Thread by @DempseyTwo

I recently had a periodic neurology visit. Such is the life of a dopamine depleted Parkinson’s brain. These visits come with the gig to see how I’m doing. What meds need tweaking etc. They’re obligatory in a way. There is no cure. A wee reality check on fascism 🧵👇🏻

My neurologist is about my age. We get along, we both go through the motions. He knows he can only do so much, he knows I’m trying to do what I can to retain my sense of value. I like him. He likes me. He is from Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko has declared himself the winner of a recent election there. Look at the words. ‘Declared’, ‘himself’ & ‘winner’. He did not win. He declared so. A declaration of an election victory is the stealing of an election victory. Sound familiar?

There were massive protests in Belarus over Lukashenko’s ‘declaration’. Over 35,000 people have been ‘detained’. Think of this. We have had 650 arrests related to the January 6th *Insurrection*. Not everyone who stormed the Capitol has been arrested let alone ‘detained’.

There was no sieging of the Belarusian Capitol. People were truly protesting. Much like you saw during the Women’s March after Trump was Inaugurated. Peaceful citizens with red and white flags to show solidarity for a democratic society and to reject fascism.

Over 35,000 people ‘detained.’ Let’s face it, that’s 35,000 people that were arrested, fingerprinted, mug shotted, placed into a database and jailed. Some without charges. Most without representation. Is this the libertarian freedoms they are trying to install here?

Be careful what you ask for. Fascism requires an ‘other.’ A scapegoat for their rhetoric. When everyone gets ‘detained’, eventually, those in power will come for those who put them in power.

Then they came for the Jews and I said nothing because I was not a Jew…

Libertarian, personal liberties? These are dog whistles for ‘no rules.’ Not no rule, just no rules. They don’t want the government to tell them what to do. They want the government to allow them to do what they want to do; then sanction it.

If one is incapable of viewing their own behavior from the viewpoint of another, essentially lacking both self awareness and empathy, that person can do no wrong in their own eyes. Only consequences will stop them.

Who behaves in a manner in which they don’t conform to societal norms? Sociopaths. If there are rules in place, such as laws, they are forced to limit their own instincts and behavior. The rule of law requires a think twice mentality. Fascists don’t want that.

They want their own way. If that means walking down the street and cutting off Payos, so be it. ‘The government isn’t going to tell *me* what to do. Societal norms be damned. My freedom includes my amorality. If my vote means my yacht or your roof, show me to the marina.’

The fascist sociopath is ungovernable. Right now we have an entire political party full of people who got into politics for the sole purpose of *not governing*. What does that make them? Make no mistake, the sociopathic mind has been hijacked and is now in charge.

I asked my neurologist about the rhetoric he is hearing here and how close or far away it is from Belarus. He reminded me that he grew up in the Soviet Union. Not in a post-Soviet Union, but the one before the Berlin Wall came down. The one before the collapse of the USSR.

As time moves on, people do forget history. No matter how many times we #NeverForget, we still don’t remember. In fascist regimes, citizens can’t look policemen in the eye. This is happening right here, right now in America. Black families, this morning will have ‘the talk’.

Oathkeepers, the very militia storming our Capitol, are deeply associated with Sheriffs offices, police forces. 28 are elected officials! Institutions of protection. If an entire portion of our population is unable to look an officer in the eye, that’s not a bad apple problem.

That’s a major, rip it out and start over problem. As three word phrases go, defund the police is up there with the worst. We need to demilitarize, demilitia, dewhite supremacy and desociopath the police. We need a protective service that is ok with being looked in the eye.

We live in an upside world right now. We aren’t supposed to do anything to ‘scare’ the police. Are you kidding me? They literally chose a profession to face dangerous situations to protect us. They have Kevlar vests, batons, shields, helmets, guns, power, and we’re scaring them?

We often warn each other of ‘where this leads’. It leads to death. Right now, it is illegal to be gay in parts of the world. Illegal. Punishable by death. How is the way you’re born illegal? My doc had to unlearn his medical teachings from his native country to practice here.

Imagine that. There, they are taught being gay is deviant. We’ve evolved past that thinking. He had to learn something that he was ignorant to. It wasn’t his teaching. This is what is happening in school board meetings right now. Fascists want us indoctrinated not educated.

He told me his head is still messed up. That he has to stop a d think about things. He thinks about his own indoctrination. The govt has told Russians to kiss a Saint to be protected from covid. They line up to do so. What they’re kissing is giving them covid!

You may wonder how 35,000 people can be detained. Here is how my doctor explained it to me. During those protests I mentioned earlier, the state took protestors phones. They did not have warrants to do so. There was no phone call to a free attorney. No Miranda warning.

Everyday we hear from gaslighting Republican/Fascists the ‘demon’ left is going to take away our 1st Amendment right. Our rights to free speech and peaceful assembly are enshrined in our constitution. Our right to due process preserved in our 4th, 5th and 6th amendments.

Belarusian police told the protestors that they would be jailed for ten years or two years. The two years would be if they gave up everyone in their contact list. No trials. Just extrajudicial arbitrary 10 year sentences. 2 if you tell me who your friends are.

My doctor told me this conversation is one he would never dream of having in the Soviet Union. This very thread you are reading right now would result in a knock on my door and that would only be the beginning of my end. Yours too if you hit the follow, like or retweet button.

We agreed that he will do what he can to keep me typing, and I will do what I can to stop this rise of fascism. We need to understand where we are headed and stop it. We have to. Before it gets worse. Like any disease left untreated, it surely will.