Ghostly sounds of jackboots echoing in the night. Glass shattering, gunshots and people disappearing [View all]

[PatrickforO]

into the night and mist.

What am I talking about? I'm talking about Donald Trump's xenophobic hyper-nationalist followers. Why? Because they scare the shit out of me. Here's an excerpt from a Huffington Post article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-florida-rally_562ce403e4b0ec0a3894ba2d

Pro-immigration protesters and Donald Trump supporters clashed at a rally in Miami on Friday, leading to one protester being forcefully dragged out by his collar to chants of "USA! USA!" Ariel Rojas, one of eight student protesters from Florida International University, was seen on video being forcefully dragged to the ground by his collar and then kicked as rally-goers cheered.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to calls or emails about the scene, but NBC Miami reported that the campaign said the man who dragged the protester was neither a Trump campaign staffer nor an employee of the resort, but "merely an attendee" at the rally. Trump acknowledged the protesters several times during his hour-long speech. At one point, he encouraged people to remove the protesters and noted, "You can get 'em out, but don't hurt 'em."

"See the first group, I was nice: 'Oh, take your time,'" Trump said from the lectern. "The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I'll be pretty more violent. And the fourth group, I'll say, 'Get the hell out of here!'"

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated instance of violence from Trump supporters.

I'm in my late 50s and my father fought in the Second World War. All we have to do is look back about 90 years and we can see an alarming number of parallels between the US now and Germany in the waning days of the Wiemar Republic. We all know what happened then, but let's take an alarming look at what is happening in the present-day United States.

I will lay it out for you:
1. We already have crushing military might, complete with satellite proxy armies who will do our bidding
2. We already have a pervasive domestic 'security' apparatus, complete with rendition, illegal property seizure, and political prisoners held without trial
3. We already have theocrats who are revising the history we teach our children to downplay social movements and instead reflect obedience to the state
4. We already have the oligarchs, particularly the bankers and military industrial prison complex in the wings, waiting to increase profits
5. Our national government is deeply corrupted, with Citizens United allowing monied interests to legally bribe those we elect to represent us

All those things are already in place. The only thing, the only spark that is needed is a demagogue.

I'm very concerned here. I hope you are, too.