Tag: A Very American Autocracy

Event Horizon: Comparing Trump’s January 6th Insurrection To Hitler’s Beerhall Putsch

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It’s sometimes easy to dismiss Trump as a political has been and a big old dingus. And, yet, I’m reading a biography about the political ascent of Hitler and I’m just past the part where Hitler tried to overthrow the Weimar Republic via his failed Beerhall Putsch.

What’s so alarming is, if you do a 1-to-1 between Trump’s January 6th Insurrection and Hitler’s Beerhall Putsch, Trump came a lot closer to getting what he wanted than Hitler. With the Beerhall Putsch, Hitler would have had to have marched on Berlin to successfully overthrown the government there. Meanwhile, Trump at the time of the January 6th Insurrection WAS the government and, to some extent, the only reason why he failed was Mike Pence simply did his job.

Had things worked out just a little bit differently on January 6th, Trump could have at least forced the country into chaos and potentially civil war. And there was just as much of a chance that he could have successfully pulled off an autogolpe and continued to stay in power.

So, the case could be made that Trump in 2020 and Hitler in 1923 were far more similar than one might first thing. And, what’s worse, Trump was actually more dangerous than Hitler.

The key thing we have to appreciate is how popular fascist autocracy is in the United States at the moment. A number of things superficially suggest that there might be a civil war instead of a slide into autocracy, but I continue to be very dubious of such a notion.

Just because the United States is far bigger and more diverse than the Weimar Republic doesn’t mean we’re any less likely to embrace fascism when the time comes. The American center-Left is a pushover and unless something I just can’t predict happens, they will suffer the same fate as Russian liberals when Putin came to power — exile, arrest and or death.

I would estimate that around 48% of the American population looking forward to a white, autocratic Christian ethno state. A lot of that 48% doesn’t really appreciate what it is exactly that they want, but they know it when they see it. As such, I continue to believe that on a macro historical scale MAGA could be as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than the Nazis.

Ultimately, more people will die because of MAGA than the Nazis.

I think this because either we have a civil war in the United States that causes WW3, or the United States becomes a MAGA themed America First Fortress which will so destabilize the world order that…a WW3 happens. And given the issue of race in the United States, it’s very likely that once we get our MAGA fascist state that it will go after African Americans, gays and…Jews. And loudmouth cranks like me.

Form follows function.

And the diverse nature of America could very well make our new fascist MAGA overlords feel more insecure to the point that they decide to have a “Final Solution” of their own.

Here’s something interesting to think about when it comes to comparing Hitler and Trump — both of them make no bones about their long-term intentions. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while Trump did a lot of deranged tweets that gave people a real-time understanding of his thinking.

Form follows function. There are so many eerie similarities between Trump and Hitler that you have to take the rise of MAGA in the United States just as seriously as that of the NSDAP in the Weimar Republic. As of right now, the only thing that is a major difference between Trump and Hitler is Trump is not a Great Man.

He’s just an avatar, a vessel for white Christian rage in the United States. Trump is so stupid and so lazy that he is more of a transitional figure than Hitler, who shaped history to his will. So, in that sense, it’s probably going to be Trump’s fascist successor who will be America’s Hitler, or maybe some mish-mash of Hitler and Putin.

The point is — if you have the means, start making your plans for getting the fuck out of the United States. I’m a broke ass motherfucker so I’m going to have to stay and fight. But at least 1 million wealthy, well educated liberals are going to leave the US starting in late 2024. You should probably make your plans now to beat the rush.

The Philippines is lovely.

Red & Blue Talk Past Each Other

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I love my Traditionalist relatives dearly sometimes it’s very obvious that all their talking points are simply the watered down talking points of American Nazis. They hear about the Great Replacement and the Great Reset and the evils of the “liberal world order’ and then turn around and either yell at me about them or just sulk in silence because they no longer want to me about politics.

One thing I’ve found to be frustrating as someone who’s Twitter echo chamber is center-Left is how so many “Resistance” thought leaders are very, very oblivious to the issues that are important to Traditionalists and MAGA.

To your typical conservatives it’s not “the border” it’s The Border. There is only one border, the national border, and it’s like their political clit — touch it and they get really excited one way or another. Now, for me, the center-Right’s obsession with The Border is patently racist and bigoted.

America is, by definition, a nation of immigrants and what anyone who rants about The Border is really talking about is their fear that scary brown people will change the make up of the United States because white women aren’t haven’t enough babies.

One thing that is interesting is the Traditionalists I know fucking hate liberals and Democrats with such an absolute rage that there is no room for compromise. They often get so wrapped up in their dreams of “putting Hillary Clinton under the prison” that when you say, “Ok, you can have that as long as Trump is right there with her” they don’t even notice the concession you’ve made.

