As If On Cue

It can happen here.

It is happening here.

Just today, as if on cue, in response to the protests that have erupted across the nation – protests against the slaughter of the innocent, protests that have been hijacked by violent right-wing extremists for their own malicious ends – der Sturmtrumper threatened to use military force against civilians within the borders of the United States.

He doesn’t have that power – not unless he is asked by the governor of whatever state in which he plans to use armed force – but that has never stopped a Fascist before.  He will claim that power and he will use it.

This is textbook dictatorship.

First you create a situation so dire that people get angry.  Then you inflame that and make it worse.  Then you call out the army and declare yourself God Emperor of Shitsylvania, savior of all that is true and holy.  At first people see it as calming.  Then it descends into brutality and subjection, and good luck with getting rid of that.  Ask half the nations of Latin America how that worked out for them and whether they think we should start down that path too.

It can happen here.

It is happening here.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone.  Der Sturmtrumper and his minions have been baying for this since 2016 and they understand that this is their last chance.  They cannot win in November.  They cannot maintain their grip on power in a free and open republic.  They cannot rule a democracy.

“When Fascism comes to America,” said Sinclair Lewis, “it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”  It’s almost as if Lewis had been watching today’s news reports, as der Sturmtrumper stood in front a church, waving a Bible, wearing his flag pin, calling for the end of the republic.

The bunker-dwelling coward in the Oval Office makes his demands, and the dregs of American society respond with arson, gunfire, and death.

My fellow Americans, we either stand in defense of the republic, the Constitution, and the freedoms we’re promised (and which, as Americans, we need to work to make real for all of us), or it all goes away sooner than you'd think possible.

It can happen here.

It is happening here.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.