Sarah Kendzior has been saying the same thing since 2016. The Ph.D. scholar, author, and expert in Eastern European fascist regimes has been warning this nation that she saw us marching exactly toward what she has seen and studied as a pattern for failing governments and rising fascist regimes throughout modern history.
She warned us, despite people believing that “it couldn’t happen here,” the institutions are too strong, they will contain Trump – he can only go so far.” That was then, before the post-impeachment Trump. Sure, before impeachment Trump aggregated power in step after step, but it took a blatant, obvious, egregious, plan exposed in the impeachment hearings, and then the sheer outrageousness in Trump coordinating with jury foreman Mitch McConnell, without evidence, and an “acquittal” – the first with a member of his party voting guilty – to truly set Trump “free.”
From that point, Trump began his real purge, getting rid of everyone he perceived as “disloyal,” including every I.G. – the people who could investigate abuses in the administration. Trump put his puppet in charge of the intelligence community, to ensure no one exposed his “dealings” with foreign powers.
We arrived, fully fascist, with Trump talking about taking away vote by mail during a pandemic. Sarah Kendzior, the young academic, had called it all along. From Crooks and Liars [1]:
… Trump viewing the military as his own personal military, that, of course, extends to his view of Barr as his personal attorney. That extends to their general philosophy for the United States which is not to govern. It’s to rule. It’s to see Americans who show any form of dissent, any form of independent thought as rivals, as enemies. It’s to deem the press itself as enemies of the state which he did long ago. this is a very consistent pattern for this administration.
A lot of people were in denial. They kept thinking that’s not what authoritarianism looks like. It means soldiers on the streets, firing and fighting against their own citizens. Well, guess what? We’re now at that point because people remained in denial for so long. Do not let anybody tell you that nobody saw this coming. That is another dodge for accountability. Because if no one saw this coming, then no one could have prevented it. It could have been prevented. It could have been slowed.
It could have been prevented. Adam Schiff stood in the well of the Senate and told every senator, Republican, and Democrat, that this was happening and would happen, should they let the opportunity go.
Some will blame all sides, and Democrats haven’t been perfect but it’s bullshit. But in that impeachment proceeding, Republicans knew exactly what they were dealing with, and knew exactly where it would lead. They sold their country out for a few more years of political power. They are traitors.
Then a chance, one last chance, presented itself. Fittingly, it might well be the black community, with women, and other POC, as Democrats, not Joe Biden necessarily, that might breathe new life into stopping fascism and Trump. We may not get a free and fair election in November. Trump might not respect the results. But if Trump’s elected again, every single presumption about where things go from that point forward is off the table. The dictator will root himself in for good.
Hopefully, we have one last shot, a shot we didn’t have just six months ago, or six weeks ago. In that sense, George Floyd would be remembered, possibly, as the very unwilling man who saved the nation. It won’t bring Floyd back, but it might bring the country back.
First part of my #AMJoy [2] interview this morning on Trump and American authoritarianism pic.twitter.com/U5osRj6xj9 [3]
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) June 6, 2020 [4]
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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom