‘Frank Islam’
In 2025, America is at war. It is not a confrontation with other countries but a war with itself.
It is war being contested to see whether this nation will remain a democracy or become an autocracy. It is not a war to determine who should hold office or be in charge of shaping governmental policy or programs. It is a war for the head, heart, and soul of this country.
This “uncivil” war has been going on for some time. It “began near the end of the 20th century; ramped up a little at the beginning of this 21st century; accelerated in the second decade of the century, and, has moved into nearly full-fledged and continuous conflict since Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2017.”
The war did not end in 2020 when Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. Instead, with January 6, 2021 and the ongoing political and rhetorical combat in the following years it intensified. During that period, Trump’s troops planned and prepared to win the next presidential election and overthrow the current system.
They won and took the war to a new level. It became a war for domination. It became a war of revenge and retribution. It became a war to eliminate much of the federal government. It became a war to silence those with differing political, social and cultural values. It became a war of orchestrated chaos.
In September, President Trump renamed the Department of Defence the Department of War. This Department is only one of the departments of war in his administration.
Since Trump returned to office, all of the federal government departments have been remade into potential departments of war. The enemies of those departments include many of those who have historically benefitted from their services and those who have spoken out or taken some action that offended the president in the past.
This war being wrought by the President and his administration has many dimensions. Three central ones are the: War of Words; War on Truth; and, War of Wounds.
War of Words : Trump uses words as weapons. He vilifies or disparages his opponents and those who offend him and encourages his supporters to strike out at those on the other side.
In September, David Graham published an article in The Atlantic titled “Donald Trump’s War of Words” with this opening sentence: “For a man openly campaigning for the Nobel Peace Prize, Donald Trump sure does love the rhetoric of violence.”
Graham points out in his piece that Trump’s calls for violence are not new noting,
During his first campaign, he encouraged rally attendees to beat up protesters. As president, he encouraged police to treat suspects brutally. As the runner-up in the 2020 election, he encouraged supporters to “fight like hell,” and they did, sacking the U.S. Capitol.
John McWhorter, an opinion writer for the New York Times and Columbia University linguist, joins Graham in analysing Trump’s language and rhetoric. McWhorter doesn’t focus on Trump’s emphasis on violence, but on his infatuation and use of words and language that is war-like.
War on Truth : Trump apparently spoke the truth at Charlie Kirks’ memorial in his statement about “hating” and “not wishing the best” for his opponent. That has not been Trump’s leitmotif during his involvement in presidential politics.
Lee McIntyre, research fellow at Boston University and author of Post-Truth, and Jonathan Rauch, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of The Constitution of Knowledge: a Defence of Truth describe Trump’s dominant approach to communicating in a 2021 Washington Post opinion piece.
In that op-ed, titled “A War on Truth is Raging. Not Everyone Recognizes We’re in It,” McIntyre and Rauch assert that during his 2016 campaign: “He (Donald Trump) and his allies in conservative media and Republican politics seized upon Russian style disinformation techniques and applied them to domestic politics.” They go on to assert further that after Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020.
The War of Wounds: Trump’s victories in the War of Words and the War on Truth have positioned him to be much more consequential in his second term as president, and to use his office and executive powers to wound those individuals and organizations who he perceives as his opponents and enemies.
It is no longer enough just to speak out against or discredit them. It is more important to make them pay a price for being on the other side. Those on that side include those attacked in the war on truth, the mainstream media, academia, government agencies, other institutions and professionals, and many, many others.
Because of these characteristics they will recognize that this country is at war with itself, and that it is their responsibility to win this war for the people. They will understand this because they know that the United States Constitution and our democracy belong to the people, and not a president or a party.
The 21st century citizens will give Americans a special reason to celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
