“Final decisions about the nation’s existence are at stake here…” America at the Tipping Point of Dictatorship and Democracy

Posted on by under Election 2020, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

As we see the threat of an authoritarian regime becoming increasingly real, comparisons to the start of Hitler’s regime in the 1930s come to mind. Last night, I read this post by Padre Steve, a historian whose views I value. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read his wise words, and understand why it is so important that we take action to change the course the U.S. is currently on. Thank you, Padre.

The Inglorius Padre Steve's World

Friends of Padre Steve’s World,

I started this article last night but could not finish it because of how upset I was after seeing President Trump’s speech last night where he threatened the use of active duty military forces against protestors, declared an unorganized amorphous group known as Antifa, as a terrorist organization on the order of Al Qaida, and launched into a tirade worthy of Hitler in a teleconference with the nation’s governors.

But what got me was what happened during his speech. He promised the use of dominating protestors, as he ended his speech tear gas was launched and a line of unarmed peaceful protestors near St John’s Episcopal Church were suddenly assaulted by heavily armed police in riot gear and officers mounted on horseback. An aid station was overrun and two priests handing out water assaulted. I do not know if National Guard personnel were involved in…

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27 thoughts on ““Final decisions about the nation’s existence are at stake here…” America at the Tipping Point of Dictatorship and Democracy”

    • We’ve known that for a long time, but today he has proven our worst fears. I’m more furious than I am afraid, at this point. Worse yet, though, is to realize that he is only the symptom of a larger, underlying problem, and even once he’s gone (hopefully soon!), the problem will remain.

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  3. Trump has gone against almost every part of the oath he took as President to care for the occupants of the United States and he’s torn the constitution apart.Things will get worse for POC since Trump himself is racism but he has no love ffor the poor either, seeing them as a drain on the state.He thinks to have the forrces and the police back him in a police state which can never be allowed to happen. Before it reaches that state he must be assassinated by someone prepared to die for his love of country.
    Cwtch

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    • All you say is true, and I strongly suspect that as his approval rating is dropping of late, he is planning to use the current situation to employ a degree of martial law in an attempt to postpone or circumvent the November election. What black person would feel safe going to the polls with soldiers pointing their guns? What white person, for that matter? And as you know, we are already feeling the effects of his refusal to release funds to the USPS that were approved two months ago. Where does this leave us? In one hell of a mess. Your solution is one that, while I cannot publicly state without likely being arrested tomorrow, I have long thought was likely the simplest short-term solution. However, what chaos might that bring, with some 40% of the nation still claiming to love him … the 40%, I might add, who own the big guns. Sigh.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Thank you for sharing!!.. Trumps actions (con-virus, racial, etc) has shown the world what he truly is and has done him and his supporters a good deal of damage and rallied those that oppose… while it may not seem like it, America is a democracy designed to prevent the Trumps of the world from excessive use of his power…most other countries do not though some have tried to copy America’s democracy in some manner…

    Some of his followers have gone against him and his rhetoric has subsided some on the matter.. he did not get the following he thought he would… what we need to do is stay the course, have our voices heard and not do what many other countries had done…

    “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

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    • You are right, that we are a democratic republic and our Constitution is designed to prevent the Trumps of the world from the very things we are seeing today. Thing is, though, that those ‘checks and balances’, those safeguards, are only as good as those who are tasked with enforcing them, in this case Congress and the Supreme Court. Congress has been rendered ineffectual by the likes of Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, and the Supreme Court lost its integrity somewhere in the past year. So, I tend to thing we are on a collision course with disaster unless Congress finds their courage to stand up to the bully in the Oval Office. And We the People must continue to use our voices in many different ways to let Congress know that this is not the nation we once took pride in and that we are holding them accountable, since we have no leader we can hold accountable, to stand for the people, to uphold the oath they took.

      I do love that MLK quote … thank you, my friend!

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      • Well, the leadership is only as strong as the foundation and for change to take place the foundation has to change… so, while one is dealing with the leadership, one must also work on the foundation… 🙂

        “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do…” Pope John XXIII

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    • I’m going to dial my idealism back a bit, for now, and restate MLK, Jr’s words: We hold this truth to be self-evident, that all humans are created equal.
      If we are going to change the world, let’s use language as it is meant to be used, by saying what we mean instead of making it sound pretty.
      Meanwhile, too many people seem to feel this truth is not self-evident, and those are the people we need to learn…

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      • Just let your fingers do the walking (typing/writing) and your heart do the talking!!… 🙂

        “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ( Mother Teresa)

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  5. Word Press has stolen my comment.
    To put my intention in as few words as possible, if the military fires their weapons at the people they are sworn to protect, democracy has ended and an autocracy has been declared. And thus ends the United States of America as they believed themselves to be…

    Liked by 5 people

    • WordPress seems to like doing that … I’ve had the same thing happen a few times lately.

