Trump/Pence Regime: Revving Up the Juggernaut

April 22, 2019 | revcom.us

 

The accompanying interview with Andy Zee goes into the implications of the Mueller report on accusations concerning the Trump/Pence regime. Zee states in his interview that “there’s a need for those who do see the roots of this regime in the whole history of America, founded on white supremacy and genocide and patriarchy, and in the system that exploits and oppresses people here and around the world—all of this which has given rise to a Trump/Pence regime and this huge fascist base. Right now there’s a need to step up agitation for the need to overthrow this system, and for an actual revolution. For people to get organized into that revolution, which is why you and I are out here in Los Angeles. And at the same time, people can get deeper into that by getting into the work of Bob Avakian, particularly his film on the Trump/Pence regime and his film on Why We Need An Actual Revolution And How We Can Really Make Revolution, which are both available at revcom.us. [There’s also a need] for people to get into the program of Refuse Fascism... that is calling for people to get out into the streets in an organized... as soon as possible in sustained protests that continue week after week, day after day, night after night—whatever it takes until this regime is removed from office.

“The urgency of that call is driven home not only by some of what is revealed in the Mueller report, but even more in the way in which the regime has in the past few months radically stepped up its assault and intensified the serious danger it poses to humanity. This assault has coherence—it is grouped around what Bob Avakian has called the fascist triad of all-out America-first chauvinism, blatant white supremacy, and misogynist attacks to hammer women back ‘into their place.’”

What follows is a basic and far from complete list of what has gone on.

1. Continued Military Aggression, Dangerous Threats of War

• Trump vetoed a Congressional resolution to halt U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s murderous war in Yemen. This war has already killed 85,000 children and caused 10 million people to face famine. Trump called the resolution an “unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities.” The slaughter and starvation in Yemen will continue.
• The Trump/Pence regime continued to threaten war against Iran. The regime designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, part of Iran’s military, a “terrorist organization.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted to Congress that according to a law passed in 2001 after 9/11 giving the president unlimited authority to attack Al Qaeda, Trump could also wage unprovoked war on Iran, without Congressional approval.
• The regime gave full backing to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who pledged to annex much of the Palestinian West Bank. The Israeli prime minister campaigned on a promise of further violent dispossession of the Palestinian people from their lands. Trump did everything he could to back him and Netanyahu is almost certain to escalate Israeli aggression in the region and suppression of the Palestinian people.
• The regime escalated its war of starvation against Venezuela. National Security Advisor John Bolton announced new, harsher sanctions to make it even more impossible for the desperate Venezuelan people to get food and medicine, and the regime continues to threaten military intervention.

2. The Violent Reassertion of Blatant White Supremacy

• Under Trump’s reign hate crimes against Black people have escalated, and police have continued to inflict their terror with encouragement from the Trump himself. (Go here for more on this.)
• At the same time, the fascist regime’s attacks on immigrants have taken a leap in the past month and could go very quickly to a whole other level. The regime is resorting to extreme measures to stop refugees from seeking asylum in the U.S. Refugees arriving at ports of entry like El Paso, Texas, are being forced to wait in Mexico for months before they can even apply for asylum. And asylum seekers arrested crossing between entry points now face prolonged imprisonment. Attorney General Barr has just declared that these asylum seekers can no longer be released on bond while waiting for their court hearings. This will keep tens of thousands more refugees in prison for years. The fascists intend to “keep families together” by imprisoning their children with them! The head of Homeland Security made international headlines by separating thousands of children from their parents. She, along with other agency officials, was fired in a purge marked by Trump saying that he wanted to go in a “ tougher” direction. All this is further unleashing fascist thugs. In recent days, terrifying nighttime videos have gone up on social media showing heavily armed fascist vigilantes capturing hundreds of refugees with children at gunpoint in New Mexico. They force the refugees to their knees in the dirt and hold them for the Border Patrol to arrest. Ex-military vigilantes pointing rifles at immigrant children is now the new “normal.” A spokesperson for the nearby town said, “I think they are just out there exercising their constitutional right.”

3. Across-the-Board Attacks on a Woman’s Right to Abortion and Other Forms of Birth Control

• The Trump/Pence regime has taken the decades-long Christian fascist assault on women’s right to abortion to new levels. So far this year, more than 300 anti-abortion laws have been proposed in different states. Some laws make an abortion illegal before most women know they’re pregnant. One state law would ban abortion at any point unless the woman’s health is at risk. A doctor breaking this law could face prison for decades. Such laws take away women’s basic right to control their own body. The anti-abortionists hope that one of these laws will lead to the majority fascist/anti-abortion Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
• Trump is stoking the fires of anti-abortion fanatics. In El Paso on February 11, Trump whipped the crowd into a frenzy with anti-abortion lies. He claimed a New York law allows “children to be ripped from their mother’s womb right up until the moment of birth.” He said Virginia’s governor supports allowing doctors to “execute babies.” Trump hosted a White House screening of the anti-abortion “documentary” Gosnell. This film about an abortion doctor found guilty of murder is designed to confuse and frighten people about abortion. And Trump has endorsed another anti-abortion film, Unplanned, about a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who became an anti-abortion activist.

These are only some of what has been a coherent and relentless attack—one which is gaining steam.

The war in Yemen has already killed 85,000 children and caused 10 million to face famine. The slaughter, starvation, and destruction in Yemen are continuing. Here, rubble from U.S.-backed Saudi Arabian airstrike, April 2019. (Photo: AP)

Israeli prime minister Netanyahu campaigned for reelection on a promise of further violent dispossession of the Palestinian people from their lands. Above: November 2018 airstrike escalates destruction of Gaza. (Photo: AP)