Once Trump starts invoking national emergencies, it's a short line to all our worst case scenarios. I don't want to wind up in the back of a van, so I'm asking that we take this threatened authoritarian leap (that has now been repeated) seriously.
Trump is trying to leverage the threat of full blown authoritarianism to extract funds for the wall. Since the only smart play is to call a bluff that might not be a bluff, we need to be aware, ready and organizing.
Folks' lack of alarm about this stems in part from a lack of public awareness about national emergency powers & how scary they are, & in part from the fact that we are all frogs in a pot. We don't feel the heat for what it is anymore bc we're acclimated. That's what fascism does.
And as someone who does understand a bit about fascism, I will tell you, the only thing scarier to me right now than the thought of Trump abusing national emergency powers the way he abuses executive orders is that y'all aren't freaking the fuck out.
It makes me feel like one of those characters in a horror movie who everyone thinks has lost their mind, who begins to question their own sanity, bc other people don't see it. But I know what I'm looking at. Versions of this have happened before. The threat is real.
Btw, I can guarantee you there are other journos thinking the exact same thoughts who aren't voicing them bc they don't want to be written off as alarmist. It's time to get over that y'all.
The mainstream media in the US has, historically, always tried to look on the bright side of fascism until forced to do otherwise. NYT isn't going to give you a heads up that shit is going down, or approve of you sounding the alarm. Get over that now.
If you're reading this and wondering if there's anything useful you can do right now, my first advice is to read this and get everyone who will listen to you to read it. It's not a perfect encapsulation, but it will help folks understand what's at stake. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
If the people in your life won't read that article, or another like it, then your suggested homework is to start picking key facts out of there and posting/tweeting about them. Educate your friends and peers about emergency powers and what it would mean for them to be invoked.
Make sure your friends understand that, as scary as national emergency powers are, the Dems MUST NOT buckle under the threat of their invocation. Allowing Trump to control the government w the threat of authoritarianism is still authoritarianism, and the wall is fucking evil.