What’s more, not only do my Traditionalists think that the “woke cancel culture mob” is out to ruin their lives on a practical, personal basis, they also think that anyone who isn’t MAGA is either gay, a “groomer” or wants to force everyone to bend a knee to the “homosexual agenda.” This is RIGHT THERE at the very front of their minds whenever you want to talk about politics. In other words, we’re totally fucked. It’s just a short jaunt towards a President DeSantis getting approval to throw people like me in a camp.

Because all of that is very bonkers, it’s very easy for center-Left thought leaders to make fun of what MAGA believes. That serves no purpose. While we’re all laughing at MAGA, they’re quickly taking over not just state governments but the administration of elections.

And, I hate to break it to you, but the Nazis believed some pretty crazy things — comical, even. But that didn’t stop them from taking over Europe and threatening the entire world.

Is there any solution to this clusterfuck?

No. There isn’t. We’re beyond the Even Horizon. Not only that, but we’ve given up as a country. We’re either going to have a civil war or we’re going to turn into a Very American Autocracy. Get out while you can, if you have the means.

A Very American Autocracy: The Dread of ‘Schedule F’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Right before Trump left office, he signed an Executive Order that would allow him to pretty much just fire any civil servant because he wanted to. This was eventually rescinded by President Biden, but Trump is still actively plotting how to bring the idea back when he becomes POTUS again.

I’ve been half-heartedly reading a great book on the rise of Hitler in Germany and when I learned of Trump’s plans for Schedule F, I grabbed it out of my personal library and positioned it in my house so I can remind myself to read it. Because it’s things like Schedule F which are concrete signs of how shitty it will be in the United States once Trump (or whomever happens to be our first autocrat) comes into power.

Remember, it’s unlikely that things will change all that much initially. But they will change. And if we’re lucky, we’ll endup somewhere around Hungary or Turkey politically. If we’re not lucky, we’re going to endup closer to being a Russia — or even Nazi Germany — clone.

The only reason why I dread that we might endup closer to Nazi Germany is race. Once we really accelerate our decline into fascist autocracy, form follows function and it would make a lot of sense for the more extreme elements of the fucking fascist Republican Party to open ICE camps to some sort of “Final Solution” for POC.

But such a nightmarish situation would begin with things like Schedule F.

It Appears The United States’ Decent Into Autocracy Is A Foregone Conclusion

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve pretty much seen enough — rather than have any sort of civil war, the United States is going to become a Hungary-style autocracy. I say this because the American center-Left has proven itself to be complete ineffectual. Combine this with how the entire edifice of the Republican Party is now fascist and I just don’t see how we don’t slouch our way into autocracy at some point after 2025.

Things won’t change initially, of course. But gradually, in fits and starts someone like a President DeSantis is going to gradually throttle what’s left of traditional American democracy.

And we’re going to let it happen with our eyes wide open. There will be a lot of gnashing of teeth on the part of Twitter liberals as all of this happens, but in the end they’re simply going to leave the country — I predict a least 1 million in the first few years.

Now, this is not an abstract to me. I’m a loudmouth crank who is often drunk and as our new autocrat consolidates power it is inevitable — because form follows function — that even that most prized of American rights, freedom of speech, will no longer exist.

All my hysterical predictions from the first Trump Administration will happen, just a number of years after I initially predicted them. Remember, the people who voted for orange dingus in 2016 wanted an autocrat. Trump has shown how weak America’s democratic institutions are and as such, once someone like DeSantis is POTUS they will know they can get away with some pretty white knuckled autocracy and people will abide by it.

The great irony is, of course, that the MAGA New Right is hysterical about how much they want to murder people like me in cold blood for political reasons that they — and a lot of third party observers — get wrapped up in the fanciful idea that Reds will start some sort of civil war.

This is a very dumb belief. Reds have no reason to start a civil war and it would be a massive, historic self-own on their part if they did such a thing. They just have a vested interest in keeping the peace so they can inevitably consolidate power without firing a shot.

There, are, any number of scenarios you could think up were we have a civil war but most of them require some pretty massive screw ups on the part of the MAGA New Right. If there is a Second American Civil War, it’s going to happen when Blue States leave the Union en masse.

The only reason why I can’t 100% predict there won’t be a civil war is, lulz, I can’t predict the future and any number of totally unexpected things could happen that might force Blue States to feel they have no other option but to leave the Union through a “National Divorce” and, as such, precipitate a civil war.

But, for the time being, I would advise you to get ready for A Very American Autocracy. The center-Left is fiddling while American democracy burns by being “woke” and getting way too wrapped up in things like pronouns. Autocracy is really, really popular in the United States at the moment and, as such, when the next Republican becomes president, that’s all she wrote for the American birthright of democracy.

A Very American Autocracy: Trump’s Successor Will Be America’s First Autocrat

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Trump is — and remains — too stupid and lazy to be an autocrat. The great irony is, of course, that both myself and the people who voted for him in 2016 thought he was an autocrat. But, lulz, no. He’s not a Great Man, he’s just an avatar who plays himself and is too lazy to do the hard work of destroying American democracy once and for all.

This brings us to Trump’s looming second term.

