I continue to be distressed at the success the conservative movement is having around the world. Do you know there are Nazis in Germany again? NAZIS! It’s illegal because Germany makes a great effort to remind everyone of what happened and what that was like. They’re there anyway. It’s happening all across Europe, too, conservatism on the rise. Bear in mind, all of it – ALL of it – is based in lies and falsehoods. But it doesn’t matter that I know that. It matters that THEY do not. Donny has said out loud, to their faces, “I love the poorly educated.” (Dear MAGA, do you know WHY he “loves” you? You’re easy to manipulate – because you’re poorly educated.)

Here, in this once-great nation, you can’t pry a MAGA away from trump no matter what. They don’t really know or care if he’s guilty or not. They think they’re defeating the “libtards” and that’s good enough for them. If they don’t get their way? They’ll burn the whole place to the ground! You know, because they love America enough to destroy her. My mind continues to boggle at the idea that Donald J. Trump is still a viable political player, let alone that he leads in many polls. The idea that the Republican Party still has any credibility after all of the stupid shenanigans they’ve pulled just doesn’t make sense to me.

For every charge Americans can level at MAGA, MAGA has been given an “offset,” a story intended to show “both sides do it.” The differences in the stories are legion. Those of us who get information from journalism sources get information based on demonstrable evidence. Those who get their information from MAGA media, get information based on opinions, twists of reality, and scary sounding things. For example, MAGA is currently crapping their collective panties over the idea that Joe Biden “had Donald Trump on a hit list, targeted for assassination!” Pure bullshit, of course, but purely terrifying to those who believe it.

It’s the internet, of course. It’s being used by well-positioned people to distribute propaganda to those willing to accept it. In days gone by, one had to stand out on a street corner, handing out leaflets detailing their conspiracy theories to any who might take one. It was not very efficient. Nevertheless, there’s a direct line from a few ostracized, brown-shirted outcasts, standing on corners handing out leaflets to the horrors of WWII.

These days, one can dress up a corner of their garage to look like a legitimate news source and spread harmful propaganda to millions of people for hours a day – and countless people are working hard to do exactly that. It’s the equivalent of having a person standing on EVERY corner in the world, handing out leaflets. Most won’t take them. Of those who do, many will not believe them. But many will. Enough, as it happens, to create a movement, a mass of people working against their own interests and never even realizing.

I’m a student of history, amateur but ardent. I like to think about how historical events affect the people who live through them. I’m often amazed at the developments that take place and wonder how it happened. How did this or that influence your average Joe? How did they feel?

I think often of how the Nazis came to power in Germany in the 1930’s. It was a slow process and many people saw it coming. I think about all the newsreels showing the triumphant Nazis marching into one city after another. People line the roadways, waving the Nazi flag and cheering. Many are crying. Of course, we know, now, that many of them were required to fall out and wave flags enthusiastically or face the consequences.

Sadly, thanks to MAGA, I now know exactly how the Nazis came to power – AND how people felt watching their beloved republic twisted into something unrecognizable at the hands of self-interested, wealthy people, supported by people too uninformed – and too frightened and angry – to understand how they were being used. Nazis then and MAGA now are the same side of the same coin: the power of angry, uninformed people in large groups.

But we all know what happens when a mob gets rolling, don’t we? Reginald Denny gets a cinder block to the head by a mob of rioters. Rodney King gets beaten nearly to death by a mob of cops. A crowd of loyalists attack their own Congress because they don’t like the results of an election. But a mob on the national level? 14 million people get murdered in concentration camps.

I’ve been watching a eerily similar path being followed in the US. In the 1920’s, no German thought anything like that could happen there. We the people had no idea it could happen here, either. The Nazis moved slowly, carefully, just like MAGA has done. The Nazis infiltrated the legitimate halls of power quietly, downplaying their worst impulses, pretending they were interested in “saving Germany.” Sound familiar? MAGA started out as Libertarians. They quietly infiltrated – and then took over – the Republican party, downplaying their worst impulses, pretending they’re interested in “saving America.” Wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Hitler presented himself as the only possible savior for Germany. Trump presents the exact same message. Hitler promised to make life better – but only for the “right” Germans. Trump promises to make life better, too – but only for the “right” Americans. Hitler promised glory under the “Third Reich.” Trump’s team recently posted a message promising glory under a “Unified Reich.”

Today, as most Americans sit stunned watching trump roll to success after success, in defiance of logic and all we’ve been taught, we’re discovering, to our horror, that MAGA is everywhere. They’re in all levels of government. They have far more control and influence that most people realize. Hell, they’ve stolen the Supreme Court and turned it into a national embarrassment – but a national embarrassment with real power. Wrong or not, MAGA has real power up and down the line.

The election is important but not essential to MAGA. If Donny loses, they have a plan to install him anyway. It requires GOP control of the House of Representatives, which they have. It requires a person loyal enough to trump to betray his own country, which they have (in MAGA Mike). After falsely claiming “voting irregularities” – which they’re already claiming – they simply follow the remedy as directed in the US Constitution!

The reason for that deep roiling in the pit of my stomach is that there’s no way to stop them that I can see. The motivating lies are in place. The candidate is in place. Enough loyal toadies are in place. The plan is in place. The only chance America has of changing the course, now, is predicated on the notion of a Republican with honor, doing the right thing. (A couple of Republicans in the House would have to resign with immediate effect, giving power to the Democrats. That’s literally, the only way.)

So I sit here, day after day, depressed and upset. I feel like I’m tied to the tracks and I can see the train coming. The outcome seems inevitable and there’s nothing I can do. I’ve tried for 40 years to help people see this. Either they already know and don’t need me or they don’t know and they effing don’t WANT to know.

But I’ll tell you this: the train is coming, like it or not. It’s not some theoretical idea off in the distance and difficult to understand any more. We can all see it now and it seems unstoppable…