Tyranny is here by Barry Rosenbaum

One of the first musings that I wrote for this blog was entitled “Where are we?” I asked the question, not knowing whether we were at the end of our grand democratic experiment that has guided us, albeit imperfectly, for the past 250 years. Or would we, the people, have the will and fortitude to stop this MAGA insanity? 

The time for ambiguity has passed — tyranny has arrived. The MAGA government has rapidly ushered us from a struggling democracy to authoritarian rule. Witness what is happening in Los Angeles, and there can be no question that we are not merely in a constitutional crisis — for all practical purposes, the Constitution has been abrogated by the executive branch. Couple that with the majority on the Supreme Court quite willing to interpret the Constitution not based on the words and history of the document, with precedent well-established by prior decisions, but instead based merely on the results they wish to achieve. 

Witness Trump v. United States (President has immunity from criminal liability) and Social Security Administration v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (Court allows the SSA to hand highly sensitive data of millions of Americans to DOGE, the purported Department of Government Efficiency). Add to that the House and Senate majorities, which are either obedient or acquiescent to Trump. No, we are not merely approaching a constitutional crisis. We are waist deep in the muck as our cherished form of government is being quickly tossed aside. We are staring directly into the abyss of tyrannical rule. 

Given this reality, it is well past time for all of us to pay attention. In fact, some think it is already too late. While I do not agree with that assessment, I do believe that we must recognize the grim state that we are in. As I have referenced before, one of the authorities on tyranny is Timothy Snyder, whose 2017 book On Tyranny is an important source for understanding where we are. In this book, Snyder provides twenty lessons that he has culled from his extensive work on this topic.  He is now providing links to a shareable card of these lessons to help us all act with knowledge and foresight.  Here they are:

We must stand up and assert the will of the people. We are witnessing the people’s response now as the protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles and the government’s immigration policies have spread across the country. These protests have overwhelmingly been peaceful, with Los Angeles’s incidents of violence centered in just several downtown blocks. The vast majority of this gigantic metropolis has not been impacted by these limited incidents.

To say as Trump does that Los Angeles would be burning if he hadn’t stepped in with the National Guard is pure Trump bullshit. Anyone with a rational mind knows, as so often is the case, that Trump is the provocateur here. Trump and his minions seek violence to justify their continued coup. We must deny them that and demonstrate our strength and commitment on No Kings Day this Saturday, June 14th, as we nonviolently express our anger at Trump’s dismantling of democracy.

This is the time. This is the moment. We cannot afford to ignore what is staring us right in the face. This is not reality TV. This is our lives and the future of our country.