It isn't a binary. It isn't "everything is completely normal" and "everything is already a totalitarian dictatorship where elections are a sham because there are no independent power centers and no independent judiciary." And because it isn't a binary, someone making an argument that a totalitarian scenario is legitimately on the table can't support that argument merely by rhetorically noting that things aren't completely normal. And because it isn't a binary, someone pointing out that a totalitarian scenario is unlikely isn't saying that things are completely normal.

Are you waiting to call the tipping point? How long did people wait in Germany to make the call? Was it 1933 when the Nazis burned the Reichstag and effed with the March election? Was it 1934 when Hitler became Fuhrer and the Gestapo was established? Was it 1935 with the Nuremberg codes? Or Kristallnacht in 1938?

The totalitarian scenario is unlikely until it isn’t. This fascist government is telegraphing its moves and you seem satisfied to wait and see if it succeeds or fails. Waiting for the courts to save the day is a fools errand. The moment for direct confrontation with fascism has arrived. The people of Minneapolis are showing the way. It’s time for governors to step up and confront the federal implementation of fascism directly by asserting state authority over the instruments of state power—the police and state national guard units.

Many state constitutions include habeas corpus provisions. Governors should begin using state law enforcement agencies to protect and defend citizens habeas corpus rights in the face of their violation by agents of the federal government. Arrest ICE agents for violating state laws, including the infringements against habeas corpus. Let the feds sue the states in federal court and wait for the slow cogs of judicial authority to work themselves out. In the meantime, state governments would be acting to protect their citizens from the abuse of federal authority.

The time for concrete action is now, not ten months from now when we wake up and realize it’s too late.

US Policy FAQ

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