In fact, it’s happening.
I’m old enough to remember learning of the death camps in Nazi Germany, and feeling grateful that I was safe in a good country–a country established on the premise that all men were created equal. Even at that young age I was aware that the United States hadn’t always lived up to its principles, but–like most Americans–I viewed those times as regrettable lapses that we were outgrowing, not as warnings that we, too, harbored many damaged and destructive people intent upon dominating and demeaning those they consider “Other.”
Much as we might wish it, we can no longer pretend that America isn’t in the middle of a coup engineered by oligarchs determined to jettison the Constitution and spit on the rule of law. (Those motives impel the attacks on universities and law firms–they quite correctly see education, law and legal ethics as threats to their ambitions.) Trump and Musk have two main motivations: more rewards for the rich– which requires plundering the nation for the benefit of the “already haves”–and restoring the social and legal dominance of White Christian males.
The assault on America’s already-inadequate social safety net is intended to move even more wealth to the billionaire class via tax reductions. The effort to restore White “Christian” male supremacy requires a more multi-faceted assault–from demands to rid schools and businesses of DEI and similar demands, none of which the administration has the legal authority to make, to the purging of websites that accurately show contributions made by women and minorities–especially Black people–to efforts to disenfranchise millions of women voters via the Save Act.
As the Center for American Progress has explained,
This legislation would require all Americans to prove their citizenship status by presenting documentation—in person—when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information. Specifically, the legislation would require the vast majority of Americans to rely on a passport or birth certificate to prove their citizenship. While this may sound easy for many Americans, the reality is that more than 140 million American citizens do not possess a passport and as many as 69 million women who have taken their spouse’s name do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name.
Because documentation would need to be presented in person, the legislation would, in practice, prevent Americans from being able to register to vote by mail; end voter registration drives nationwide; and eliminate online voter registration overnight—a service 42 states rely on. Americans would need to appear in person, with original documentation, to even simply update their voter registration information for a change of address or change in party affiliation. These impacts alone would set voter registration sophistication and technology back by decades and would be unworkable for millions of Americans, including more than 60 million people who live in rural areas. Additionally, driver’s licenses—including REAL IDs—as well military or tribal IDs would not be sufficient forms of documentation to prove citizenship under the legislation.
This attempt may be too blatant to pass the Senate, but the mere fact that the MAGA cult is willing to propose so anti-democratic and anti-woman a measure is stunning–and illuminating.
And then there’s the growing Rightwing radicalization of the military.
Following the January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill, investigations revealed that at least 151 of the insurrectionists had a military background. In response, the Pentagon issued a historic stand-down order and created a working group on extremism.
In December of 2021, that working group released new policies, defining what constitutes extremist activities, and policing how soldiers behave on social media, including affiliations with extremist organizations. This February, the Department of Defense issued a memo halting efforts to to root out white nationalists and other far-right influences. The reason given was that such efforts were “not in line with Donald Trump’s executive orders.”
That would be the same Donald Trump who asserts his authority to arrest and deport immigrants, green card holders, and for that matter, American citizens who oppose him–without due process, and in defiance of court orders.
I’m quite sure our would-be autocrat knows no history and has never heard of Louis XIV (although he seems to have adopted that monarch’s over-the-top decorating style.) He’s also adopted a sentiment attributed to him– “L’état, c’est moi” (I am the state). Louis XIV saw himself as the embodiment of the French nation, and believed his decisions and desires were the law of the land.
Trump actually has more in common with Louis XVI, who was executed for treason in 1793.
In the absence of a guillotine, I hope to see you all at the protest this Saturday.
I’m glad you added, “it’s happening…” because it is now undeniable that our Dear Leader believes himself to be a King. In fact, Curtis Yarven (Thiel’s in-house guru) calls the Trump administration a monarchy. Does that mean we’ll eventually get Baron as King once the other two misfit sons get a chance for 4-8 years?
