The election campaign season is heating up.
The titanic clash between Donald Trump and an assortment of foes collectively dubbed "the Deep State" is getting rough.
His foes have repeatedly warned that, if he becomes president, he will turn into a ruthless, anti-democracy dictator who will brook no opposition.
Trump's allies argue that when he was president, Trump held to democratic methods and did not persecute his political enemies by using state and federal powers to launch cheesy prosecutions.
One can understand however the fears of the "Deep Staters." It's a good time to take a second look at Trump's 10-point plan to overthrow what he sees as a rotten bunch.
People familiar with Washington spookdom see this vigorous national security overhaul plan as just plain nuts, while civil libertarians are cautiously optimistic.
It should be observed that the plan, tho vigorous and robust, is completely constitutional and advocates no anti-democratic measures.
Here is the plan:
The titanic clash between Donald Trump and an assortment of foes collectively dubbed "the Deep State" is getting rough.
His foes have repeatedly warned that, if he becomes president, he will turn into a ruthless, anti-democracy dictator who will brook no opposition.
Trump's allies argue that when he was president, Trump held to democratic methods and did not persecute his political enemies by using state and federal powers to launch cheesy prosecutions.
One can understand however the fears of the "Deep Staters." It's a good time to take a second look at Trump's 10-point plan to overthrow what he sees as a rotten bunch.
People familiar with Washington spookdom see this vigorous national security overhaul plan as just plain nuts, while civil libertarians are cautiously optimistic.
It should be observed that the plan, tho vigorous and robust, is completely constitutional and advocates no anti-democratic measures.
Here is the plan:
1. Restore executive authority to remove "rogue bureaucrats." As chief executive, a president has such authority, but the "Deep State" (consisting in part of federal bureaucrats and elements of the press) is known for ham-stringing presidents in this area.
2. "We will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus." Trump has bitter experience from being personally victimized by security honchos, as have some of his supporters.
The security units that have been politically weaponized face a complete overhaul so that federal bureaucrats "will never again be able to target and persecute conservative Christians or the Left's political enemies."
3. "We will totally reform FISA courts, which are so corrupt that the judges ignore obviously questionable warrants." The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was used as a basis for eavesdropping on both Trump presidential campaigns, even tho the alleged wrongful activity did not reflect real probable cause.
4. A truth and reconciliation commission will be established in order to force Deep Staters to come clean about their dark doings.
5. A "major crackdown" is in store for those who leak classified information in order to "collude with fake news media" in furtherance of "false narratives" and to "subvert our democracy." Trump and his aides were targets of politically inspired leaks that turned out to have little substance.
6. Every inspector general's office will be made physically separate from the agency monitored by that IG. IG's should not be "prisoners of the Deep State."
7. Congress will be urged to set up an independent national security auditing system in order to make sure "we are not spying on our citizens, running disinformation campaigns against the American people or that they are not spying on someone's campaign like they spied on my campaign." A mildly amended FISA bill has recently cleared Congress with help from some Republicans, despite warnings of clandestine misconduct.
8. The Trump policy of transferring federal bureaucratic offices to locations outside Washington, D.C., is to be continued. Trump said he would "immediately" relocate 100,000 government jobs to places outside Washington that are "filled with patriots who love America," or, in other words, pro-Trump red states.
9. Trump hopes to "work to bar federal bureaucrats from taking jobs with the companies they deal with and regulate." The candidate specifically targeted "Big Pharma" in that regard.
10. The candidate favors a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of the House and Senate.
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