"Eines Tages kommt die Stunde der Vergeltung!" ("One day the hour of retribution will come.") So said Joseph Goebbels, June 5, 1943. Goebbels was the chief propagandist for the Nazi party and was designated by Hitler to follow him as Chancellor. On March 4, 2023, Donald Trump said, "I am your retribution."
The United States has been given by our founders a Constitution, establishing a structure to ensure checks and balances with three branches of government. It can, however, be easily destroyed in just a few days when all knuckle under to a dictator and it becomes none for all and all for one.
A Washington insider said to me, “Everyone in D.C. is fearful”. I can certainly understand that. If someone gives a truthful report that the administration does not like, they get fired. If a Congressperson from the same party disagrees, they get “primaried”. Then, some followers threaten and intimidate individuals and even use violence against them. The current environment encourages it from the top.
I am so tired of hearing from the pundits that we are headed towards an autocracy or that Trump wants to be king. Charles IV of Great Britain is a King: Donald J. Trump is a dictator, as he promised to be on day one. People hold out hope for the Midterms, but if MAGA has its way, the vote will be counted just as it is in Hungary or Russia. As I am writing this, 51 Democratic legislators who left the state of Texas to block irregular redistricting are threatened with arrest by their governor, and the FBI has been sent out to find them!
Interesting, how easy it is to intimidate powerful law firms or even tech companies to knuckle under. There seems to be no limit to greed. Securing increasing profits has become the overriding goal.
When your universities give in to blackmail by a corrupt government, that seems to be the last straw. But no ... I just read the headline in the New York Times, “Judges Openly Doubt Government as Justice Dept. Misleads and Dodges Orders”. When the judges lose trust in the Justice Department, our system falls apart. The ultimate cudgel is when the Supreme Court (the court of last resort) seems to side with the administration nine times out of ten, and two of those Justices have been shown to have been corrupted. What is left?
Remember the Nazi exhibition of "Entartete Kunst", Degenerate Art? Well, some art has been taken off the wall, such as at the National Portrait Gallery, and shows have been cancelled all over, etc. Restrictions are also being applied to the performing arts, as not all shows are welcome at the Kennedy Center. The building may even have its name changed to please the President. Through the ages, art has often been used as a tool of protest, and the administration is working to snuff that out.
History is being edited to remove unflattering facts. In science, the validity of vaccinations and even climate change is being denied.
As we know, methods were used to encourage voluntary emigration from Germany, and then there were camps for the undesirables. Not to mention people being disappeared. We are witnessing just such measures here.
“Lebensraum,” i.e. "living space," was a core Nazi ideology. As Trump fulfills his desire to rule this country as a dictator, he floats the possibility of taking over other countries such as Canada and Greenland. He enjoys changing the identity of parts he does not “own,” e.g. the Gulf of Mexico and the Panama Canal. Most Americans and the vast majority of Europeans wish to stop another dictator from moving towards world domination by taking over Ukraine. We can see the pattern closer to home.
I think we can stop using terms of “Falling into”, “Risking”, or Headed Toward Autocracy … we have already arrived there!
The United States has been given by our founders a Constitution, establishing a structure to ensure checks and balances with three branches of government. It can, however, be easily destroyed in just a few days when all knuckle under to a dictator and it becomes none for all and all for one.
A Washington insider said to me, “Everyone in D.C. is fearful”. I can certainly understand that. If someone gives a truthful report that the administration does not like, they get fired. If a Congressperson from the same party disagrees, they get “primaried”. Then, some followers threaten and intimidate individuals and even use violence against them. The current environment encourages it from the top.
I am so tired of hearing from the pundits that we are headed towards an autocracy or that Trump wants to be king. Charles IV of Great Britain is a King: Donald J. Trump is a dictator, as he promised to be on day one. People hold out hope for the Midterms, but if MAGA has its way, the vote will be counted just as it is in Hungary or Russia. As I am writing this, 51 Democratic legislators who left the state of Texas to block irregular redistricting are threatened with arrest by their governor, and the FBI has been sent out to find them!
Interesting, how easy it is to intimidate powerful law firms or even tech companies to knuckle under. There seems to be no limit to greed. Securing increasing profits has become the overriding goal.
When your universities give in to blackmail by a corrupt government, that seems to be the last straw. But no ... I just read the headline in the New York Times, “Judges Openly Doubt Government as Justice Dept. Misleads and Dodges Orders”. When the judges lose trust in the Justice Department, our system falls apart. The ultimate cudgel is when the Supreme Court (the court of last resort) seems to side with the administration nine times out of ten, and two of those Justices have been shown to have been corrupted. What is left?
Remember the Nazi exhibition of "Entartete Kunst", Degenerate Art? Well, some art has been taken off the wall, such as at the National Portrait Gallery, and shows have been cancelled all over, etc. Restrictions are also being applied to the performing arts, as not all shows are welcome at the Kennedy Center. The building may even have its name changed to please the President. Through the ages, art has often been used as a tool of protest, and the administration is working to snuff that out.
History is being edited to remove unflattering facts. In science, the validity of vaccinations and even climate change is being denied.
As we know, methods were used to encourage voluntary emigration from Germany, and then there were camps for the undesirables. Not to mention people being disappeared. We are witnessing just such measures here.
“Lebensraum,” i.e. "living space," was a core Nazi ideology. As Trump fulfills his desire to rule this country as a dictator, he floats the possibility of taking over other countries such as Canada and Greenland. He enjoys changing the identity of parts he does not “own,” e.g. the Gulf of Mexico and the Panama Canal. Most Americans and the vast majority of Europeans wish to stop another dictator from moving towards world domination by taking over Ukraine. We can see the pattern closer to home.
I think we can stop using terms of “Falling into”, “Risking”, or Headed Toward Autocracy … we have already arrived there!
Yup. Never, ever thought I'd see this day but here it is.....
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