There are 12 days left in an election that has clarified over the last 24 hours because Kamala Harris has said what must be said out loud: Trump is a fascist.
This piece was beautiful, Steve, and moved me to tears. Here’s hoping that on November 5th our American allies will rise up and say, “Lafayette, nous restons.”
I agree with you, Canuck 21 and Steve that America has done much good and has always stood for the most worthwhile values and goals for mankind, even if we failed to always live up to them, they remain goals patriotic Americans struggle to reach.
I believe what we have stopped doing is showing the horrifying consequences of fascism. When I was in the 10th grade (1959) we were shown film footage of what American allies encountered as they liberated concentration (death) camps. Nothing was held back. We watched mesmerized and horrified as piles of skeletal corpses were bulldozed into mass graves. We saw piles of eyeglasses and other items taken from the corpses. We saw piles of human hair, the gas chambers, and the carefully kept names of every innocent Jew killed in these camps. Students, to this day, should learn about Hitler's cruelty and the consequences.
Those images remain in my mind to this day. And when I hear about Trump praising Hitler and loudly expressing his fascist views, including concentration camps and deportation for immigrants and his political enemies, the pain it causes me for America and myself can not be expressed.
I could not agree with you more. My mom grew up in Nazi Germany and went to work for the British occupying forces after the war, where she listened to the broadcasts from the Nuremberg tribunals and learned of the crimes committed in her name. She made me watch "Judgment at Nuremberg" when I was a teen, which contained a lot of that same archival footage you mentioned. She made absolutely sure that I understood two things: the evil of fascism, and the ease with which the unquestioning acceptance of lies and propaganda can blind even the most "normal" people against seeing that evil. Her teaching had an enormous impact on the career I subsequently entered into, working on atrocity crimes and international criminal justice issues.
Steve, again a great summation of the American experiment! Yet, this great American experiment is in danger from a demented, disgusting Traitor/Rapist/Fraudster/34X felon who has stated many times he will attack the enemies within our great nation! The enemies are NOT Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi! The crazed Traitor/Rapist/34X felon is the Enemy of the great American experiment started 248 years called democracy and freedom!!! VOTE ALL BLUE FOR YOUR FUTURE AND THE FUTURE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!!!
Sir, you can write, and I thank you for this beautiful essay. As Lafayette so eloquently said, “Liberty now has a country.” Also, as Lincoln said in his message to Congress on December 1, 1862, “we shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.” We are in 1862 again today. The madness in our people is similar today.
I was 23 years old in 1976, and remember the “bicentennial“ quite well. The USA turned 200 on July 4, 1976, and I got married on August 7 that year. Thinking about the 250th “celebration” in 2026 makes me cry, but will it be a year of joy or heartbreak?
Thanks for the reminder and the inspiration. Lafayette inspires me and should us all.
A most eloquent summary of the American Experiment and deeply moving. It is both deeply saddening and alarming that far too many, if not the majority of Americans are ignorant to these important facts of our history. I admire Steve Schmidt for the clarity he brings to our national discussion of the danger posed by the MAGA movement and for his courage in being such a vocal opponent to Trump. All Americans who love this country and what it represents must understand that our national crisis will not end even if Trump is defeated in the upcoming election. Chaos is coming. There are far too many MAGA supporters willing to engage in violence.This combined with the large number of fascist elected officials in the Congress, State Legislatures, election boards, etc guarantee that conflict is inevitable. The degree and intensity of that conflict cannot be fully known but we must be prepared for it. On these pages and other media sites, I often hear expressions of fear regarding our near term future. It’s understandable but now is the time for courage and resolution. Fascism is incompatible with our national character and that sad truth is there are far too many Americans who are simply unaware of the impending danger at hand. So fear not and be resolute. Be engaged and participate in defending America to the best of your ability. I believe there are more people who love our democratic republic than those who would welcome fascism. We must all stand up, unite and proclaim “No! I am American patriot and you will not have this country.”
Yet the grip of the old, is tight. They keep the grip by lies. Lies about what they’ll do, lies about what others will do. Lies about what others have done. Nothing is sacred in their quest to keep power, no one is immune to their bludgeoning, their incessant cynicism.
Their followers laugh at the onslaught of lies. No matter who’s lives are endangered or compromised.
Weaponizing our technological advances, those of incredible communication possibilities, allows them to spread the words that deny the good and righteous stances of the other side. They have painted dire pictures, ignored decorum, no trampled it. Grown rich men and women stand and lie, because they think it will keep them in power.
We are left with a system scrambling to keep itself in tact, forecasting winner or loser with very little accuracy, but forecasting never the less.
And we wait to see if America will pull itself from the very long night it is in now, Steve. We wait.
