"What Are You Prepared To Do?"

 

Back on March 12, in posting about European and Asian allies of the U.S. going it alone in addressing Russia's continuing aggression in Ukraine, we pointed to some obvious connections:

The strategic disaster of a Russian asset as President of the United States is a world historical coup for the Russian dictator, who has cultivated and likely blackmailed the Malignant Fascist into serving the interests of Russia.  What else could explain the inexplicable confrontations with our friends and allies in Canada, Mexico, and western Europe?  What else could explain the incredible self- sabotage of the U.S. economy by ruinous tariffs placed on those friends and allies, and on the American people?  What else could explain the dismantling of institutions and the rule of law that made America a functioning democracy, rather than an oligarchic autocracy like Russia?  Who benefits from all of this chaos and destruction and who gains?

The fast- accelerating fascist klepto- kakistocracy being imposed on America -- with easily traceable roots in Russia, Hungary, and other autocratic dictatorships -- is catching many off guard.  Some see, but don't grasp, what's happening around us to our values, our institutions, our sense of ourselves as a generally "good" nation among others. Others grasp what's happening, but don't know what they can or should do to fight it.  But, we think we're fast approaching a tipping point, when opportunities to fight back are severely limited or gone. 

Today, Tom Sullivan at Hullabaloo asks the essential, unasked question concerning our country's decline toward increasing lawlessness:

"Faced with a lawless White House, the question many of us are asking ourselves this morning is what are we prepared to do arrest that decline.

"It’s the question Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut posed on Sunday. If we continue to observe norms and act like the U.S. is business as usual — if we won’t step outside our comfort zones — our democracy could be gone in under a year. We are 'at immediate risk.'” (our emphasis)

 

 

As we've said before, people have to decide for themselves if, when, and how to fight back against the dystopian fascism of Trump and his MAGA cult.  We can only say, if you value freedom, democracy, and prosperity in your future and in that of your loved ones, the time is now to make your plan, even if it's outside of your comfort zone.

On St. Patrick's Day, it's especially appropriate to quote the great Irish poet William Butler Yeats, who said, "Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking."