On February 10, Public Policy Polling (“PPP”) released a poll relating to many aspects of the Trump presidency. I would like to focus on only one of the poll’s findings:

I participated in the “Sisters March” of about 1,200 people, in Frederick, MD. We were gathered at one of the bridges on Carroll Creek, listening to speakers. I looked around at my fellow citizens. I saw younger people and their children, some in strollers. Colorful and strident signs bobbed up and down.

Folks were having a good time. We were on the same page, unified against the new president and his policies. A bit of a carnival atmosphere prevailed.

I suddenly became somber. I started to feel dread, fear, and paranoia. They were familiar feelings. The last time I felt those emotions was almost 50 years ago, at Ohio State University during the Spring of 1970. For weeks, the campus was roiled by protests, first against racism, and, then, after Nixon bombed Cambodia, against the Vietnam War. Such protests occurred throughout the Country.

I participated in them. I almost got shot twice at Ohio State, once by the Columbus police and the other by the National Guard just after the Kent State Massacre. I lived under marshal law. Yes, marshal law here in the United States. I literally lost my liberties.

I  never have gotten over those weeks and months of protest.

The State is powerful. It has all of the tools to intimidate and utterly destroy any opposition and dissent.

We also face a large minority of Americans who view us in disdain and likely will do everything to delegitimize and weaken us.

We must be realistic. We must be prepared to pay the price for our dissent. It will come from the State. It also could come from our fellow Americans who support Trump. In any case, we must do our very best to claim the high moral ground and make our points with large crowds and non-violence.

Back in 1970, I clearly remember the day after Kent State. A few of us went to a friend’s apartment. We discussed what happened, and what we should do. Some of us talked about taking up arms. We were being killed! We were raw. We were angry. We ultimately decided that going to war over the War didn’t make sense. Armed resistance would be futile. Rocks and bricks would do nothing against tanks and M-16’s.

The stakes today, however, are much higher than at that time. Our entire Constitutional form of government is wobbling. Facts and truth have become relative. Fear and a critical loss of trust and faith pervade the land.

Yes, we must be realistic. Today and onward, we need to follow Trump’s example. All options must be on the table.

The first days of Trump’s reign have left all of us reeling. I’ve had so many face palm moments over the last two weeks that I worry about asphyxiating. I won’t take your time going through all of them. Other folks are doing that. Trump and his merry band of authoritarian fools want us to be spun around so fast that we fall over from terminal dizziness.

So, today, rather than discussing each and every burning tree, let’s look at the entire smoldering forest.

What the Hell are we: Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives or Americans?

Do we love our Country more than our political affiliations?

Have each of us taken the time to really read and understand our Declaration of Independence and Constitution?

Does each of us really understand what truly is at stake here?

These two weeks have brought us a whirlwind of “alternative facts,” sledgehammer bashing of the news media, attacks on the judiciary, and a total breakdown of order and respect in Congress.

Every American should be out on the streets. That’s right, every American. That’s how serious this situation is.

Each and every one of us needs to look in the mirror and ask, “Am I an American first?”

Our politicians, in particular, those in the Republican party, need to ask themselves this question. Does the Constitution or the party come first? Is the Bill of Rights toilet paper? Do we really want to become a banana republic? Just where do your loyalties lie?

This is the time for true, selfless patriotism.
This is not about getting re-elected.
This is not about campaign donations.
This is not about policy differences.
This is not about being red or blue.

We have never been in this situation before.

Are you an American first?

I just heard General Flynn, Trump’s security adviser, “officially put Iran on notice.” Does this sound familiar? Iraq, anyone? These first weeks of Trump’s reign of “shock and awe” on the American people are setting us up for a disastrous, utterly unwinnable war against Iran. Will this war occur? You bet it will.

Let’s listen to the wisdom coming from the mouth of a war criminal, Nazi Germany’s Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. For those unfamiliar with Göring, you can quickly get up to speed by checking Wikipedia. Notwithstanding my loathing for the man as an American and a Jew, he was not a stupid man. Unlike many other Nazi leaders, he was a war hero during WWI and was creative, insightful, and self-aware. (See https://www.minnpost.com/mental-health-addiction/2014/04/men-and-monsters-nazi-and-psychiatrist-explores-one-historys-most-tr .

While in prison on April 18, 1946, Göring was interviewed by a U.S. psychologist, Gustave Mark Gilbert. Göring made the following statements that are most relevant to today:

Göring: Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.

Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy, the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.

Göring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.

Since 9/11, Americans have been trading in their freedoms for security. It has been a fairly slow process, but that process, I believe, has been accelerating at breakneck speed during the first weeks of Trump’s administration. The Press, which now is the last bulwark against authoritarianism, has largely been delegitimized by the far right. “Alternative facts,” a term worthy of Joseph Goebbels,  has been added to our lexicon and cries of “Lying Press” have been heard throughout the land. The only dependable “truth” comes from Trump and his allies. Dissent has erupted throughout the land, but that dissent so far has been met largely with indifference and scorn by those in power. Bureaucrats are told to get with the program or get out.

Let’s take Göring’s words to heart. We are on the fast track towards authoritarianism. Only we, the People, can save us. We must support the Press’s efforts to hold Trump’s and his quislings’ feet to the fire. We must NOT give in to fear.