Steve, what a beautiful and hope inspiring column to wake up to this morning. Thank you. Historical knowledge is a gift and as George Santayana so brilliantly expressed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As a History major, I can only pity so many of my fellow Americans who have indeed damned us to such a fate.
As a side note, please don’t forget Lafayette’s equally courageous wife, Adrienne, featured in the marvelous historical fiction book, “The Women of Chateau Lafayette” by Stephanie Dray. It’s way past time to recognize the many women who so bravely played their parts in shaping history. I can only pray to “whatever gods may be” that one such woman, Kamala Harris, can deliver us from our national nightmare.
Steve, thank you for your historical narrative today, I really appreciate it. Although as a young French Canadian girl I learned about the US in school, knew that it was second to 🇨🇦 in land mass and had to memorize each of the States’ names and Capitals, it is but a slice of American pie compared to what I have learned by reading your essays. Although I had and still have family in the US, there is nothing like a history lesson to provide the road taken by your country over nearly 250 years. May we continue to be good friends, to learn from each other and to remain close allies during these difficult years. Next time you are in Ottawa, it would be a pleasure for my husband and I to meet you.
What an amazing inspiring piece of writing! Thank you so much. Your history lessons, so passionately delivered, have made me much more aware and in awe of my country. The WWI troops on July 4 going to Lafayette's grave, saying "Lafayette, we are here," I can't stop weeping! God Bless America.
I echo Canuck's sentiments on this piece. Just like your work that hits home contrasting Kennedy and other true Americans v. the Dementor, they are needed and appreciated.
A point on General Kelly's comments on Hitler. Ivana Trump, in a 1990 Interview with Vanity Fair (look it up), said that her husband (cough) had a book of Hitler speeches on his bedside table. And there have been many comments (poison the blood) in between associating him with an admiration of Nazis, who lost the war in large part because Hitler often overrode his generals. The Eastern front was a disaster. Even Rommel, who lost North Africa and then Normandy, was forced to take a cyanide pill after being implicated in a plot to kill Hitler (and save his country) in October 1944. Ten percent of all Nazi generals ultimately committed suicide.
Clearly he does not understand - and even hates - the contributions of easily identified American Generals such as Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley or MacArthur. And, Washington, of course, who brushed death aside many times in order for us to have what we have today.
One only need watch "Downfall", the 2004 film that detailed Hitler's last insane days in the bunker, to get a sense of how inept and dangerous Hitler was to the end, a man who caused the deaths of some 45 million people. And he did not have access of course to a sequence of numbers which would lead to the destruction of humanity within an hour.
So again, the pathetic Dementor is a clear and present danger to our country who clearly respects losers like Hitler and Putin. Why? Love of pageantry, uniforms, retribution, control, money, adoration. A weak, warped idiot who can see only see shiny objects in front of his face - 180 degrees opposite to a man like Lafayette and the real Americans mentioned here (a fraction of the total) who certainly helped create and sustain something great.
Sometimes I wonder if we must experience devastation to renew our understanding and commitment to the genius that founded this nation. Unfortunately humankind does not learn easily. Sometimes man has to lose what is precious before awakening to his foolishness. I just pray that if disappointment comes we will not despair but will renew our understanding of and commitment to the spiritual foundations of classical philosophy that shaped our founding fathers’ foresight. It is time to take
timeout from our addiction to self importance based on wealth, and addiction to distraction based on fear and laziness in educating ourselves and our children about the spiritual inspiration that underlies what truly makes life worth living. It is never time to despair. It is always time to have the courage to renew our aspirations.
What an Excellent read this morning ☕ Steve. You've given us a History and applied it into today's America. This must have been a difficult piece for you to layout, and it landed beautifully. Thank You for all you do for the American people and me. Will reStack ASAP 🇺🇸 🙏💯👍💙🌊
I paraphrase language that Thomas Jefferson wrote in one of his letters to John Adams during their many years of correspondence as elders of our American experiment:
"All eyes are opened, or are opening, to the palpable truth that the masses of mankind have not been born with saddles on their backs and a privileged few born saddled, spurred and ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God." TJ wrote these words as an expression of hope for what the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution had unleashed and made available for the posterity of humankind to use on its own behalf. I have no doubt whatever the results of November 5, 2024 that such hope shall continue and prevail.
I do hope you can get this more widely read — nyt or washington post op ed, perhaps? Slate? the Guardian? We need eyeballs, regardless of the worthiness of the messenger.
Please shop it around, because historical context of constant American division and power jockeying, as well as Lafayette’s (an outsider’s) devotion to the American experiment have the potential to persuade while so many block out the cacophony of ads, analysis and poll-watching that is flooding over us all just now.
This piece was beautiful, Steve, and moved me to tears. Here’s hoping that on November 5th our American allies will rise up and say, “Lafayette, nous restons.”
