The “peaceful transition of power” between an outgoing administration and a democratically elected incoming government is considered the hallmark of the American Republic.  But is the “Shining Beacon on the Hill” not shining so brightly of late?

Since Trump was declared winner of the 2024 presidential election, we’ve witnessed many moves by the Biden administration to hamper President Trump’s agenda.  Additionally, awards and pardons have been issued to those most vociferous or instrumental in blocking Trump over the past ten years.  Are these the actions of a government handing over power peacefully?  Or is all of it a declaration affirming the continuation of a potentially deadly war against President Trump?  If the latter, then the transition of power that the United States has known since its inception is no longer peaceful.

Some of the “peaceful transition” actions taken by Biden include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Executive orders and administrative actions banning (perhaps permanently) new offshore oil and gas development to counter fossil fuel extraction and hamper Trump’s energy independence promise. 
• Bills that would give Congress control over the border, limiting the incoming president’s traditional power of executive action on immigration policy. 
• Last-minute funding of the Ukraine War, potentially to weaken Trump’s negotiating power in his declared quest for peace. 
• Attempting to sell the border wall materials before the new administration takes office, which would delay Trump’s promise to complete the wall and secure the border, at the same time facilitating illegal border crossings to beef up the illegal alien presence and make deportation that much more difficult. 
• Changes made to the H-1B visa rules, effective on January 17, to thwart Trump’s ability to stop visa abuse.

Plans have been laid to use law to stop every aspect of President Trump’s agenda.  Powerful actors in Congress have brazenly announced plans to derail his inauguration.

Seemingly, every policy being rushed into place by Biden before his exit is calculated to oppose or hinder the president-elect’s promises and ability to govern.  A strategy begins to emerge, to entrench certain Democrat policies or protections, and make it increasingly difficult for Trump to reverse them without significant legislative, legal or administrative effort.

Since there are no guns being fired, we accept that this as just part of a peaceful transition.  But cyber-warfare is still war.  Psychological warfare remains warfare even though not a shot has been discharged.

Modern warfare techniques have led to a type of complacency in the public, a suspension of belief, in which we don’t have to acknowledge actions of war.  Without that acknowledgment, we can blithely continue, uninterrupted, with our everyday lives, falsely asserting our safety and security. 

Modern warfare no longer needs to be fought with cannon and bombs.  Wars nowadays can be conducted while the target barely recognizes that it is under attack.

We have seen frequent examples of cyber-warfare against the USA.  Some known examples:

• Cyber-attack on U.S. Treasury Department (2024): targeting the U.S. Department of Treasury
• Salt Typhoon Hacks (late 2024): an espionage campaign that compromised nine U.S. telecom companies
• Microsoft Hack (2024): by a “China-based actor,” impacting more than twenty-four organizations, including the U.S. State and Commerce Departments. 

But the press has obfuscated any possibility that these are acts of war by a foreign nation, couching its descriptions in platitudes such as “cyber-attack” or “data breach” (CNBC, Reuters, the White House, et al.).

Modern warfare is no longer necessarily “hot.”  It is varied, insidious, and most often clandestine.  But it is not peaceful.

In recent days, the Presidential Medal of Freedom has been doled out to Trump’s staunchest enemies — not as an act of compensation for loss in war, but as encouragement to the generals defeated in a skirmish.  This is a signal to the undeclared army from its mysterious leader, that the war will continue unabated until the opposing forces are routed once and for all.

This election made it abundantly clear that the organization bearing Biden as its figurehead is not opposing Trump alone.  The county electoral map clearly illustrates that supporters of Trump’s policies constitute approximately 85% of the country.  Stealth operations of the outgoing administration, while purporting to be blocking President Trump, are aimed squarely against the majority of the United States’ citizens.

A peaceful transition of power implies handing over the reins to the people’s choice, without hindrance or malice.  What we are witnessing today illustrates something totally different. 

Are we are unable to see, or unwilling to admit, that the transfer of power before our eyes is anything but peaceful? 

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.