This is not America.

But, if we don’t win in November, it will be.

by Jeff Odell

A few of us progressives have been expressing fears of Trump’s authoritarian proclivities for years. Comparisons between this administration and the fascists of the 1930s and 40s were dismissed as alarmist in 2017. But now? 

• With militarized, unaccountable goons directly controlled by Trump violently oppressing law-abiding protesters in American cities — over the objections of local officials?
• With right-wing “state media” amplifying the administration’s blatant disinformation about anarchy in Democrat-led cities? 
• And with Trump hinting about not accepting the results of the election!?

From trampling norms to threatening democracy

Trump has violated norms his entire life. As president, he stumbled on a peculiar vulnerability in our system of government: many of the safeguards against abuse of executive power are norms and traditions rather than laws. And even when they are written into the Constitution or law, they’re difficult to enforce if a president is willing to defy Congress, as Trump is.

Close observers from all over the political spectrum (even conservative Republicans like Bill Crystal and members of the Lincoln Project) have watched with alarm as Trump has trampled one norm after another with impunity. He’s damaged our institutions so much, they may not recover from a second Trump term.

Recent events — Lafayette Park, Portland, Trump and Attorney General Barr laying the groundwork to dispute the election, their posture that the administration is above the law, and Trump’s utter failure to address the coronavirus and racism crises — raise the threat to a higher level. Even folks who don’t ordinarily pay much attention to politics are worried about the direction things are heading. It’s clear that Trump will stop at nothing to remain in power.

It’s time to take seriously the possibility that we could lose our democracy, that this great nation — flawed, but striving towards its founding ideal of government by the people, for the people — could slide into dictatorship or kleptocratic oligarchy. 

There’s probably worse ahead.

The rise of authoritarianism in democratic societies follows a common pattern. The would-be strongman identifies unfavored groups to blame for the problems of “real” citizens. He attacks the press and suppresses information in order to promote his version of reality. He purges the government of independent officials, installing loyalists and enablers. Then he and his allies manipulate elections to maintain and increase their power. Once an authoritarian has consolidated power sufficiently, he might seize on — or manufacture — an “emergency” as a pretext to assert authoritarian control in the name of law and order.

Sound familiar? Do you feel confident that we’re safe from this fate? Are you comfortable assuming “everything will work out fine”?

This is a national emergency. We can’t sit on the sidelines. Like the villagers who stood up to the Redcoats 245 years ago, we ordinary people must step up to meet the historical moment. We owe it to our predecessors who built, preserved, and improved this republic. We owe it to our children.

“History shows that mass peaceful protest works. So if you’re not protesting now, this would be a good time to start.”

Timothy Snyder, Yale University (watch MSNBC interview)

If we act, there’s hope.

Encouragingly, huge numbers of people recognize the danger and have become activists for the first time. They’re standing up against what looks like fascism. 

Not everybody can don a yellow shirt and join the Wall of Moms in Portland (Aren’t those women awesome?). But everybody can do something. Choose an action. Persuade someone to join you. Then, choose another action. Keep going until Trump and this twisted version of the GOP are out of power. Please. None of us wants to look back in November and say, “I should have done more.” 

What we want to say is, “I was part of the historic blue wave of 2020.” Let’s make it happen.

Jeff Odell is a former Concord teacher and currently serves as steering committee member and marketing/communications guru for Concord Indivisible. To his former students he says, “Make me proud: get involved!”