Trump's "Christmas Greeting" Is An Authoritarian Warning To Americans

Thom Hartmann (The Hartmann Report) comments on Donald Trump's disturbing Christmas greeting:

Trump’s “Daddy’s home” White House holiday Instagram Christmas Card isn’t just cringe, it’s a flashing red warning light for a republic. When the official seat of American democracy starts marketing a president as a father figure who’s come back to “set things right,” we’re not in the world of civic equality anymore. We’re in the world of submission and strongman politics, where citizens are cast as children, dissent is treated as disobedience, and accountability gets replaced by worship. And that’s the poison: democracy doesn’t need a “daddy.” Democracies need competent public servants who respect the Constitution, tell the truth, and accept limits on their power. The “joke” works only if you accept the authoritarian premise underneath it, that the country is a household, the leader is the patriarch, and everyone else should pipe down and fall in line. That’s how you train a movement to cheer power for power’s sake, and it’s how nations slide from self-government into cult-of-personality rule. 
So no, it’s not harmless. It’s propaganda wearing a Santa hat: an invitation to trade citizenship for fandom, rights for loyalty, and democracy for a boss who demands adoration. America doesn’t need a “daddy” standing in front of the White House with a thumbs-up. America needs leaders who understand that in this country, the people are the bosses, and the president is just an employee.