America Once Fought Fascists, Now It Votes Them In

(This was originally published November 10, 2016, but I made a few updates on May 31, 2018. The updates are noted below, except in this paragraph: Trump, under federal investigation, along with several cronies, for dealings with Russia and possible obstruction of justice and other crimes uncovered during the investigation, has attacked the US justice system, including the FBI. He has used the constitutional power of the pardon to free political allies and to send a message that those under indictment or already charged can count on a pardon, if they keep their mouths shut about him, his son and his son-in-law. The rule of law is under heavy assault as is the truth. Today Trump said it was untrue that he fired former FBI director, James Comey, because of the Russia investigation. Trump claimed this is a media fabrication, but it was Trump himself who said the Russia investigation was the reason on television last year. He also told the then Russian ambassador that with Comey fired, the pressure of the Russia investigation would ease. Note: some presidential pardons by other presidents have drawn fire for being political, but never was the nation's system under attack by those presidents as it is today by Trump.)    

I don't think Americans fully understand what just happened to their country, but they are about to find out. Emboldened racists, bigots, religious fanatics, will be on the move. Don't be surprised to see laws banning the teaching of evolution (religious fundamentalists have been pushing this for awhile), or any other belief not consistent with fundamentalist creationism. EVERYTHING will be on the table folks. Donald Trump's statement, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters," shows how very dangerous the situation has become, and it is reminiscent of Nazis chasing down and executing disloyal Germans for not believing in "final victory," even as Allied troops were just blocks away in 1945. 

Democracy is far more fragile than many realize. It has survived in the U.S., and is taken for granted by most Americans, because, over time, largely responsible people, in spite of some philosophical differences, transferred power back and forth, based upon elections. They believed in the overall system. Obviously, THE major exception was the Civil War era. For some time now, we have had a growing element, led by self designated "conservatives," begin to trash this very system, a strategy that became ever more nasty, ever more divisive. Their disciples took to the airwaves to spread the faith, and in hateful and divisive speech that could bring a smile to the face of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, the faith did, indeed, spread. They have preached hatred of government at all levels, as well as of "liberals, " which seems to mean just about anyone remotely connected to modern times, instead of to some previous century with some sort of perceived "glory days."  Dispirited Americans, angry at wealthy business interests and at free trade that cost them good paying jobs, were often a ready made audience for these these venom spewing manipulators, who were paid for by .... wealthy business interests and free traders. I haven't heard this expression for quite some time, but many a drinker and outright alcoholic, suffering from a hangover, would oft say, "I need a drink, because what makes you sick, will make you well." Really? The propagandists convinced many an American that what benefited a few, would really be good for them too, although statistics have shown the opposite, but they voted for Republicans, because "what made you sick, will make you well."

The Nazis and communists both USED democratic systems to DESTROY the respective democratic systems in various countries. Hitler did not "seize power," the Nazis became a major political party and the number of votes they received convinced some German leaders that they needed to be in the government. Weimar was far from perfect, but it retained the constitutional right of the people to vote, and chancellors came and went, Reichstag (parliament) representatives came and went, so at least providing for some semblance of democracy, even though the chancellors constitutionally circumvented the Reichstag,* by issuing decrees, because the Reichstag was so dysfunctional (sound like Congress under Republicans the last few years?) People have long dissected every aspect of the Nazi takeover of Germany. Why? History helps to teach us what went before, and hopefully, how we can avoid the mistakes of the past. That's why the nonsense of memorizing dates is, well, NONSENSE! They are irrelevant. Those here now will not have to dissect or read about how this has happened in the United States; no, because we have watched it unfold before our very eyes, with far too many participating in it directly. We allowed Republicans to get away with not voting on a Supreme Court nominee offered by a sitting U.S. president. The Republican controlled Congress has sat dormant for years; let me tell you, they will sit dormant no longer, as they plan to consolidate power and strip you of rights and dignity. They enabled money to buy tremendous access into government, something that now will no longer be possible to overturn. It's all too late, folks. This is what we allowed to happen. Since Reagan, some have allowed themselves to be bought for tax cuts. The saddest thing is, many of those same people already had lots of money, but they gave up their consciences for tax cut money they didn't need. 

Americans have sat and watched fascism rise and, now, take over. Traditional conservatives were complicit. Romney played to the fascists in 2012, but then he later tried to change things in the last few months as Trump rose to lead the GOP. Romney is not a fascist, he's a pandering chameleon, who at least finally stood up, but was far too late in doing so. There is NO reset button. Buyer's remorse will get you nowhere. Once you let fascists in, try to get them back out. Many Americans have now not only endangered their freedom, they have given the nuclear codes to a wacko, thus endangering the world and all of humanity. They totally gerrymandered themselves into essentially permanent control of the House of Representatives and many state legislatures. They now will cement the Supreme Court to do their bidding and to make the present and future more akin to something like the 14th Century, than to modern times. Fundamentalist, fanatical religion will now be front and foremost, and BLATANTLY involved in governing.

