Warning #1: Be not afraid
Beginning today, I will publish 10 specific warnings about the existential threat at hand facing the American way of life. Make no mistake, it is under attack from within.
There are 10 days remaining until Election Day 2024. The outcome of the election will soon be in the hands of the American people, who will vote for the 60th time about who to elect president of the United States. Until 2020, executive power transferred peacefully in the United States for 223 years — 43 times — and then it didn’t.
The reason it didn’t is because Donald Trump refused to concede an election that he lost. He desecrated his oath of office when he concocted a monstrous lie that had the specific intent of inciting a conspiracy of lies, deception, manipulation and violence to overturn the legitimate results of a US presidential election.
What occurred was a coup d’état, and while it was decried in private by feckless Republicans, they chose appeasement in front of the cameras. The delusions and iron will of a single man to create his own reality shattered the pretenses of almost every single elected official in the Republican Party, from top to bottom. He destroyed their judgement, patriotism, integrity, values, decency and dignity because those virtues can’t be defended by hollow men and women who don’t have the courage required to meet the test of these “crowded hours.” Only the American people remain between Donald Trump and power.
There are three quotes that deserve reflection and contemplation in a moment when an American fascist is barnstorming the county spreading a venomous gospel of racial malice, delusions, threats, and division.
Dorothy Thompson was an eyewitness to the collapse of democracy at the edge of freedom’s supreme test. It stands far away in memory, at the outer edge of a long human lifetime. The lessons and their harshness have not abated with American amnesia towards them.
When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily, by default, it can never be recovered.
Peace has to be created in order to be maintained. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism.
There is nothing to fear except the persistent refusal to find out the truth, and the persistent refusal to analyze the causes of the happenings.
Dorothy Thompson was the first American journalist to both interview Adolf Hitler, and be expelled from Nazi Germany. She understood fear very well as she watched it disintegrate the sinews of a society like an acid-eating metal during the rise of fascism. She would have perfectly understood the decisions by LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong and The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos to intervene in their newspapers’ editorial process and stop the tradition of political endorsements. Simply, Bezos cares more about his boat and his business interests than he does about the First Amendment.
Both billionaires have made a business decision, and have decided to protect themselves and their interests by getting in line. They will be expected to stay in line, and the days ahead will mark a sudden and decisive change in American culture. Make no mistake, there will be a price for speaking up and out. The era of blacklists and reprisals stands right around the corner should Donald Trump prevail — and even if he doesn’t.
Ten days from tonight, before midnight, if he is losing, Donald Trump will appear before the cameras and declare he is winning an election that he knows he has lost. His accomplices will be the people standing next to him and behind him. Across the country, a well-rehearsed plan will begin to be executed in the key states with the premeditated and specific goal of seizing power from the will of the American people. Three things will happen immediately after his news conference:
Elon Musk will use the full weight of X to spread conspiracies, lies, misinformation, and seek to help Trump overturn the election.
Dozens of news organizations will follow Musk’s lead and refuse to acknowledge either the arithmetic or reality when it comes to reporting the facts of the election. The decision by FOX News on election night about whether to stoke a coup or report facts will have massive impact and consequences.
The United States will enter a period of national and constitutional emergency.
Every American must be prepared to defend their vote in the aftermath of the coming attempt to overthrow it by Donald Trump in an election where only one party is loyal to the Union, the Constitution and the American way of life. Defiance will be required, and fearlessness will be called for.
Some of the most powerful and wealthiest people in the world are afraid of Trump. Because they want more, they are willing to risk everything. The promise ahead is alluring. Quietude and acquiescece are the gateway to an America remade in the image of the richest, so long as they stay out of politics. Though they will be royalty and above the law and the rest of us, there will be but one leader, and he is to be worshipped with equal fervor from the top to the bottom.
During the next 10 days the air will chill, and so will the political climate. The impact of the threats and the very real fear they have induced will start to be felt. It will be a disorienting feeling for most Americans, but the unhappy truth is living with fear becomes habit, like living with hunger or pain after a while.
Fear is a cancer. It produces and nourishes venous political systems. One of them is fascism, and Trump is a fascist.
This is not the time to tremble. It is the time to rise and stand up for liberty, decency and justice. It is a time to speak up and out. It is time to be a good American. There are no good Americans who tremble in fear at their politicians — no matter how deranged they are.
Be not afraid.
“When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily, by default, it can never be recovered.”—Dorothy Thomas
Bravo Steve! And incredibly prescient words by a female journalist living in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s, when most of her male counterparts were praising and cheering for the incompetent and demonic blowhard, or better known as the American version of Trump.
All the cowards in Congress, the media and business, can learn a few things from Dorothy, and even Liz Cheney, as well as all the brave women who have come forward over the last few years.
That said, and not to forget or diminish the role of Nazi Germany, but we know what Trump truly covets most, and it resembles more of modern day Russia, and Putin’s reign, than Hitler’s Germany. Although, we all know based on his actions and deeds, the last four years, were just be the warmup act.
Fast forward to modern day Russia, when Putin was consolidating power after Glasnot, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky became the most influential and powerful man in Russia at the time. He owned Yukos, the largest Oil and Natural Gas company in the world at the time, and was also the richest man in Russia, and considered untouchable. By the way, he also owned a media conglomerate just like Bezos.
When Putin heard Khodorkovsky was thinking of running for political office, Putin had him arrested for tax evasion and sentenced him and some of his cronies to eight years hard labor.
That said, Khodorkovsky is not some saint, so I’m not defending the guy; however, the parallels are obvious and scary. Bezos is America’s Khodorkovsky. Trump emanated Putin and wants to be Putin 2.0. During Trump’s first term, he had both Comey and McCabe audited by the IRS. He opened DOJ investigations into Hillary, Hunter and Biden, and continues to threaten the MSM and any company that criticizes him. He weaponized the DOJ and regularly threatens anyone and everyone who criticizes him.
Remember when he wanted to boycott Good Year just because an employee wasn’t allowed to wear a MAGA hat to work? Or CBS should lose its FCC license because of Trump’s bogus claims about editing Harris’s interview? Or ABC for fact checking during the debate. Or refusing to send FEMA funds to CA and NY because the governors weren’t loyal and nice enough to him.
Trump and his minions ultimately mean business. Trump Will ultimately destroy our economy. It won’t happen overnight, but he will carry out his ridiculous deportation policy, which resembles the Nazi’s original plan of deporting the Jews to Madagascar or Palestine before settling on the final solution. It was logistically infeasible and cost prohibitive.
Bottom line, if Trump wins, democracy won’t die in darkness, because it’s happening in plain sight, right now, and right before our eyes. Let that sink in….:)
In the 60's, growing up in a Jewish home, I often had words with my father who insisted that 'it could happen here'. Until I was in my mid 20's I'd never experienced antisemitism. It was there, I just never confronted it. Later, when my last name changed to Russell and my career had me traveling frequently, I couldn't hide from things said to me directly about Jews. Even with in my husband's family which caused an estrangement that lasts until now. Not from me, but from my husband who will not tolerate such things. Now, we have a candidate who will hold an enormous rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night with no concern about how that impacts Jews who live there thinking about a similar rally in 1939 of the american Nazi Party. Dad fought in Europe in WWII. He enlisted. The very idea this is happening now is an insult for all those who served and fought in that war not to mention the destruction of a so called educated, cultured population. Dad was right. I find myself in a constant state of depression over this. Even if Harris wins, the destruction he's left us will infect new generations long after I'm gone. I voted over a week ago. And I convinced the university campus, where I am a trustee, to provide locations on campus, for students, faculty and staff to register to vote. Seems to me that's what universities should stand for.