Suddenly it all comes down, all at once...Too late. You are compromised beyond repair.

[Soph0571]

"What happened was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to be governed by surprise, to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security ...To live in the process is absolutely not to notice it -- please try to believe me -- unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, regretted. 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 one shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow. Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven't done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we did nothing) ... You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair. " German professor after World War II describing the rise of Nazism to a journalist

I see history happening... Bit like putting a frog in cold water and heating it up. By the time it realises it is cooking it is too late to escape. November could not have bigger ramifications. If people are not noticing with sufficiency just how wrong the administration is, how off it is, how unbalanced he is I don't think it an exaggeration to say American democracy is at risk. We can only learn from history if we allow ourselves to, and those authoritarian christian nationalists that have staged such an outrageous coup at the very top of the three branches are certain in their strategies of reselling a narrative to a gaslit nation to boil that fucking frog...

[Guilded Lilly]

1. K&R and post it everywhere.

[BSdetect]

2. We have been warned. They are in position to take us down.

[DENVERPOPS]

52. Agreed.

They are one millimeter away from Check Mate that they have been working on for FORTY YEARS.......

"While The Nation Slept" would be a great title for a book...............(I think that title was used years ago....)

[certainot]

55. if liberals/dems/the left finally figured out the leader of the republican party the last 30 yrs is

an ignorant blowhard going from a studio to a mansion with limos and private jets while claiming to know what americans really want and being fed increasingly by foreign sources this bullshit checkmate is over and exposed as nothing more than controlling messaging in 40 states with 80 senators by feeding limbaugh, and by authoritarian extension, another 1000 radio stations.

the idea that american democracy is nearly over because the american left and democratic 'leadership' and analysts were too fucking stupid to figure out they were getting destroyed year after year by a few hundred think tank coordinated jerks on 1500 radio stations is really tragic.

especially tragic now that AI makes it so easy to digitize, analyze, monitor talk radio, force 87 universities to stop supporting 260 limbaugh stations, and push the ad industry to finally break up the talk radio monopoly

to declare defeat while ignoring talk radio is truly tragic

[BSdetect]

56. k&r

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. It seems so obvious when u step back and take an

unemotional, rational look at the state of things, or should I say the state of EVERYTHING?

[kentuck]

4. The whole idea of "deconstructing the administrative state" is to tear down democracy.

There is too much "freedom and democracy".

Government needs to be torn down, is their theory.

[calimary]

10. "Deconstructing" is just a sanitized version of "destroyed."

Or “ruined.” Or “broken.” Or “FUBAR.” Fucked Up Beyond All Reason.

[iluvtennis]

19. +++ agree. nt

[Baked Potato]

32. Like what Bannon wants to do.

Tear it all down and position themselves to lead what comes next.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

44. Driven by the ultra-wealthy wanting to privatize everything and....

charge us a fee for everything, making us totally beholden to them. This is what drives the GOP.

Follow the money..........

[smirkymonkey]

5. +1000

It could not be described more perfectly. The thing is, the whole time, most of us have known that this was happening and still felt and were powerless to stop it. It just seemed bigger than us. I don't know what we could have done that didn't involve violence.

[bdamomma]

43. I feel as though

it's never too late to show our power. Our last option will be to vote in record numbers and not sit this one out. Or our country will continue to be unrecognizable.

[kentuck]

6. They Thought They Were Free

Is that the book that quote is from?

[kentuck]

40. Another quote:

"How is this to be avoided, among ordinary men, even highly educated ordinary men? Frankly, I do not know. I do not see, even now. Many, many times since it all happened I have pondered that pair of great maxims, Principiis obsta and Finem respice—‘Resist the beginnings’ and ‘Consider the end.’ But one must foresee the end in order to resist, or even see, the beginnings. One must foresee the end clearly and certainly and how is this to be done, by ordinary men or even by extraordinary men? Things might have. And everyone counts on that might.

[world wide wally]

7. So America falls to the spoiled, rich, chubby kid.

Amazing

[Javaman]

8. there are those who saw and tried and there are those who saw and didn't understand...

those that don't understand far outweigh those that tried. and that's what the repukes bank on.

we all knew this was coming as far back is nixon.

and here we are. we tried, but we were far outnumbered by those who didn't understand.