I agree with you, Canuck 21 and Steve that America has done much good and has always stood for the most worthwhile values and goals for mankind, even if we failed to always live up to them, they remain goals patriotic Americans struggle to reach.
I believe what we have stopped doing is showing the horrifying consequences of fascism. When I was in the 10th grade (1959) we were shown film footage of what American allies encountered as they liberated concentration (death) camps. Nothing was held back. We watched mesmerized and horrified as piles of skeletal corpses were bulldozed into mass graves. We saw piles of eyeglasses and other items taken from the corpses. We saw piles of human hair, the gas chambers, and the carefully kept names of every innocent Jew killed in these camps. Students, to this day, should learn about Hitler's cruelty and the consequences.
Those images remain in my mind to this day. And when I hear about Trump praising Hitler and loudly expressing his fascist views, including concentration camps and deportation for immigrants and his political enemies, the pain it causes me for America and myself can not be expressed.
I could not agree with you more. My mom grew up in Nazi Germany and went to work for the British occupying forces after the war, where she listened to the broadcasts from the Nuremberg tribunals and learned of the crimes committed in her name. She made me watch "Judgment at Nuremberg" when I was a teen, which contained a lot of that same archival footage you mentioned. She made absolutely sure that I understood two things: the evil of fascism, and the ease with which the unquestioning acceptance of lies and propaganda can blind even the most "normal" people against seeing that evil. Her teaching had an enormous impact on the career I subsequently entered into, working on atrocity crimes and international criminal justice issues.
I agree Canuck. And we will remain allies for the next 250 years.
Not just you, Canuck 21.
Steve, again a great summation of the American experiment! Yet, this great American experiment is in danger from a demented, disgusting Traitor/Rapist/Fraudster/34X felon who has stated many times he will attack the enemies within our great nation! The enemies are NOT Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi! The crazed Traitor/Rapist/34X felon is the Enemy of the great American experiment started 248 years called democracy and freedom!!! VOTE ALL BLUE FOR YOUR FUTURE AND THE FUTURE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!!!
This is one of your very best, if not your shining hour. Thank you for you time, effort , insight and most of all for caring
“America was invented by believers not cynics”. Thank you Steve for this great, inspiring article! Carry on my man! Viva Lafayette! Viva America!🇺🇸!
Sir, you can write, and I thank you for this beautiful essay. As Lafayette so eloquently said, “Liberty now has a country.” Also, as Lincoln said in his message to Congress on December 1, 1862, “we shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.” We are in 1862 again today. The madness in our people is similar today.
I was 23 years old in 1976, and remember the “bicentennial“ quite well. The USA turned 200 on July 4, 1976, and I got married on August 7 that year. Thinking about the 250th “celebration” in 2026 makes me cry, but will it be a year of joy or heartbreak?
Thanks for the reminder and the inspiration. Lafayette inspires me and should us all.
A most eloquent summary of the American Experiment and deeply moving. It is both deeply saddening and alarming that far too many, if not the majority of Americans are ignorant to these important facts of our history. I admire Steve Schmidt for the clarity he brings to our national discussion of the danger posed by the MAGA movement and for his courage in being such a vocal opponent to Trump. All Americans who love this country and what it represents must understand that our national crisis will not end even if Trump is defeated in the upcoming election. Chaos is coming. There are far too many MAGA supporters willing to engage in violence.This combined with the large number of fascist elected officials in the Congress, State Legislatures, election boards, etc guarantee that conflict is inevitable. The degree and intensity of that conflict cannot be fully known but we must be prepared for it. On these pages and other media sites, I often hear expressions of fear regarding our near term future. It’s understandable but now is the time for courage and resolution. Fascism is incompatible with our national character and that sad truth is there are far too many Americans who are simply unaware of the impending danger at hand. So fear not and be resolute. Be engaged and participate in defending America to the best of your ability. I believe there are more people who love our democratic republic than those who would welcome fascism. We must all stand up, unite and proclaim “No! I am American patriot and you will not have this country.”
Yet the grip of the old, is tight. They keep the grip by lies. Lies about what they’ll do, lies about what others will do. Lies about what others have done. Nothing is sacred in their quest to keep power, no one is immune to their bludgeoning, their incessant cynicism.
Their followers laugh at the onslaught of lies. No matter who’s lives are endangered or compromised.
Weaponizing our technological advances, those of incredible communication possibilities, allows them to spread the words that deny the good and righteous stances of the other side. They have painted dire pictures, ignored decorum, no trampled it. Grown rich men and women stand and lie, because they think it will keep them in power.
We are left with a system scrambling to keep itself in tact, forecasting winner or loser with very little accuracy, but forecasting never the less.
And we wait to see if America will pull itself from the very long night it is in now, Steve. We wait.
