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.

I was 20 years old in 1968. We were at war in Southeast Asia for a number of years. My generation was asked to fight a faraway war to stop the spread of Communism.

I was all for it. When I was 10 years old, I read Masters of Deceit, by J. Edgar Hoover, the then-head of the FBI. I believed that we were engaged in an existential battle with Communism. No one questioned the “Domino Theory.” No one questioned our actions and intentions. After all, we were the “Guys in the White Hats” that saved the world from fascism.

At Ohio State University, I chose to “enlist” in ROTC, the Reserve Officers Training Corp. I learned military history, map reading, marching skills, and how to shoot a rifle. I figured that I soon would be drafted, and decided that I might as well go in the service as an officer. I rose to the rank of sergeant. I was to be disappointed. For better or worse, my poor eyesight caused me to fail my physical exam.

At the beginning of my Junior year, I traded in my stripes for a peace sign. My political consciousness was born. The brighter, earlier years of Eisenhower and JFK crumbled, and we began our decades-long decline of our Democratic institutions.

I remember the fear, tear gas, the rifle butts, the loaded rifles, and “Love It or Leave It.”  I remember not standing for the National Anthem at a Cleveland Browns game, infuriating my father, who served in WWII. Family members were at each others’ throats. I also remember the amazing camaraderie marching with thousands of likeminded folks during the 1969 Moratorium March in DC. Overall, I remember it as a absolutely horrid time, a horrid time that changed me to the core.

I prayed I’d never see that kind of situation again. Those prayers have been in vain.

Make no mistake. What’s coming now will make the 1960’s seem like child’s play. I fear that we are facing a crisis not seen since the Civil War. In the ’60’s, our difficulties related to a single issue: Whether we should continue to fight an unwinnable war based on the Gulf of Tonkin lie.

Today, our issue isn’t singular; it’s all encompassing. The continuity of our Republic rests in a balance. If there is anything that we have learned this first week of Trumpean rule, he will disrespect the Rule of Law and the U.S. Constitution. He is doing exactly what he said he would do, by executive order, bypassing our Constitutional system of checks and balances.

Benjamin Franklin, upon leaving the Constitutional Convention, reportedly was asked what kind of government we would have. He said, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” It’s now up to each of us, Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever race, creed or religion, to resist Trump in every way and with dogged determination.