[Mr.Bill]

9. Republicans tell us government doesn't work

then they get elected and prove it.

The warning shot was Reagan saying government was not the solution to the problem, it was the problem. And yet he wanted to be in charge of this "problem".

[Wounded Bear]

11. I will never cease to be amazed at people who vote for...

politicians whose primary objective is to destroy the government they are being elected to operate.

[seta1950]

24. Exactly thank you

[pandr32]

17. This perplexes me, too.

[kentuck]

12. Another quote:

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, ‘everyone’ is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there would be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, ‘It’s not so bad’ or ‘You’re seeing things’ or ‘You’re an alarmist.’

[SpankMe]

13. All I can say is: "Ribbit!" n/t

[LaMouffette]

14. Excellent post! This probably explains . . .

why we have not yet seen protests on the scale of the anti–Vietnam War protests in the 1960s. Except for those of us DU-posting (or lurking!), Rachel-Maddow-watching, laying-awake-at-night-terrified-of-a-second-Trump-term folks, most Americans are simply not paying that much attention because it hasn't affected them that much—yet. As you say, Soph0571, frogs in a pot of water who haven't felt the heat being turned up.

There have been significant protests against Trump, but they haven't done much to move the needle, and by that I mean they haven't done enough to frighten Republican senators and representatives and make them think that they had better abandon Trump or they will see themselves kicked out of office.

I'm hoping it is Republican congressmen and women who are the real frogs in the pot of water who don't realize that we Democrats are about to crank the heat up to boil!

I found a good article comparing the 1960s protests to today's situation:

[link:https://mashable.com/2018/06/27/1960s-protest-civility/|

I think the Republicans are also relying on—and taking advantage of—"Democrat Nice" (kind of like "Minnesota Nice&quot . They don't fear a backlash from us Dems because we are the nice, go-along-to-get-along, reach-across-the-aisle, play-by-the-rules party (in other words, open-minded, responsible adults who are capable of seeing things from others' point of view).

Sometimes I think we should fight fire with fire and be just as mean-spirited, deceptive, and underhanded as the Republicans. But then I remember the words of Barack and Michelle Obama: "When they go low, we go high."

Good will prevail over evil. It has to.

[iluvtennis]

20. Exactly. And welcome to DU LaMouffette.

[ooky]

31. Good article. Thanks for linking it.

And welcome to DU.

[unblock]

15. still so many people think donnie started the slide into authoritarianism

even many people who have eyes fairly open don't see how donnie's election and everything he's done since could not have happened earlier. what nixon did was a fraction of what donnie has done, and he was very popular. but the media worked pretty well back then and government worked pretty well back then and politics worked pretty well back then, and eventually even republicans had to send him packing.

most people don't realize the gradual balkanization and deterioration of our media. many people now get their news from biased sources that value eyeballs and ideology over reporting accuracy. voter suppression is so widespread it is done out in the open, with just a little bit of gaslighting (yeah, we need voter id and registration purges, even though it makes it harder for millions of likely democrats to vote, because maybe half a dozen people committed voter fraud last year).

many of us here on du saw the signs of creeping authoritarianism in shrub's presidency. not only was the bush v. gore decision blatantly corrupt, but to see a president who receive a minority of votes and selected in a dubious fashion then preside in fairly open contempt of the majority, and for them to talk about a "unitary president" was, again, something that couldn't have happened earlier.

right-wingers have been steadily leading us into the abyss literally for decades. the modern push because with hate radio, ronald reagan, newt gingrich, and foxnews.

we see the ongoing purge under donnie, steady increase of outrageousness, but most of america hasn't seen how corrupted and ill-equipped to defend democracy the rest of our institutions are. the supreme court and much of the federal judiciary is in the right-wing's pocket, the senate and the department of justice are as well. the cabinet of corrupt, inept, and useless or worse. the media, even when it does report on the horrible things, rarely does it in a way that doesn't perpetual or normalize it.



it's really hard to see how we get out of this mess. even if democrats can win in november, it's difficult to see how we stop the slide long term. right-wingers are not going away, and the media is not likely to improve.

[Wounded Bear]

26. Roger Stone has Nixon tattooed on his back...

worked for him back in the day. We never really cleaned house after Nixon, so it got worse with every GOP admin since.

