Toldja so

"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke

And if there ever was a group of people that don't know history, it's Americans.

But here is another article that supports what you are saying - check it out of you haven't seen it.

The Rise of Authoritarianism in America

From the article:

Naomi Wolf, writing in The Guardian, identified 10 steps which reflect a move towards an authoritarian state. Ask yourself: How many of these actually exist now?

1. Invoke both an internal and external enemy. The internal enemy can be a racial or ethnic group. The external can be country but even more nebulous—“terrorism” or “drugs,” "Islam."
2. Create a prison or detention center outside the rule of law (eg: Guantanamo Bay).
3. Develop a “thug like caste.” They don’t need to be uniformed like the brown shirts in Germany. How about the armed militiamen patrolling the border and urban streets, or Federal farmland?
4. Expand an internal surveillance system that spies on the country’s citizens.
5. Harass dissenting citizens or citizen groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary arrest, detention and release of suspected insurgents (read “terrorists”) including creating “watch lists.”
7. Target key individuals who oppose the authoritarian policies with harassment and threats.
8. Control the press and media through policies, legal threats and providing false information.
9. Disseminate the belief that dissent equals treason.
10. Suspend the rule of law through enhanced executive and judicial powers and legislation.

 

Right. Because, you know, 'American' is a language.

 

I remember when the Tea Party was first starting, they were talking about Obama being a "tyrant." Polls showed that about 3/4 of them were angry because Obama had "raised their taxes." At that point Obama had actually lowered taxes slightly for 90% Americans and hadn't even raised them on the top 1% yet. So even on taxes, which was supposed to be their signature issue, the Tea Party couldn't get it right. But they didn't care. They were sure they were right anyway.

Jon Stewart said "Hey tea partiers, you're confusing with 'tyranny' with 'losing the election.'"

It was a great line, and a good laugh at the time.

Unfortunately, this subset of people has just been getting more aggrieved and more untethered to reality in the ensuing years. A majority of rural whites now thinks that whites suffer more from racism than blacks do, for instance.

Here's the thing: no one except mustache-twirling villains actually thinks they themselves are evil. So the trick is to convince them that they are indeed the oppressed and they're actually fighting for Good and Light. And, of course, a skillful demagogue can do exactly that. Especially if they have actual legitimate grievances, like an economy that isn't working for them. Just get them to blame it on the wrong thing, usually an "other" or a "them."

And yeah, I know about Godwin's Law and usually believe it. But I'm also reminded of this:

...especially the part at 2:39, which is in response to an earlier line in which the wealthy German had told Michael York "they're useful for now, and we can control them."

My biggest hopes are a). that Trump loses, of course; and that b). the biggest supporters of Trump (and Trumpism) are literally dying off. Millennials want no part of him and tend to embrace a diverse society. Of course that could all change by the time THEY get to their 60's (everything always comes around again), but in the short term I think we'll dodge this bullet and although we may even see some violence (like that thwarted plot in Kansas) that we're not going to see a Nazi takeover.

It ALWAYS takes vigilance, though.

 

I have always agreed but seeing it get so blatant makes me sad.
When I hear myself saying, "I am so glad my father is dead so he does not have to witness this." I know things are really out of hand.

 

This may seem odd because I am not usually supportive of violence, but, the burning of the GOP headquarters in NC did not harm or threaten to kill anyone and yet sent a message to the babbling fools that if you think the rest of us are just going to lie down and let you run over us, you might want to consider that we might just push back a little. We will not be intimidated by your overactive superiority belief. You are dumber then a bucket of rocks and your time will come to find out that you are not the group that control this country whether you like it or not. When you start talking about killing people that disagree with you, your God is not on your side.

 

It's chilling to think that if the candidate hadn't been Don the Con Trump, yet professed many of his same viewpoints, he could be winning right now. He has plenty of supporters who could probably mount a campaign without all the Trumpish nonsense but with a more "normal" political manner and nuance. While I HOPE this election will be the last of this sort of rhetoric, I'm afraid that it is probably not.

It puts the more sober members of the GOP is a tough spot. They either fall in line with the Trump supporters, and double down on this stuff forever, or they branch off and form a new party. With luck, the Trumpsters will leave, disgusted by the establishment GOP and form their own useless third party and let the grownups have the GOP.

 

Oh how I wish you were not so spot on.

 

Disgusting.

 

In noting the right-wing outrage over the lack of traction of the Wikileaks reveals (many of which *are* fairly damning at first glance), I was struck by that same stark realization. If it were any other guy (or gal) on the opposite side, with a competent and coordinated campaign that knows how to take advantage of important revelations and doesn't cry wolf every day at 3am; a close Clinton victory up until two weeks ago could very well be turning into a fairly sound defeat at this very moment.