In addition to the military consisting of far-right goons, I would also add our militarized police departments across the country, who are no doubt assisting ICE and DHS in rounding up deportees. Don’t forget, they have backdoors to social media and can search for potential keywords in users’ posts deemed controversial. There are also now at least two groups who are doxxing the pro-Palestinian and anti-genocide peeps who protested last Spring and have posted on X and Facebook. And, now the new trend is “swatting” or “SWATting,” where citizens are calling the police and concocting stories about violent occurrences at people’s homes, hoping to initiate the SWAT team to arrive and cause people harm.
What’s alarming is how easily the right-wing autocrats got the cult members to turn on other citizens and non-citizens. I guess we can go ahead and call them Brownshirts because that nails them perfectly. Even though Barbara Walters had a shady past, she nailed Trump in the 90s about his sleeping with a copy of Mein Kampf beside him on his dresser. I suspect Roy Cohn gave it to him.
I am rooting for Harvard, Maine, Maryland, and now Judge Boasberg. His letter yesterday about bringing contempt charges against the Trump administration was perfect. I’d love to hear Sheila’s opinion about what he wrote because the administration is thumbing its nose at his initial ruling on the deportees to El Salvador. All of Trump’s minions were on friendly and social media (no doubt boosted by Musk), claiming the “Maryland family man” was a violent terrorist who illegally escaped from El Salvador. Our news is failing to blast just as loudly because the “violent terrorist” doesn’t have an arrest record. There is no evidence that he is an MS-13 gang member. In fact, of the 250 men deported, only a handful have ties to a gang, but none of them were convicted of crimes. As I said at the time, this case is crucial for Trump’s autocracy. If he gets away with it, nothing will stop him.
Professor-I agree with you…..”it can happen here!”
So I guess women should keep their maiden names to avoid this one element of the problem – won’t old-fashioned men love that!!!!
Yes indeed it can happen here – and anywhere. Ken Burns did a fine job of explaining how much support the right wing had in America during the Nazi era.
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/us-and-the-holocaust/
The U.S. and the Holocaust | Now Streaming
Extended Trailer
The U.S. and the Holocaust, a new documentary by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, immigration and eugenics in the United States, and race laws in the American south.
In retrospect, I have been foolish most of my life, wondering how the Germans of the 30s were different from any people I know now. There weren’t and aren’t, and neither is any other country with the resources to build a modern (for the times) economy.
There are many wellsprings of authoritarianism in every country, notably the military, law enforcement, capitalism, religion, and some parents like those of the Ruling Triumvirate.
Humans who are headed towards becoming control freaks without the tempering emotion of empathy need to be educated out of it.
Does that mean that what would limit the advance of authoritarianism is a more matriarchal society?
Yes, I think so.
Yet, we heard so few complaints when our government overthrew the government of the oldest democracy in South America — Chile, with elections dating back to the 1830s.
In 1973 our government induced the overthrow of democratically-elected Salvador Allende, to be replaced by dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
this is now corp America and what the republicans wanted since vietnam. the game played about that so called ballance budget became the takeover by groups like the heritage and turning point. then came a braggart named trump. they didnt care who as long as someone produced flack and have the ignorant follow him into hell. while think tanks and hired word assasins inspired the lonely and sarcastic on social media. it took alot of money. wall streets money that never made it to those who really earned it,the working class. instead it was diverted to make bilkionaires to feel their power supreme and the worker just idiots who look at gold and dream. its a take over by the rich. economic slavery will be the new consitution.
I never thought I would live to see the destruction of our country. I should have, though. I’ve read enough history and I’ve lived long enough to know that this has been brewing for decades. Like life, you learn and grow and you settle in. When it seems as if you have it just about right, something happens. Suddenly you find that you’re going downhill and the breaks don’t work.
That’s where we are as a country. It’s all downhill from here. What happened this time was the perfect showman came down the escalator and announced he was running for President. As Sondheim wrote: “Send in the clowns; Don’t bother, they’re here.”
Gordon, thanks for mentioning the Chile disaster. It was also fueled by the mindless fear of communism entering the western hemisphere and the equally idiotic economics of Milton Friedman’s “Supply-side Economics”. And Chile was just the beginning. Bolivia, Argentina and later, Great Britain also saw the chaos-generated stupidity of that economic “imperative”.
