This is scary shit. Read this tweet carefully. He's setting the stage for violence against protestors & a crackdown on the left & freedom to protest itself. He's claiming we're "too dangerous to govern." We're one "Reichstag fire" away from true dictatorship. 
I mean, think about it. If you're "too dangerous to govern," what does that mean? It means you fall outside the bounds of acceptable & legal, and something must be done to contain & control you for the safety of society. He's putting this language out there intentionally.
I don't think most of us are grasping how truly precarious democracy in America is right now. We keep playing along by norms & rules while GOP are burning democracy to the ground. The window to preventing a descent into fascism is closing.
That window can close abruptly, without warning. Stefan Zweig, who fled Austria to escape Hitler, wrote about how Germans waited too long. They kept thinking they could wait out Hitler & the Nazi party - it was a democracy, after all, & he wouldn't be in power forever, right?
They were wrong. Their window to stop him slammed shut in a moment with the Reichstag fire. Some believe the Nazis set fire to their own parliament building themselves, so they could blame Communist agitators and consolidate power quickly.
They immediately passed the Reichstag Fire Decree, claiming they had to seize control because Communists were plotting against the government. The decree suspended civil liberties in an instant - no more free speech, free press, right to protest. Opponents were jailed w/out trial
It was supposed to be an emergency decree, but those rights were never returned under Nazi rule. Democracy was over in an instant & Germans didn't see it coming. They were waiting to vote Hitler & the Nazis out.
Putin, too, is believed to have consolidated power in a similar way.
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in September 1999, killing 293 people & injuring more than 1,000, spreading a wave of fear across the country.
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in September 1999, killing 293 people & injuring more than 1,000, spreading a wave of fear across the country.
Chechen militants were blamed for the bombings, but according to some historians, the bombings were coordinated by Russian state security services to bring Putin into the presidency & help him rally massive support.
You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to worry Trump might be capable of something horrific to protect himself and consolidate his own power. I think you'd be naive to imagine that something like this is not possible in America.
He's spoken many times of a "deep state coup" against him. He rallies his supporters with it. He is also - quite clearly - working with Putin & GOP are either compromised or actively working alongside him. He uses many of Putin's tricks - disinformation, propaganda, distraction.
He is said to be communicating with Putin frequently. Putin, as you know, has the ability to hack our power grids & nuclear facilities. Our intelligence community has already told us this.
The NRA is also part of the conspiracy. This isn't theory, but already-reported fact. Who have they been arming for decades? Anyone can buy a gun - far too easily - but it's those who make up Trump's base who own the vast majority of them, hoarding them. qz.com/1095899/gun-ow…
This hasn't been reported as fact, but you'll never convince me that Fox News isn't part of this, too. They push Trump's propaganda & disinformation for him. They've been dividing us for at least a decade. Russia plays a long game.
Whether you think I'm going too far in my speculation or not, one thing is proven - the window to stopping a plunge into dictatorship can snap shut in an instant. One minute you're a democracy, the next you're not. It's happened in many places. We are not exceptional.
I pray we make it to the midterms, elections aren't rigged & we take back Congress & begin a return to true democracy. I'll certainly do everything in my power to make that happen. I fear, however, we're counting too much on things being normal & fair. GOP no longer play that way
What scares me: GOP don't seem concerned about midterms, despite polls showing a massive blue wave. This reminds me of the 2016 election when polls showed Hillary's odds of winning were 90% or more, yet McConnell wasn't worried enough to accept a moderate Garland for SCOTUS.
What scares me: Trump & Pence have started pushing an allegation that China is planning to hack the midterms for Dems. Trump first tried to push the idea Russia would do this, but for obvious reasons, it didn't fly. Only reason to push this is to make midterms illegitimate.
He could later use this China lie to either cancel midterms or declare them illegitimate if Dems win. It's also not inconceivable that China would actually make an obvious hacking attempt to bolster Trump's lies. China is Russia's buddy & we all know who else is buddies w/ Putin
It's not inconceivable that Putin would either hack the midterms for Trump like he did in 2016 or do something else to disrupt them, like bring down a power grid in a pivotal state or two.
What also scares me - how media is ignoring the obvious assault on democracy. Yeah, opinion writers are all over it & so is MSNBC & CNN at times. Mainstream media overall is pretending nothing scary is happening. "Yeah, GOP are awful & Trump can be an ass, but that's all, folks."
We are so far past the normality stage. Don't let anyone shame you into thinking you're being hysterical. It's no exaggeration to say we're teetering on the edge of disaster. Respectable historians are now sounding the same alarm. It's real. It's happening.
Let's continue hoping for the midterms & Mueller. Let's also start thinking about & planning for the worst. We can't make the same mistake Germany did & we don't have to. We have history to guide us. Let's start sounding the alarm LOUDLY & insist media take up the call.
That way, if Trump pulls this crap, we've already put it out there. We'll know what's happening & we've alerted others - we've predicted it. We've told family & friends. It won't affect his cult, but it might diminish the power of his lies for the rest of America.
A dictator's power rests largely in disinformation, in getting a large-enough part of society to either believe him or give up - not knowing what to believe. He needs them to rally to him or refuse to get involved. If we pre-empt his lies so he's instantly doubted, it's something
Think of it as a Trump vaccine, Let's vaccinate America against Trump.
One last thing - pay attention to how Trump & GOP are pushing the lie that protestors on the left are paid by Soros. This is both a dog-whistle to their anti-Semitic base & a way to legitimize their midterm "win" by suggesting opposition to them is an illusion - we're not real.
Truly frightening - GOP would largely support cancellation of midterms AND authoritarian rule: nymag.com/daily/intellig…
Another historian says we may have one year left to save democracy. He said this a year ago. salon.com/2017/05/01/his…
An even scarier thought just occurred to me. If he does try to cancel midterms on grounds that China is manipulating them - or if he declares a Dem win illegitimate - we no longer have a Supreme Court to protect us. Any fight over that would go to a now-compromised SCOTUS.
An even scarier thought just occurred to me. If he does try to cancel midterms on grounds that China is manipulating them - or if he declares a Dem win illegitimate - we no longer have a Supreme Court to protect us. Any fight over that would go to a now-compromised SCOTUS.
We're freaking out over Roe v. Wade & Obergefell - a legitimate freak-out - but Kavanaugh's even more dangerous than that, which is why GOP HAD to have him at all costs. Trump now has all 3 branches of government under his control. No more judiciary to impede him or protect us.
