KISSING HIS RING

“Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.” - Timothy Snyder, “On Tyranny”

I have to admit, I never really thought I would be writing seriously about how the American Republic will be overthrown and replaced by a fascist dictatorship. As much as I have worried about the possibility, I always hoped to wake up and find it was just Trump Derangement Syndrome. But the news sine November 6 cannot be ignored.

After World War II, in an attempt to understand how Hitler turned the Weimar Republic into a fascist dictatorship, Chicago reporter Milton Mayer went to Germany and interviewed people who had survived the 12 years of the Third Reich. He published the interviews in a 1954 book, They Thought They Were Free.” I got hold of acopy a few months ago.

In the book, Mayer quotes one of his German friends describing what happened once Hitler seized power:

“This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.”

Mayer asked, did the German people realize they’d abandoned democracy? That they would soon become international pariahs? The college professor he interviewed answered:

“To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it — please try to believe me — unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop.

“Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ that no ‘patriotic German’ could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing.

“And one day it is over his head.”

How did people not rise up and protest the destruction of democracy? Mayer’s professor gave the answer:

“You see, one doesn’t see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow.

You don’t want to act, or even to talk, alone; you don’t want to ‘go out of your way to make trouble.’ Why not? — Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.”

There is no sudden proclamation that the nation is now “officially fascist,” as Mayer’s good friend explained:

“But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

“And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jew swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose.”

Last Friday, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Largo, where they kissed Trump’s ring and agreed with him that they should all “re-establish communication.” Brzezinksi explained their move: “For those asking why we would speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, I would ask back: Why wouldn’t we? It’s time to do something different, and that starts with not only talking about Donald Trump, but talking with him.”

Scarborough led off Morning Joe today saying people on social media who criticized his visit don’t live in “the real world,” but his friends around the world called him and told him he did the right thing. Because of course. These two hacks were once close enough that Trump offered, over lunch at Mar-A-Lago, to preside over their wedding.

Brian Stelter from CNN reported though that the real reason why they went to Mar-A-Lago is because they’re intimidated by Trump and afraid of what he might do to them if they didn’t make nice. George Conway said: “Sadly, Brian’s reporting is correct. Over the past week I heard from two entirely separate very reliable sources, with some vivid detail, that they are absolutely terrified of Trump.”

Beyond their fear, this was most probably at the insistence of network executives, given Trump’s threats against the very existence of MSNBC. That and the fact the network’s ratings have cratered since November 1, with the week following November 5 being the Lowest Ratings Ever across the board for all shows.

Afterwards, Trump went to Faux Snooze to ridicule both, announcing they “congratulated me on running a ‘great and flawless campaign, one for the history books’” adding that “it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago,” and finishing ominously: “I expect this will take place with others in the media, even those that have been extremely hostile.”

Sadly, I’m certain he’s not wrong. On her show last night, Stephanie Ruhle defended Scarborough and Brzezinski without referring to them by name or by their action, claiming that if she speaks to a member of the Trump campaign, or a member of the administration once they take office, “that doesn’t mean I approve of them, it means I am trying to get information for you.” Nice try, Stephanie, but that’s not what they did. They traded professional self-respect for “access.”

With Trump in office, the networks hope to regain that 50% viewership loss since 2020. It will be a celebration of lapses in judgement by people who treat intolerance, xenophobia, and misogyny as something to be laughed at,not taken literally or seriously.

We can expect more media stars and network executives to perform their versions of the same, like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. I think we can expect guests and hosts on MSNBC, CNN, etc. to stop using the “fascism” word to describe Trump, his actions, and his people. There might be exceptions like Nicolle Wallace - who still reports her outrage at what she sees happening - and Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell, but even they may face an opposition they can’t oppose. All contracts are subject to revision.

Those who think such surrenders will mollify Trump are going to find that, instead, he will be empowered to become more brutal, as what happened in Florida when DeSantis gained the authority to “hold accountable” college professors, reviewing their politics every five years so those who aren’t totally “loyal” can lose tenure and be fired.

Defying or challenging Dear Leader brings opprobrium; supporting Dear Leader is the path to career advancement.

If you challenge Dear Leader, you challenge the state, and that’s treason as defined by the fascists. Marjorie Taylor Greene demonstrated this in her description of Speaker Emerita Pelosi:

“She took an oath to protect American citizens and uphold our laws. And she gives aid and comfort to our enemies who illegally invade our land. That’s what treason is. And by our law, representatives and senators can be kicked out and no longer serve in our government — and it’s a crime punishable by death.”

Such may not be reality now, but that is no guarantee for the future.

If Trump follows through on destroying the powers of the Senate and House of Representatives, whatever he says will become the law through “rule by decree.” The ability to rule by decree is already in our laws about the president’s emergency powers. Trump came close to invoking that power when he lost the 2020 election and General Flynn begged him to “temporarily suspend the Constitution.”

And like Nazi Germany, while it will change how power is wielded, things will still look much the same to average people, most of whom have no clear idea what government can and cannot do to begin with.

There will still be all the public trappings of democracy. The House and Senate, the state capitals and governors, the bureaucracies and political systems will remain intact. Everything will look normal on the surface.

There will still be opposition parties and political candidacies in a fascist America, although if any of them seriously challenges Dear Leader or shows the ability to disrupt the status quo, they’ll be discovered to be “supporting terrorism” (there is a fight in congress right now over abill that will allow non-profit organizations to be so designated); candidates will e revealed have a secret drug problem or porn habit, or get arrested, ried and sent to prison for corruption, tax evasion, or other “trumped-up” charges.

The prosperity of a company will depend on how well it supports the politics of The Leader, who is even now connecting with a few dozen oligarchs he knows are loyal to him to seize control of major industries. Those who fail the loyalty test are bought out (see: Xitter), shut down, or will not find customers or supplies because nobody will do business with them. A disfavored corporation might run into anti-trust problems when attempting a merger.

The industry where this is most visible at first is the media. Warner Brothers-Discovery, Comcast-Universal, Disney and Paramount are already desperate to unload their “legacy media” operations. Under new owners, opposition voices vanish from all but the most obscure media, and those few opposing voices that are tolerated are pointed to by The Leader as proof we are still an open democracy.

The majority of Americans, so long as they pay attention to football instead of politics, will tell you nothing much has changed.

Hate crimes and murders by vigilante groups will start happening with such frequency that the media doesn’t bother to report them anymore.

If they do have to kill somebody, there will be no investigation unless it’s to cover up the crime. If they need to make somebody disappear, that person disappears. At first it will be stochastic terrorism: lone wolf actors not directly connected to Dear Leader but answering his general call to punish political evildoers. Just ask Nancy Pelosi or Mike Pence, who both narrowly escaped being murdered on January 6.

This is how the kind of government Donald Trump promises he will establish in America will happen. If Trump brings the Senate to heel with his outrageous Cabinet nominations, we will know it’s fully here, now.

If you think this sounds extreme, just look at how the Republican Party has been reinvented in less than 10 years.

Liz Cheney spoke against Trump, the Wyoming GOP expelled her and Trump supported a primary challenger. Other Republicans who voted to impeach Trump faced such a backlash they decided to retire at the end of their terms: Adam Kinzinger, Anthony Gonzalez, John Katko, Mitt Romney, and Fred Upton.

As “future dystopian” as this sounds, more governments in the world are run this way today than there are democracies. It’s “normal.”

When I was growing up, every teacher (but one) wrote these words (or words to this effect) in my report cards:

“Fails to respond to properly-constituted authority.”

Being the class pain in the ass isn’t the easiest way to live, but I don’t really know any other response one can have to what is coming.

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