The big media was complicit, with seemingly not even one innocent person under that Big Top circus tent. When they go to the toilet, they wipe their mouths afterward, because that's where the real dung comes out. Further, and this is not about my just previous comment, but my suggestion for progressives is, if you're going to watch MSNBC, don't take everything as gospel. They are good people, but they are so committed to one side, they lack perspective at times. I'm a devout progressive, but I rarely tune in to any of the chatter stations. Over time I've seen posts online suggesting that everything will be fine, because people on MSNBC said how the demographics are going to pretty much guarantee Democratic wins. Further, other posts told of the imminent demise of the GOP, something I highly questioned in a reply, only to be told how wrong I was. Hopefully, everyone now sees how badly the situation was misjudged; in fact, it is now DEMOCRATS who are in a perilous situation, and although we won't go away, expect very difficult times. If things turn out better than that, great, but be prepared for just about any shenanigans you can imagine, and even some that you can't imagine. As for intellectuals, they sat debating the definition of a fascist, as if that were the important issue at hand. Like Sheldon Cooper, they worry about proper definitions, while not understanding what is going on around them. When someone shouts to them, "Look, that guy is going to set fire to the forest," they reply, "Oh, I don't see a forest, all I see is a bunch of trees." (Updated 5-31-18) As they walk to the gallows, they will ask, "Hm, I wonder if this is fascism?" And someone will reply, "We'd better get this resolved, because they're going to hang us in about the next 60 seconds."

Obama is a VERY good man, I love him, BUT he came to office promising change, "Change We Can Believe In," and he immediately sent the wrong signal by giving Wall Street bankers prominent positions within his administration, after Wall Street bankers brought about the mortgage crisis, which brought the economy to its knees, along with phony high oil prices. The more things change, the more they stay the same. He didn't need Larry Summers or Tim Geithner to tell him that the country needed a stimulus. Symbols DO MATTER. He then chose the absolutely worst issue to take on at that point in his presidency, and in that overall time frame ... HEALTH CARE. The atmosphere was more full of noxious fumes than being locked in a 4 x 4 room with a lactose intolerant person who just ate a slice of cheese, a bowl of vanilla ice cream and washed it all down with a pint of 1% milk (trying to watch their weight). The whole thing was not thought through, and regardless of the president's great intentions, it was THE thing that derailed his presidency, as it gave Republicans, flat on their backs from the Iraq War and the economic meltdown, the opportunity to get up and start swinging, a role they love, and just in time to get all energized and to rout Democrats in a crucial "census election," giving them control of many state legislatures and governorships, so they could adjust (gerrymander) congressional and state legislative districts to keep themselves in control for the foreseeable future. With the House of Representatives then in Republican hands, Obama could not get legislation passed. The next midterm, in 2014, saw Republicans take control of the Senate; and, thus later, prevent a vote on the President's Supreme Court nominee, leaving the seat empty. Now that they have Trump, the Republicans will approve his nominee, and control the court for decades (Update 5-31-18: Trump nominated and the Senate confirmed, highly conservative Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, who took office in April 2017). ALL OF THIS TRAGEDY traces back to a well meaning man trying to help millions of Americans get health care, but it was terribly misguided, and now the ultimate insult will come, as Trump and Republicans repeal the law, removing the largest legislative achievement of Barack Obama (Update 5-31-18: Trump and Republicans failed to repeal the law, but just barely; however, Trump and Republicans have weakened the law, leaving it vulnerable, but its ultimate fate remains to be seen). All of the rancor and the decimation of Democratic officeholders in the 2010 election, and even the loss of the Senate in 2014 can be somewhat attributed to health care, as the huge losses in 2010, set up the Republican win in 2014, it will all have been in vain.  

I've seen posts by some on the left who talk about revolution, but it's not practical, as the weaponry is on the OTHER side! Militia groups and many, but certainly not all, gun owners from all walks of life, didn't buy all of these weapons, especially automatic weapons, to hunt ducks. This has always been about staging a coup d'état, or protecting a regime favorable to them, which they will now have. Further, many, perhaps most, in law enforcement, and many in the military, will gladly carry out suppression of any revolt at Trump's direction; both favor Republicans in elections by substantial amounts. The militias and others, just like Hitler's Storm Troopers and Mussolini's Blackshirt militia,  will operate to control the country. Some of you, and I love you and I love your spirit, needed to learn "compromise," and the art of having to hold your nose to support something you may not completely agree with, but you have to do it to avoid the greater harm, although I'm not sure it would have made a difference anyway, and we've always had some smaller political parties in the US which get anything from a percent or two of the vote, up to far larger percentages. Now is not time to be fighting over what is past, but if you're driving down the road in a Smart car, and an eighteen-wheeler is headed right for you, you crash into the guard rail to avoid being run over, literally, by the truck. It wasn't a great choice, but you had to take it. We saw this same thing, a lack of perspective, with Edward Snowden, who exposed U.S. government spying on its citizens, but then ran to Russia and Vladimir Putin, one of the enemies of humanity. You know, can you imagine an Italian in 1936 saying, "Boy, that Mussolini is a son-of-a-bitch, I'm going to go live in .... Germany!" Julian Assange is in much the same vein. Okay with both of them, show our faults, but also show the faults of others, but there was NO perspective. 

* (Updated 5-31-18) I say, "constitutionally circumvented the Reichstag," because Article 48 of the German constitution of the Weimar Republic gave the president the power to rule by decree in an "emergency," a term that was not defined within the constitution. The chancellor submitted the decrees to the president. 

WORD HISTORY:
Abet-This word, related to "bite," goes back to Indo European "bheid," which had the notion "to split." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bitanan," meaning "to bite," and the derived "baitjanan," which meant, "to make or cause to bite;" thus, "incite, egg on," especially for use with dogs in hunting. Old French borrowed the word, likely from Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect, as "beter," and tacked on the prefix, which came from Latin "ad," itself from Indo European "ad," with the notion of, "to, toward, near, at," with the French form meaning, "to incite dogs to chase after." English borrowed the word in the latter half of the 1300s as "abetten," but it could have also blended with an existing English word from the same Old Germanic word, the English word being, "bætan," which also meant, "to hunt with dogs," but originally, "to make bite."