There is Only One Story: The Coup in America
This administration is systematically turning our nation of laws into an autocracy/dictatorship
Serious journalists (e.g. The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Reuters, AP) have failed to respond appropriately to the greatest crisis the US and world have faced since the 1940s. A coup in the USA.
When each news event is treated as an isolated incident and analyzed as such, the journalist fails to convey the meaning of the event. Each story must use a wide enough lens to provide a useful picture of what has happened or is happening.
A story reporting the Holocaust could be about many Jewish people missing from their homes, another about large numbers of Jews being transported on trains. A third might mention unusual mass graves being dug. But the only meaningful story is that the Reich is systematically murdering millions of people based on ethnicity.
Trump threatening to jail or deport protesters on college campuses is not the story.
Trump putting all the major law firms on notice that they become enemies if they take a case against his administration is not the story.
Eliminating all the watchdogs and checks and balances in the federal government so his administration can break the law with impunity is not the story.
Stocking the Supreme court with Trump loyalists who abandon stare decisis and anoint him king and above the law is also not the story.
Intimidating or eliminating independent media with lawsuits, justice department investigations, denial of access and physical threats is not the story.
Trump using the justice department and other executive agencies to punish and intimidate his perceived enemies and exonerate his criminal friends is not the story.
Trump removing the upper echelon of military leadership to install less competent cronies who will allow him to turn the guns on the people is not the story.
Trump intimidating all dissent in congress with threats of physical violence is not the story.
Trump attempting to remove all protections for minorities and ban language and topics not to his liking is not the story.
Trump intimidating the business community with threats of boycotts, government action and physical intimidation is not the story.
Trump unilaterally abandoning all of our allies and embracing an enemy dictatorship, serving the Russian interests with his every utterance and policy is not the story
THERE IS ONE STORY: this administration is systematically turning our nation of laws into an autocracy/dictatorship. This is really happening. Here. In America.
We have their published playbook, Project 2025, which enumerates all of these related efforts and how they fit together. Each time an element of the coup is put into action, we must report it as a connected detail of the central coup story. How about a permanent banner headline, “DAY X of the Coup in America.”
Based on historical precedents, we the people have a short window to push back hard and thwart the Trump/Musk coup before it is too late and we all lose the power to do so.
The media have an obligation in these anomalous times to convey this important story to the American people in a way they can understand. And that requires breaking free of journalistic muscle memory and taking a fresh approach that meets the moment.