Are Americans Strong Enough To Resist The Siren Call Of Fascism Trump Has Unleashed?

Trump's fascist goon squad unconstitutionally occupying Portland tear-gassed the city's mayor yesterday, something Trump seems to have particularly enjoyed and taken great pride in. Robert Kuttner termed what's happening in Portland Full-On Fascism. With their silence and in some cases with their cheers, Members of Congress from his own party have given Trump the green light. "Trump," wrote Kuttner, "has run out of other strategies, so he is pursuing a long-standing fantasy of having a personal secret police force that is beyond legal control. Last week, unidentified storm troopers dispatched from Border Patrol units descended on Portland over the objections of state and local officials. They made random arrests without any regard for due process, and jailed and brutalized citizens. If Trump gets his way, Chicago, New York, and other liberal bastions that he doesn’t like will be next. The gambit, worthy of Putin’s anonymous armed green men and Hitler’s SA, is sinister and brilliant. It brings America close to civil war, pitting illicit federal power against lawful state and local authority. It divides progressive mayors from fascistic police forces that reject civil authority. In Chicago, where Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked Trump to keep his shock troops out, the head of the police union has urged them to come."

Trump’s grand design is to use his secret police to provoke physical clashes, which then become the pretext for sending in more storm troopers. America is seen as falling into civil disorder, and Trump (having provoked the disorder) poses as the law-and-order president.

What might stop this? Two things. One would be large numbers of Republicans objecting to this illicit use of paramilitary power. So far, libertarian Rand Paul has been very lonely.

Republicans in principle are against arbitrary executive power, but opportunism trumps principle. They shame themselves, like the German conservatives who enabled Hitler.

The other firebreak is the courts. After the unlawful invasion of Portland, Oregon’s attorney general, Ellen Rosenblum, asked the U.S. district court to enjoin Trump’s illegal action. The ACLU has filed its own suit.

If these actions persist, we can expect expedited review by the Supreme Court. Once again, as will occur when Trump tries to steal the November election, the fate of America’s democracy could well come down to one man.

He’s preferable to Trump, but I sure wish John Roberts were a more reliable defender of constitutional government.

Pennsylvania state Senator Daylin Leach (D) noted that the predictable result of Trump's attack on Portland "is to inflame the situation, and obviously there is nothing about this which is compatible with democracy. They did a lot of this sort of thing in Chile and Argentina in the 70s and in Russia now. In Russia, many of the people seized go on to have truly unfortunate falling-off-balcony accidents, sometimes several on the same day. A lot of clutzes there. In America, we are not supposed to use the federal government’s military assets for domestic policing. That’s why they don’t send the nuclear submarine Ticonderoga to your house to search for weed. We also don’t arrest people at all unless there is either an arrest warrant or the appropriate police witness a crime being committed. And if we detain you, we tell you who is doing the arresting and why. We read you your Miranda rights. Hell, we are even supposed to give you one phone call."

Aside from all the democracy-schmemocracy problems with this, it is extremely dangerous. You have to comply when the police arrest you. You are under no obligation to comply if a bunch of anonymous dudes with guns try to grab you off the street and cram you into the back of a Land Rover. Some people might legitimately be frightened and resist, and then, well…what could go wrong?

Trump, and his Twap Wigit Bill Barr have now promised to invade a number of other cities that don’t want them. It seems that they want to normalize this as they’ve normalized so many other gashes to the heart of our democracy. But is this really creeping “fascism”?. Well, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC has put out a list of 12 signs that a country is heading towards fascism. Look at this list and tell me which ones we are not currently experiencing.

• Powerful and continuing nationalism
• Disdain for human rights
• Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
• Rampant sexism
• Controlled mass media
• Obsession with national security
• Religion and government intertwined
• Corporate power protected
• Labor power suppressed
• Disdain for intellectuals and the arts
• Obsession with crime and punishment
• Rampant cronyism and corruption

There is a famous “Doomsday Clock” that tracks how close we are to nuclear war. During tense times we’ve gotten as close as three minutes to midnight. I am unaware of a “Fascism Clock”, but don’t be surprised if someday you see me with a version on Shark Tank. But I can only imagine if such a clock did exist, we would already be hearing the chimes. If we don’t stop this now, when will we?

Bernie warned his followers yesterday that "We are in a very dangerous moment in American history. Last month, as you'll recall, Trump had peaceful protestors outside of the White House in Washington, D.C. viciously attacked by federal agents who wore no identification. As we speak, in Portland, Oregon, federal agents in combat gear and unmarked vehicles are pulling protesters off the streets and jailing them without charges, despite opposition from local and state officials."

He is sounding the alarm that "What Trump and his allies are now doing is 'normalizing' the use of federal troops to patrol and make arrests of American citizens in communities throughout the country. Today it is Portland, Oregon. Tomorrow, Trump is suggesting it could be New York City, Chicago or Philadelphia. Next, your hometown. This is what a police state is all about."

Make no mistake about it: Donald Trump does not believe in democracy, our Constitution or the rule of law.

He is working aggressively to suppress the vote and, in the midst of this terrible pandemic, is vigorously opposing the right of citizens to vote by mail. He has ignored decisions of Congress, which is why he was impeached. He has contempt for a free press and has called the media 'an enemy of the people.' He has used his office for blatant personal and political gain, running the most corrupt administration in modern American history. He has ruptured our relationships with long-time democratic allies around the world while he embraces right-wing authoritarian leaders in Russia, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, the Philippines and elsewhere.

Yes. We must all come together to defeat Trump in November, but we must also act right NOW to stop the movement toward authoritarianism and a police state.

That is why I am introducing legislation with Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon which would greatly curtail the activities of federal military forces in our communities. This bill would limit their ability to conduct crowd control to properties immediately surrounding federal buildings without the invitation of the Governor and Mayor, require federal agents to wear visible IDs, and ban them from making arrests or detentions in unmarked vehicles.

...Too many Americans fought and died to defend American democracy to let President Trump move us even further in an authoritarian direction... Trump's strategy of hateful rhetoric and using a crisis to seize more power is nothing new. It has been used by authoritarian leaders throughout history. Our job NOW is to stand together, fight back, and stop the movement toward authoritarianism and a police state.

Blue America is a citizen's organization co-sponsor of Jeff Merkley's petition to let Trump know Authoritarianism has no place in America. "Trump," wrote Merkley "would rather be a tinpot dictator than the president of a democratic republic. His Department of Homeland Security is using unmarked paramilitary forces to patrol the streets of Portland, Oregon. In recent days, those federal agents have attacked protestors and grabbed people off the streets into unmarked vans. This is unacceptable and it must change." His petition outlines 4 demands:

• We must require federal agents and the agency they work for to be clearly identifiable.
• We must prohibit the federal misuse of unmarked vehicles.
• We must prohibit federal agents from patrolling city streets, outside of federal property, unless invited to do so by local authorities.
• We must require agencies to disclose how many personnel have been deployed and for what mission when they’re sent into our cities.

Congress must prohibit these police state tactics. The American people must speak out. You can make your voice heard-- in a manner of speaking-- by signing here.

The next fascist might not be as incompetent

Jamie Raskin offered a piece of legislation that would prevent any president of pardoning himself for criminal activities. "We've never had a president attempt to pardon himself," said Raskin, Maryland's best member of Congress and a constitutional law expert, "and no president has ever come close to that point, but with Donald Trump all things are possible, and we want to make it completely clear that our understanding of the Constitution is that it does not include the possibility of the President pardoning himself."