Needless to say, these were Republican initiatives based strictly on capitalistic greed. Yesterday, Sheila cited Friedrich Hayak. He was the muse for Friedman, except Friedman lacked the intellect to understand consequences. And here we are: EVER TIME Republicans get their hands on our economy, they screw it up.
We’re in for a VERY difficult time. An open civil war wouldn’t surprise me at all. When enough people start to hurt such that they can’t feed their families or have to watch a sick relative die from lack of health care, the shit will finally hit the fan.
I don’t need to mention again what the solution to avoiding this coming disaster is.
“It puts under compulsion all people—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slaves—that these should be marked on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and that nobody can buy or sell except a person having the mark….” (Revelation the 13th chapter)
The forehead; symbolically instantly recognizable by who they are and what they are.
The right hand; the hand used by the majority to sign documentations and identification.
These particular identifications were used throughout the old and New testament. And, it ends in Revelation. And why Revelation? Because it has reached its saturation point unlike anytime in written history, especially the last 2000 years or so. Most can take it or leave it, but these writings actually hit it right on the head. The last bastian’s of what are considered freedom, are in rapid decline. So the entire system of governments on this planet is going to crash due to the infiltration of this bad seed. People will be forced to comply!
Current president is in negotiation with a foreign country to build prisons so they can lock up the citizens of this country, where they can’t be seen or helped by current law and government.
A lot of folks were talking about this nazi-esque time and turn of events. Kind of like the movie, “Look Up!” It can’t happen here? Even the shiny thing doesn’t capture the attention of the unattentive and self-absorbed Me’ist….
Just sign on the dotted line, and your dreams can be realized. Just go along with the program, papers please?!?! (The German translation for “Show me your papers” is “Zeigen Sie mir Ihre Ausweise”.) watch the movie Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart.
Does art imitate life or does life imitate art?
WE need our congress to grow a spine. How do we do that?
Am writing short letters to DEM congress people. Think that could help?
Caren,
Good luck with that! People don’t grow spines from without, only from within. There is a reason why the Founders were afraid of political parties. What we need are servant leaders who will put “humanity over Party”, “common good over ideology”, “decency over power/money” – if these folks existed, we would already know them. Elect REAL people, real “patriots”….
Ye, here, and now!
Research the story of the killing of Charles Horman and other Americans in Santiago, Chile and the part that the U.S. had in their killing and of many citizens. Charles Horman and his wife were in Santiago to write and film a documentary about Social Services, or the lack thereof, in Chile. There was an excellent movie telling their story and the struggle to find and have Charles’ body returned to the U.S. It was titled “Missing” (not to be confused by a later movie titled “The Missing”), starred Cissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon. It was later reported that our CIA sanctioned the murders of Americans or they would not have happened.
I’m hoping that Kalmar Garcia is still alive and will be returned to his family in US soon. What a weak Potus we have that had the head of El Salvador sitting next to him in oval office and couldn’t negotiate a deal for Garcia’s return. The optics and circumstances are horrible, and Trump isn’t fooling anyone: he told the “cool dictator” to not release Garcia. Trump’s offering millions more to El Salvador to build more prisons i.e. death camps. The US rule of law be damned! Since the “greatest Generation” that lived through WWll is mostly gone, the memory of the atrocities and how horrible conditions can get are fading from memory. Both my parents served in US army in WWll and I heard firsthand and sensed a seriousness about them from that time that they carried the rest of their lives. I feel compelled to pass on what I learned from them.
I agree with Pete, that if women, mothers, grandmothers and single women could gain more agency and power we would have more civility and working toward equitable solutions than what has been.
Regarding the voter suppression tactics, it falls neatly in line with the statement from the odious hypocrite Lindsey Graham, that “if we let everyone vote we’ll never win another election”.
And, about the line above that “ This attempt may be too blatant to pass the Senate”, I don’t think that anything that t*ump wants is too blatant to pass that spineless worms we have in our Senate now.