For those of you wondering just how close the United States is to a full-blown dictatorship, the likes of which has never been seen in this country, something an attorney for the Trump Justice Department recently told a federal appeals court suggests that we’ve entered Nazi Germany territory.
During oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit over President Donald Trump’s plan to build a massive $400 million ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood, Judge Patricia Millett asked a DOJ attorney, If the government decides very quickly to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors — that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the govt moved too fast — nothing can be done?”
The DOJ lawyer replied, “I think that’s right, yes.”
JUDGE MILLETT: If the govt decides very quickly to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors — that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the govt moved too fast — nothing can be done?
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 5, 2026
DOJ: I think that’s right, yes.
Holy shit! While we’re at it, why don’t we just go ahead and bulldoze the Capitol building, too? Or maybe torch the Supreme Court. Is that what we’ve come to in what used to be the greatest representative democracy in world history?
Online reaction to the DOJ’s position was justifiably harsh. Take a look:
They’re out of their minds https://t.co/8BulXi1Yhj
— Jessica Tarlov (@JessicaTarlov) June 5, 2026
There is nothing left of the Justice Department I worked at. https://t.co/vZ6LFJ1kZK
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 5, 2026
The Trump Admin talking about bulldozing the Statue of Liberty … sick, sick stuff https://t.co/hXEd18h06K
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) June 5, 2026
Under Lujan itself, the lawyer’s answer is almost certainly wrong. A tourist, or even better an art or architecture specialist, who had bought a ticket to fly to New York at a particular time to go look at or study the statue would almost certainly have standing to challenge its… https://t.co/dlP8Qnsw91
— michaelmorley11 (@michaelmorley11) June 5, 2026
If you don’t already have a valid passport, this might be a good time to get one. It may be the only way we manage to escape this totalitarian shitshow.