      You are right in your assessment … but then, we lost our democracy some time ago, and Trump has always seen himself as an autocrat. However, I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel yet … I still have some hopes that there is “life after Trump” for this nation, though I do realize that Trump isn’t the problem, but rather the symptom of a much deeper underlying problem, and frankly I don’t know how we can deal with that.

      Liked by 1 person

      • The very same men who brought slavery to America are mostly the same men who stole Amrica from the First Nations people. They said they wanted freedom, but they lied and killed and enslaved others instead. Your nation, whatever anyone wants to say, was founded on greed, hatred, and ignorance. So was mine.
        That is our legacy!

        Liked by 2 people

        • Sigh. ‘Tis the truth, but … does that mean we cannot change going forward? Perhaps it does … I don’t know … perhaps humans cannot ever learn from their mistakes. If that be the case, then perhaps it’s just as well that the human species is well on the path to self-extinction.

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          • Oh, definitely I am not saying things cannot change. What I am saying is as long as many people do not admit the truth of what their forefathers did, it will be extremely difficult to move on. Kind of like a alcoholic has to admit he has a problem, racists too have to admit that have a problem. Looking back at the origin of their country may help them understand that racism is wrong.

            Liked by 1 person

            • Yes, racists must first face the fact that they are racists. The more blatant ones are fully aware that they are racists, and they’re okay with it. Others may think they aren’t, but when it comes down to it, they really are. And yes, this nation started out with bigotry and racism, but we cannot undo what was done centuries ago, so best to focus on fixing the problem of today and the future.

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              • We can never undo the past, no, but you cannot ignore it either.
                In Social Work at university, they taught us the “miracle effect.” Give a client the opportunity to create their own miracle. “If you could wake up tomorrow to a better life, what miracle would you need to have happened. Please describe.” It actually worked for some people. I know it would never work for me, I don’t believe in miracles. Plus I think it could only work in a very personal sense. Not sure where I’m going with this, but maybe thinking on causing a miracle could help to brainstorm ways of ending hatred. Maybe…

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                • Like you, I don’t believe in miracles nor some higher being who can work miracles, but … what you say here does give me some things to think about. Hatred breeds hatred. If one person can be convinced that hating others is wrong, pointless, and endangers the entire world, then maybe that person can convince others. But … I think it won’t happen because in thousands of years, it hasn’t yet. What makes the human species so determined to judge and hate others based on … nothing, really? No other species acts with as much willful stupidity as humans. No other species even has ‘things’ nor values such ‘things’ above their fellow critters. When I hear someone say that humans are a superior species, I just laugh … no, even cockroaches have better sense than humans. Sigh.

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                  • Humans are driven by fear. Fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of others, fear of being discovered to be a fraud, fear of incompetence, fear of failure, to name just a few. For people who fear so completely, like Trump, the defence is to look fearsome.Instead, Trump just looks like (and is) a fool.

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                    • Yeah … sigh. I have rarely feared anything … twice in my life I’ve had a gun pointed at me, and the first time I kicked in the side of a car, for I felt rage rather than fear. But today … I fear. I fear that this nation is headed down the same path that Germany was on in 1933, and I am powerless to change it … we all are. I won’t stay in such a world.

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  6. It is nearly a certainty that Trump will lose the upcoming election and that makes him very dangerous. There is dissension within the Republican party as more join the Lincoln Project, GW Bush will announce his endorsement of Joe Biden! Seldom does former Presidents endorse the opposing party candidate.
    His ratings are dropping daily due to bungling incompetence during the pandemic and now riots all over the country.
    By the end of the month projections favor Biden with a 16 point lead! Trump will most certainly lose, but will he voluntarily leave? It seems the military and police force favor Trump as commander in chief.

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  7. Unbelievably some will love these images. It’s staggering. Are we missing something. On a day when the UK covid deaths is greater than the combined number across all 27 EU countries, our so called PM talks of success and what a great job we have done. Am I missing something.

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    • You’re right … and I am amazed at the cruelty and ignorance of some. I’m also surprised that the UK per capita death toll from coronavirus is even higher than our own, and except for a couple of countries, is near the highest worldwide. Boris is sounding more and more like Trump each day … I had hoped he had better sense. Neither he nor Donnie have bragging rights, for both our country’s leaders let us all down, costing tens of thousands of human lives. Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Yep, Larry … they said we were ‘over-reacting’, that we were alarmists and drama queens. And now just look. Sigh. I despair, if the GOP doesn’t open it’s eyes and see what is right in front of them.

      Liked by 2 people

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