One must be blind, deaf, and dumb not to witness the incremental but steady march toward totalitarianism. President Donald Trump is employing every powerful tool he can to intimidate and silence his critics.

In tearing down the usual barrier of nonpartisanship, he is calling upon the Attorney General and U.S. attorneys to prosecute his perceived enemies, to silence universities by holding up research grants, block media mergers by threatening late night talk show hosts with job uncertainty, and to smash freedom of speech into smithereens.

He highjacked the funeral of Charlie Kirk by preaching the gospel of hate, and hurling invective only toward those purveyors of violence on the so-called political left.

Historians among us would opine that in the past the United States had fractures in our body politic, yet we got though those tough times. Yet those eras had folks with guts who spoke up against the weaponizing of our political institutions. Regrettably, today, far too many people are mute.

We’ve grown accustomed to gerrymandering, which is a tool that steals elections and denudes the vote. Politicians do it out in the open now and treat it like a virtuous exercise as opposed to the looting of fair representation.

Insisting on the prosecution of political enemies is designed to silence opposition, as is the stifling of commentary on the President’s actions. Are there no folks with backbones anymore who will decry this erosion of fundamental rights?

President Trump continues to turn the military into his private army. Under pretext he is putting them out on the streets, so we get used to seeing them enforcing civilian law, contrary to the edict in the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act.

One of the first things he did in his second administration is to appoint a panel to “interview” generals. If they were not loyal to his agenda, they were fired, demoted, or forced to resign. His Mannequin, Pete Hegseth, fired the top Army, Air Force and Navy lawyers, calling them “roadblocks to orders given by a commander -in-chief” (NY Times, David Ignatius, Sept 19, 2025). He gutted the JAGs (judge advocate generals) who are supposed to advise commanders on the rule of law, including whether presidential edicts are lawful.

Military independence is seriously threatened. The military serves the Constitution, not the local warlord.

Most Americans say they believe in free speech. They reach for the muzzle, however, for those whose opinions are not theirs. It is very tempting to try to silence people whose comments border on or are actually hate speech, but their language is protected. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi misspoke in September when she vowed, “… we will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”

As much as we might abhor such verbal attacks, hate speech is allowed unless it defames someone or incites violence. Covering our ears is about the only recourse with invective, but allowing it we must.

Muzzling folks whose views we dislike is anti-American. Prosecuting them is out of line. Putting soldiers on the streets is a slippery slope. As tempting as this may be, being elected President of the United States isn’t a coronation; it is a call to service all Americans and upholding the Constitution.

Arlene Violet is an attorney and former Rhode Island Attorney General.