Non-Democracy in America

Parade float in Germany. People everywhere but the US get what's happening.

Claude Malhuret's short address to the Senate of France continues to resonate, through the several times I've carefully listened to it. In summarizing the import and impact of what Chaos is causing in his brief rule so far, he brought up the swiftness with which Hitler toppled the democracy of Germany.  A French statesman does not make this analogy lightly.

For the Hitlerization of America is on schedule.  So much so that the Polity Project, an organization that studies and characterizes governments worldwide has re-classified the United States as a "non-democracy."

The overwhelming number of illegal orders roiling everything the government does is accompanied by other automatic subversions of the rule of law, including the attempt to say the pardon of one of his January 6 thugs includes erasing subsequent charges that he engaged in conspiracy to kill a government investigator.

The attacks on free speech are so various and so many that several observers remark on the palpable climate of fear they are creating.

Last week the Muskovite takeover and decimation of the federal government moved into outright thuggery when armed men forced their way into a small resisting agency. They were reputed to be US Marshals, though this is not in their remit, and there's some question about whether that's actually who they were.

While Chaos makes lots of noise disabling the US government, the world order and life on Earth, his administration is readying the militarized sweep of allegedly illegal immigrants, to herd them into the concentration camps now being prepared--that is, those not already sent to Gitmo. 

The analogy extends to foreign affairs, as Europeans note the Hitler-like treachery of the US of Chaos betraying Ukraine, penalizing longstanding allies and cozying up to enemies.

So far however the resistance has not measured up to the threat. The Fidel-sized, Fuhrer-inflected State of the Union seems to have galvanized his Republican support, while the Democrats were all over the place, since admitting they blew it. Congressional Democrats face another test very soon with budget votes, but so far they seem disorganized.

Americans face the prospect this year of recession combined with inflation, and the absence of a government to address them.  Result: more chaos.

But Malhuret holds out one hope: "In America, the defenders of freedom have always prevailed." It's the test of this generation.  So far the resistance is scattered and apparently without strategy. The energy in the streets is there, but there's nothing yet to rally around.  So far, the signs at these protests have been more articulate that the words of any leader.

Pittsburgh protestors in one of many demos Friday 3/7 about cuts in science research.

In previous crises in American history, people have turned to people of stature, respected enough by the majority to be listened to. That's part of what's disturbing now--because it's hard to think of any such persons.  Maybe the very idea of people of stature is obsolete. (Except maybe in Canada, where an actual person of stature is to be the new Prime Minister.) The last one in America may have been Obama, and he's been noticeably quiet. Some suggest this leadership will have to come from the states, from governors and attorneys-general.

This is also in contrast to the reactions in other countries.  European leaders almost without exception quickly reaffirmed their support for Ukraine in the wake of the Chaos betrayal of that country, and his further betrayals of the Atlantic Alliance.  Canadian leaders with the support of its citizens are staunchly resisting the Chaos threats to its sovereignty and economy.  With actual and threatened tariffs, Canadians are stripping the shelves of US beverages (especially alcoholic) and other products. Ontario is imposing its own tariff on the electric power it generates that parts of the upper Midwestern US depend on, and threaten to turn it off altogether.  In each case, leaders aren't hedging, they are resisting, and their poll numbers show popular support.

One form of resistance in the US is potentially dangerous: the Washington Post reports that Tesla dealerships, charging stations and vehicles have been the targets of Molotov cocktails and gunfire.  Something like this could be the pretext for a federal escalation, now that Chaos has installed puppet leaders in the military and Justice Department.  Or he could unleash his violent minions, especially the ones whose leaders he recently freed from prison. 

 Why do I suggest this possibility?  It's the next step in the Hitler playbook.