All the events of the past month since the killing of Charlie Kirk—the transformation of a fascist provocateur into a martyr of the MAGA movement, the mobilization of the National Guard against the so-called “enemy within,” and the open preparations to invoke the Insurrection Act—have demonstrated beyond any doubt that what is underway is a systematic conspiracy by the Trump administration to establish a dictatorship. Blinders are falling from people’s eyes. More and more Americans are saying, “I don’t recognize this country anymore.” The Land of Lincoln is being transformed by Trump and his arrogant satraps into the land of a would-be Führer.
This conspiracy entered a new and chilling stage on Wednesday, when President Trump convened a meeting in the White House that was presented as a “roundtable on antifa.” It was, in fact, a gathering of extreme right-wing political maniacs: neo-Nazis, Christian nationalists, racists, and Hitler lovers. They were assembled by Trump in what was clearly intended as a signal for all-out war against political opposition. An atmosphere of menace and imminent violence prevailed throughout the entire “discussion.”
Nothing like this has ever occurred in the history of the United States. The White House has been transformed into the headquarters of a conspiracy to legitimize fascism, brand anti-fascism as “terrorism,” and mobilize the repressive machinery of the state against the population.
I don’t disagree. At all. But seeing how violent our government is treating us, the moment for the collective action you’re talking about has passed. Unfortunately that leaves guns, which admittedly, is stupid we have. But we literally have them for this very reason: to protect against tyranny. And seeing as the literal definition of that is happening in our government, I feel the time we had to try actual meaningful civil disobedience is long past. What you don’t understand is that any disobedience is basically now seen as terrorism. So if we’re going to be arrested as terrorists and disappeared with no due process then there’s no room left to be just civily disobedient.