Those complicit in our demise
A dictator doesn't come to power on their own. There are always people and organizations that help them. These groups believe they will profit in the rise of the unquestioned leader, but in the end, they almost always pay a huge price for their betrayal.
Hitler didn't rise to power simply because of his charisma. His lies and constant diatribes against the people who weren't German enough wouldn't have gotten him to the post of Chancellor had not newspapers and people with influence and power within the German system agreed with him and done whatever they could to lift him up. The same can be said about every single dictator that has risen through democratic systems.
Trump had the entire right-wing echo chamber and elected republicans all across the country who were eager to use violence to get what they wanted. Hate manifested as it always does. The desire for control, for power, for influence overrides sense and morals. These groups abandon the guardrails and the morals they say they live by to gain the things they crave most.
For years people have been warning us about Trump, but most of those people ignored all the facilitators. Fox News. The Wall Street Journal. The Federalist Society. Newsmax. Fundamentalist Christians - especially the end of the world loving Evangelicals. The ultra wealthy who desired tax cuts at the expense of everyone else. And finally, elected Republicans who ostensibly were elected to follow and defend the constitution, but were the first to inspire an insurrection when they lost an election.
Right now the most dangerous of all of those groups is Fox News and all the other "news" agencies out there premised on making republicans feel angry about everyone else in their country. I say that because the dictator in the white house spends all day watching so called news stations and listening to advisors who have their own agenda. The protests in LA and those scheduled around the country this weekend are not being portrayed for what they are - constitutionally protected speech. Nope, all of these people are evil liberals intent on saving crooks and criminals so they can terrorize all these innocent rednecks in the middle of fucking nowhere.
The dictator is going to use every excuse made available to him to bring the hammer down on innocent people and help solidify his power. The constant stream of "anti-American sentiment" expressed by these protestors has to be stopped they are saying. They are telling right-wing Americans that they need to forgo their constitutional rights so Trump and the administration can punish people who are using theirs. After all, these people aren't "real" Americans.
We aren't sleepwalking into dictatorship. We are embracing it. We are eating up the propaganda and willingly saying to take away our rights so that the hateful leader can punish these disobedient children. The problem none of these people see or can seem to understand is that when you take the rights of any one group you are telling the government you are okay with them taking your rights too when you disagree with them.
If we are lucky enough to get through the next few years and somehow get our democracy back without major bloodshed, we will need to deal with all of the traitors in this country who enabled a man like Trump to attain power.