Now, obviously, that’s both not happen yet and a few years away. So a lot could change between now and 2025. But even though Trump looks like shit most of the time these days, Joe Biden has proven that someone in their late 70s and early 80s can be president.

So, let’s suppose Trump does exactly what we believe he is going to do and runs again in 2024 and, through hook or through crook, wins again. What would be the significance of that event?

There is a lot to unpack here.

First, of course, is the cold hard fact that Trump’s second term will be based on revenge and the final destruction of American democracy. But, again, all of that will happen in the context of Trump being very stupid and very lazy. The real issue we have to worry about is who will be his successor.

His successor will be America’s Putin.

At the moment, I’m leaning towards him picking as crazy as possible a successor. Someone like Gen. Mike Flynn. Someone who is totally fucking bonkers and yet is young enough and smart enough to complete the process of transitioning the United States into autocracy. There’s a small chance that Trump might, out of desperation, pick Ron DeSantis as his veep, but if he goes with a “normal” person, it’s probably going to pick someone even more dangerous like Josh Hawley.

But the point is — barring the other option of 2024 – 2025, which is civil war — the United States will no longer be a democracy soon after Trump cheats his way into a second term. (A second term he would probably win without even cheating.)

And even Trump is smart enough to realize that once he’s back in power, he can get everything he wants through a Constitutional Convention. I fully expect Trump — or his smarter, more organized successor –to demand a Constitutional Convention to “pass a balanced budget amendment” at some point after 2025.

And, yet, I’m still blocked by Mueller, She Wrote for being “terribly negative” even though it’s pretty obvious that my “terribly negative” views are using self-evident information. Oh well. Fight the power, I guess.

When The Very American Autocracy Finally Comes, Fox News Will Freak Out Not About Immigrant Caravans, But A Liberal Brain Drain

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

At the moment at least, it seems as though we are careening towards some sort of MAGA presidency in 2025 and, as such, autocracy. The Republican Party is very clear these days about how much it hates democracy, doesn’t believe in it and goes so far to point out with great vigor that we aren’t even a democracy, but, rather a “constitutional republic.”

So, I predict that as many as 1 million or more highly trained, highly educated wealthy liberals will leave the United States once it becomes clear we’ve peacefully slipped into autocracy.

What’s more, the autocrat — whomever that may endup being — will notice this and at his behest Fox News will go completely batshit over the brain drain the United States will be experiencing. Their go-to, hysterical coverage of “immigrant caravans” will be replaced by the dire implications of “liberal brain drain.”

This will be very ironic, of course, because Fox News has long been on the “If you don’t like it, leave it” side of the political fence when it comes to such things. When wealthy liberals begin to do just that, Fox News will piviot to bitch and moaning about it without blinking an eye.

In fact, because form follows function, I could see the autocrat making it far, far more difficult for people to flee the country. But before that happens, so many wealthy liberal Americans will decamp to Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and that will be The Issue of the Day at some point after 2025.

This has massive implications for global culture that I can’t fully game out at the moment. But it’s going to happen — or something similar will happen when all the coward Twitter liberals flee the country for a different reason, which would be the country has imploded into civil war.

It will be really interesting to see if Twitter liberals surprise me and rise to the occasion when the time comes. But, really, who am I kidding? They are already getting second passports at an alarming rate. And, given how big the US, it could be I’m low balling how many people will flee the country. All I know is, it’s going to happen and there are some pretty big cultural implications that will stim from it.

Anyway, the point is — these are The Before Times. Act accordingly.

MAGA’s Coming ‘Light Touch’ American Autocracy?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One possibility when it comes to America’s decent into autocracy that we need to think more about is what if you held an autocracy and no body came? In other words, the center-Left has a lot of soft power in the US…but pretty much jack shit hard power.

So, it’s reasonable to assume that it’s possible Trump steals the 2024 election, his veep becomes POTUS at some point afterwards, we become an autocracy….and….we don’t even notice much of a change in real terms.

President DeSantis, or whomever, just doesn’t give a shit what the late night hosts say — even though libel laws will likely be changed — and, in general the average person’s life doesn’t change that much. Sure, loudmouth cranks like me who get drunk and tell President DeSantis to suck it may vanish but that would be the outlier.

And, sure, a lot and I mean A LOT of wealthy Twitter liberals would flee the country, but the average American — the Good Americans — would just go about their business. They generally wouldn’t notice any change in their everyday life until it became personal.

Then, oh boy, they will get woke pretty quick.

I say all of this because it would definitely fit more in the collective American personality for there to be a “light touch” autocracy than all my dystopian hellscape hysterical fears. If anything, my hysterical “terribly negative” fears would be things that might come to be gradually to the point that we wouldn’t even really notice that much of a difference in everyday life at first.

But make no mistake — America is careening towards autocracy one way or another. Or we have a civil war. I don’t know which one yet. But I would suggest you enjoy these last few days of “normal” life. You thought the pandemic sucked, you ain’t see nothing yet.