in his second term as president, Robert Tracinski guides us through what’s happening, hidden in plain sight, right before our eyes. Read it to understand. Read it to grasp the stakes. Just make sure you read it.”—Damon Linker
“It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the pace and magnitude of the threats we face. But that’s what makes Robert Tracinski’s book so valuable: It not only chronicles and documents the crisis of our time but puts it into context. A vital and urgent book.”—Charlie Sykes
My own favorite review, though, is what my wife said about it. She said it was “stomach-churning,” which I told her I would not use as a blurb, but she also described it as a “clarity roller coaster”—which names exactly what I was aiming for. It’s a roller coaster because of the content: the lurching and reeling path of Trump’s assault on our political system. But my goal is to provide the reader with complete clarity on what is happening and how it all fits together.
I know the audience for this newsletter does not need the hard sell, so folks, just go out and buy the book. If you’re one of the people who donated to support the book, hold tight. I’ll have a signed copy out to you just as soon as I get my author’s copies. (I have the proofs, and it looks great.)
And while I will be out there relentlessly promoting the book, I also rely on your word of mouth. If you like the book, tell other people. I think this is coming at just the right time, so let’s get some momentum for it.
What Is to Be Done?
In the book, I have a whole section on ways to fight back, but it is largely focused on what can be done nationally, and particularly on how we need to change the outlook of political leaders (and the commentators who influence them), who have been too timid and piecemeal in their response to Trump.
In response to a note from a reader—someone who lives, as I do, in a relatively conservative area—I did some more thinking about what can be done locally and the impact the average person can have in their own community.
One thing you can do is just to speak up locally, to find other people in your area and work together, show your numbers, and show your disapproval. I am reminded of Vaclav Havel's story of the grocer who puts a Communist slogan in the window of his shop because it's expected of him. Not putting it there—or putting up a message of dissent—may cause you some trouble, but it can also make a big difference. It shatters the illusion of unanimity. I live in a rural county in Virginia, and I’ve been surprised how many of us there are. I’ve been seeing polls indicating that American attitudes toward immigrants have swung way back to the positive, as a reaction against what Trump is doing. So even in what you might consider a very conservative area, there could be more discontent than you expect.
The other thing, which is asking a bit more, is to consider running for office. You may not necessarily be in a position to run for Congress or national office—though I met recently with a former 5th District Virginia congressman who first ran for office just because he got mad. I’ll also point you to a recent report about a wave of new people signing up to run for various offices. The story leads with a disabled veteran who got fired from a federal job working in veterans’ affairs, who got fed up and decided to run for city council.
Running for a local office can be less demanding and have a bigger chance of making a difference, in a place where you have to win hundreds or thousands of votes, not millions. And there may come a time very soon when you can make a substantial difference just being on the city council or the school board and using that power to say “no” to an attempt to impose a tyrannical control or adopt some form of official propaganda.
By deliberate design, political power is broadly distributed in this country. A lot of what’s happening at the national level requires cooperation from the states, and what’s happening at the state level requires cooperation from local governments. Yet getting elected at the local level is not out of the question for an ordinary person. Certainly, you can get more involved with your local politics, which is something I've been advocating for a while.
More broadly, look for ways you can support people in your community and nationally who are standing up and doing the right thing. If they’re building a new “Alligator Alcatraz” near you—there is a plan to build these inhumane detention centers across the country—there’s a good chance there will be immigration lawyers showing up there to advocate for the poor folks inside. See about getting together a local support group to help and encourage them, bring them lunches, whatever they need.
This is my initial brainstorming, and I’d like to invite readers to offer their own ideas in the comments.
To begin with, though, people have to know what’s really going on and how urgent the situation is. So please buy my book and recommend it to others.
So happy for you! And thank you again!