[unblock]

29. indeed. for too many people, the lesson learned from watergate was go bigger.

[Mr.Bill]

49. We are whwre we are at because

Nixon didn't die in prison. We better make damn sure Trump does.

[DENVERPOPS]

51. It is really hard to see

Trump isn't the deep down issue, he is merely the distraction.

It is the Republican Senate that is allowing this to happen, and whoever the Republican Party has that is directing this from the shadows. Trump would not last one minute, and not able to do all that he has done for over three years without the complete and loyal Republican Senate condoning every single thing he does, no matter how corrupt, illegal, or despicable.......

While trump's actions monopolize the news media, the Senate has done and continues to do hundreds of things in the shadows that are cementing the repubs complete control of all aspects of the Federal Government......

And the Dems continue to focus on Trump, with no real leadership of their party........

WASF

[dhol82]

54. I keep seeing McConnel as the minence Grise n all of this

Last edited Tue Mar 3, 2020, 06:10 AM - Edit history (1)

He is controlling the senate.
I don’t know who is controlling him.

[MrModerate]

16. Keep in mind that millions of Americans turned out to protest the fact that Donald Trump...

Was permitted to draw breath on literally the second day of his administration. And he's certainly not grown more lovable over time.

There is no sneaking up here — Trump's outrages are all in the open.

The question is not whether small changes will go unnoticed by the electorate, but whether they can detect it when a bulldozer crushes their house.

[Farmer-Rick]

36. Exactly, Hitler was loved by the majority of Germans. Trump is hated by the majority of Americans.

When you have a beloved leader who fulfills your need for a job, stable government and a steadily improving economy, you don't notice the awfulness he brings with him. Hitler did improve the German economy. Trump is just rigging numbers and spreading lies.

Even the Germans who objected, didn't object to his policies, they objected to how he implemented them but were willing to give Hitler the benefit of the doubt. And Hitler in his turn attempted to conform to the social norms of his day. He hid it if he was sleeping with porn stars and Slovenian sex workers(not that there was any evidence he was). He put out constant propaganda showing himself surrounded by books and family and pets. He wanted to be seen as intelligent and loving in daily life.

Trump makes no effort to be seen as loving or normal. He regularly acts stupid and doesn't care that people know it and sees it. He wont even get a pet to fit in. He wants his porn stars and sex workers as wives so he can get off the way he is use to and he doesn't care if you know it. He is not even willing to make a superficial change to get a veneer of normal, middle class values.

The only people who approve of him are RepubliCONS and even those numbers are manipulated. He couldn't even get the majority of people to vote for him or attend his inaugural. He is no Hitler. He is a criminal conman who is so self-involved he has no idea how stupid he really is. He can't fake normal like Hitler did because he doesn't know what it is. It is beyond him.

His crimes and his corruption are not sneaking up on us. It's what we saw from the very beginning and are still seeing. And Americans hate him for it.

[pandr32]

18. "Little by little" is how corprations sell us crap, too

We may grumble a bit, but we continue to buy.

[cilla4progress]

21. Absolutely.

Political awareness, acuity.... indeed.

Thank you, soph.

We should have called BULLSHIT on this back when they were obstructing Obama, or stopped the counting and appointed Bush president.

[DallasNE]

22. Why Are People Not In The Streets

It is like the frog has already been boiled.

[DemoTex]

23. Soph0571 says, ".. like putting a frog in cold water and heating it .."

Excellent analogy. There is a period of time, in that cooking pot as the water heats, where the frog - a cold-blooded amphibian - is comfortable. Then ecstatically comfortable. "This is perfect!," says the frog. That is repeated many times by his newfound friends and fellow pot-mates. Wine and cheese in the froggy hot tub. "Frog and Friends" on TV's Frog News. Rush Frogmore on the radio. What a life!

But cold-blooded creatures can only regulate their body temperature by seeking an environment with a more suitable temperature. As the frogs in the pot start to get too warm, maybe the frogs realize that there is a problem (and I wax anthopomorphic at this point). What do they do? They do nothing. It is too late. Gaslit is so much a great term at this point, as the natural gas Viking cooktop of the worst cooks in the history of this country boil the shit out of the stupid fucking frogs.