Steve, what a beautiful and hope inspiring column to wake up to this morning. Thank you. Historical knowledge is a gift and as George Santayana so brilliantly expressed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” As a History major, I can only pity so many of my fellow Americans who have indeed damned us to such a fate.
As a side note, please don’t forget Lafayette’s equally courageous wife, Adrienne, featured in the marvelous historical fiction book, “The Women of Chateau Lafayette” by Stephanie Dray. It’s way past time to recognize the many women who so bravely played their parts in shaping history. I can only pray to “whatever gods may be” that one such woman, Kamala Harris, can deliver us from our national nightmare.
Steve, thank you for your historical narrative today, I really appreciate it. Although as a young French Canadian girl I learned about the US in school, knew that it was second to 🇨🇦 in land mass and had to memorize each of the States’ names and Capitals, it is but a slice of American pie compared to what I have learned by reading your essays. Although I had and still have family in the US, there is nothing like a history lesson to provide the road taken by your country over nearly 250 years. May we continue to be good friends, to learn from each other and to remain close allies during these difficult years. Next time you are in Ottawa, it would be a pleasure for my husband and I to meet you.
An inspired, and inspiring, piece of writing. Thank you, Steve.
What an amazing inspiring piece of writing! Thank you so much. Your history lessons, so passionately delivered, have made me much more aware and in awe of my country. The WWI troops on July 4 going to Lafayette's grave, saying "Lafayette, we are here," I can't stop weeping! God Bless America.
I echo Canuck's sentiments on this piece. Just like your work that hits home contrasting Kennedy and other true Americans v. the Dementor, they are needed and appreciated.
A point on General Kelly's comments on Hitler. Ivana Trump, in a 1990 Interview with Vanity Fair (look it up), said that her husband (cough) had a book of Hitler speeches on his bedside table. And there have been many comments (poison the blood) in between associating him with an admiration of Nazis, who lost the war in large part because Hitler often overrode his generals. The Eastern front was a disaster. Even Rommel, who lost North Africa and then Normandy, was forced to take a cyanide pill after being implicated in a plot to kill Hitler (and save his country) in October 1944. Ten percent of all Nazi generals ultimately committed suicide.
Clearly he does not understand - and even hates - the contributions of easily identified American Generals such as Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley or MacArthur. And, Washington, of course, who brushed death aside many times in order for us to have what we have today.
One only need watch "Downfall", the 2004 film that detailed Hitler's last insane days in the bunker, to get a sense of how inept and dangerous Hitler was to the end, a man who caused the deaths of some 45 million people. And he did not have access of course to a sequence of numbers which would lead to the destruction of humanity within an hour.
So again, the pathetic Dementor is a clear and present danger to our country who clearly respects losers like Hitler and Putin. Why? Love of pageantry, uniforms, retribution, control, money, adoration. A weak, warped idiot who can see only see shiny objects in front of his face - 180 degrees opposite to a man like Lafayette and the real Americans mentioned here (a fraction of the total) who certainly helped create and sustain something great.
Fuck you Trump.
Sometimes I wonder if we must experience devastation to renew our understanding and commitment to the genius that founded this nation. Unfortunately humankind does not learn easily. Sometimes man has to lose what is precious before awakening to his foolishness. I just pray that if disappointment comes we will not despair but will renew our understanding of and commitment to the spiritual foundations of classical philosophy that shaped our founding fathers’ foresight. It is time to take
timeout from our addiction to self importance based on wealth, and addiction to distraction based on fear and laziness in educating ourselves and our children about the spiritual inspiration that underlies what truly makes life worth living. It is never time to despair. It is always time to have the courage to renew our aspirations.
What an Excellent read this morning ☕ Steve. You've given us a History and applied it into today's America. This must have been a difficult piece for you to layout, and it landed beautifully. Thank You for all you do for the American people and me. Will reStack ASAP 🇺🇸 🙏💯👍💙🌊
I paraphrase language that Thomas Jefferson wrote in one of his letters to John Adams during their many years of correspondence as elders of our American experiment:
"All eyes are opened, or are opening, to the palpable truth that the masses of mankind have not been born with saddles on their backs and a privileged few born saddled, spurred and ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God." TJ wrote these words as an expression of hope for what the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution had unleashed and made available for the posterity of humankind to use on its own behalf. I have no doubt whatever the results of November 5, 2024 that such hope shall continue and prevail.
I do hope you can get this more widely read — nyt or washington post op ed, perhaps? Slate? the Guardian? We need eyeballs, regardless of the worthiness of the messenger.
Please shop it around, because historical context of constant American division and power jockeying, as well as Lafayette’s (an outsider’s) devotion to the American experiment have the potential to persuade while so many block out the cacophony of ads, analysis and poll-watching that is flooding over us all just now.