That’s pretty much what it feels like to me. Sitting helplessly in the backseat with a manic 12 year old driving the car barreling full speed towards a cliff, and half the other passengers are cheering him on. I don’t have much confidence he’s gonna hit the brakes before it’s too late. It’s hard to comprehend how we got to this place, but thankfully it seems at least we have taught a lesson to the other democracies around the world. Canada, and now Australia have thoroughly rebuked their right wing extremists and now Germany is finally cracking down on the AFD so perhaps Steve Bannon’s fever dream of Right Wing Populism sweeping over the world will be unachievable now. People have seen how fast they can throw your country into chaos, the mask is off and the face beneath is ugly and cruel.
Of all the things that are abhorrent about Trump, and they are myriad, the thing I find the most repugnant is just how much he can lie in your face. The implication being that he thinks you’re so stupid that you’ll believe anything he says regardless of how absurdly untrue it is. And now the Cultists in Oklahoma want to teach their children that his lies ARE true, so perhaps on some level he is correct, we are that stupid. We have let this virulent form of Right wing politics infect the intellectual bloodstream of this nation like a violent pathogen, and it is coursing through almost every aspect of our lives now. Lil’ Stephen Miller the Nazi wants to indoctrinate your kids with it, and Oklahoma is the test ground. Trump Bibles and lies for everyone! American citizens who don’t have the good fortune to be white are carrying their passports around and are afraid to speak other languages in public in fear of possibly being mistakenly abducted and deported to a Supermax prison in another country. And the people cheer.
It’s unusual to be living in a place and have the historical perspective to see the unraveling of your country in real time. I think people like to feel like it’s not as bad as it seems because they believe that these things happen in sudden, cataclysmic ways and that Fascism is some kind of mythical creature that doesn’t exist, and if it does it happens to other people. Not us, they’d say. That can never happen here. When the truth is it’s a slow crawl, the cataclysm doesn’t come until they feel they’ve eroded the systems and norms enough to have the upper hand. That’s why it’s important to recognize we are headed towards that place. The Courts are holding the line, but the three legged stool is down to one leg. With the nutlicker Congress rubber stamping everything he does and providing zero oversight, he’s 2/3 of the way there. Now is the time to stand up and really make your voices heard.
Without the support of the people, the Courts cannot stop him alone. If he defies court orders, the Congress will do nothing. It will be up to US to back them up with mass protests, general strikes, etc. Our very system, the Constitution, and everything you were taught about what it means to be an American is at stake. Once that paper is meaningless, America is gone. The Constitution is what keeps you free. Without it you are at their mercy, and they’ve proven they have none of that. The cliff is approaching quickly. There are a lot of decisions to be made, questions to ask. Who are we? What do we stand for? Is this us? Perhaps it is, and if it is can this country last? If it does, will it ever be the same? Some things have been exposed that can never be unseen. The mask is off, and the face underneath is ugly and cruel.