The smart frogs stayed in the swamp.

[Farmer-Rick]

37. Frogs do jump out of the pot, but I understand your analogy.

Built into most thermoregulated creatures is changing locations when it gets uncomfortable. It is a fundamentally necessary survival strategy for frogs and other ectotherms. If they didn't move when killing temperatures hit, they would be extinct by now.

[DemoTex]

38. A fitting conclusion this allegorical exercise, Farmer-Rick. Thanks.

The frogs jump out of the pot on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

[Farmer-Rick]

39. Yes, they do.

[Soph0571]

41. Indeed. But we are dealing with these folks...

I am not boiling, I can't be boiling, the Supreme leader told me I was not boiling... I am going to stay here boiling until the Supreme leader tells me I can jump out of the pot... all the while he is literally stealing their future and when they die he will move onto the spawn...

[Under The Radar]

25. The boiling began with the confirmation of Barr as AG

[matt819]

27. Here's the scary part

65 million of us anticipated it and voted accordingly.

Millions see it now and feel powerless to do anything about it. The decks are stacked against us. Courts are packed, up to and including the Supreme Court, with political and religious extremists, all holding lifetime appointments.

Sure, we're gonna vote, but while we might be optimistic that things will change, confidence in that optimism doesn't necessarily follow.

The RW extremism plan has been in the works for decades, not necessarily as a grand conspiracy but as a goal, and they are close. They haven't done it alone, of course. They've been aided by individuals (hate radio), media (Fox), and foreign interference (Russia).

The problem, of course, is that even if you are aware of the threat, it can still happen.

[lapfog_1]

28. Here is another quote that I love and applies to the times we find ourselves in

The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.* Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live.

That is the way he lived. That is what he leaves us.

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

[Blue_Tires]

30. that's how it happens...

[FM123]

33. Such a great post Soph, thank you for sharing it!

[Bluethroughu]

34. Wow...

We've been screaming for the last 15-20 years, about each incremental change, that look less like it promotes the general welfare of the US.

I'm glad to know we are not alone in our thoughts.

[Baked Potato]

35. Russia is the driving force of the right wing religious fanatics worldwide

They have used religion to coral their military and give them a rallying center point. Russia is a weak country and they need the USA to fall in with them for strength in their quest. Butina and the NRA and the right wing national prayer breakfast takeover by Russians exposed a little of their goals.

Russia knows the Plutocrats here love money and will do most anything for it. Russians travelled around unheeded in America to find cracks in our system. The cracks they found are grounded in things that make America great. Our racial diversity is ripe for divisive operations. Same with income inequality. Our free society enables bad actors to roam free and devise ways to take us down slowly and with little notice.

Trump, and his inept henchmen have enabled good, patriotic Americans to pull back the curtain and expose their evil doings. America got lucky because the guy Russia hung their hats on is so bumbling and buffoonish that their plans got exposed even before he was sworn in.

Our system wasn’t quite ready for such a huge assault on the Constitutional protections afforded us by the Great Ones a long time ago. But, slowly but surely, they will be beaten back into the shadows. The bad actors know Democrats and patriotic Americans will try their best to not take up arms to get Democracy back, but they also know if they push too far, it WILL happen.

The right wing Plutocrat’s fear of losing their wealth is keeping the total breakdown in check. Russia and other bad actors want the total breakdown to happen to take advantage of the chaos, but that is too much of potential loss for old and new money to bear.

[Evolve Dammit]

45. Good post.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

42. KR NT

[warmfeet]

46. Can we actually learn from the past?

Well, the past tells us that it is unlikely. The odds do not seem to be in our favor.

I will try anyway.

[reACTIONary]

47. I don't know....

... that doesn't sound like an accurate description of the rise of Hitler to me. Wasn't there a beer hall putsch? I wouldn't characterize that sort of movement as gradualism.

[Scruffy1]

48. As soon as you pull otu the frog in hot water myth you lose me.

it's complete bulshit. a frog will escape if it can. it's a right wing media trope.

[DENVERPOPS]

50. Absolutely phenomenal quote

Nice job Soph.......................

[Alwaysna]

53. The first part reminds me of my ex-spouse behavior.

[BSdetect]

57. k&r