Today Alexsei Navalny was buried in Russia. He was a dissdent who spoke up for decades, knowing full well he risked assasination in his country for his powerful voice. He died in jail, having returned from Munich where he could have lived with a level of peace and serenity; however, he returned to Russia, only to be placed in the worst prison in the Vladimir region of central Russia, where he was placed in a punishment cell. Everyone who attended the funeral--thousands--risked the possibility of jail and possibly death, since this dictatorship keeps a tight wrap around every aspect of life, including and primarily, those who call out against injustice. Russia is a dangerous place, and right now America has an indicted former president running for the presidency of the United States, again, and he is equally dangerous. He has vengeance against the opposition on his mind. The prospect of a Trump presidency is terrifying, There is writing on the wall, just as there was in Nazi Germany, and people are not paying attention. They are in love with the strong man, Trump, who is turn is in love with Putin, who is lethal. The Republican party has drank the poisonous kool-aide, but so have many of our institutions, the House and all his blind followers. America is planting ugly and terrifying seeds.
The signs in America are already there that we are going backwards in a lawless way; otherwise, Trump and his cronies would have already been jailed. The horror reached a culminating point this week when the Supreme Court decided to hear his immunity case. I have no faith that they will say a president who is no longer president is immune from criminal cases, even though he had secret and classified documents hidden in his Florida home, including in his bathroom. He claims these documents are his. He also was the catalyst behind the January 6th insurrection, where countless people were injured and hiding, while the storming others were defacating on the floor, smashing glass and screaming, "Hang Mike Pence." Adding insult to injury, aside from his chronic lies, he has such a hold on the party that the recent bi-partisan imnmigration bill was dead on arrival in the house because Trump is afraid if it passes it will enhance the Democrat's chance of winning the election in 2024. People in Congress are afraid of the aftermath of his wrath. We are becoming that totalitarian state, fearful of supporting Ukraine and modelling ourselves after his Russian ally, Putin, this same man who has threatened the West with nuclear escalation and has praised the Russian politcal system as,"one of the foundations of the country's sovereignty."
Listen to Trump's words political pundits are saying as he continues verbally to assault all our norms, threatens to execute Mark Milley, get rid of civil servants, put children in cages, assasinate or jail his political opponents. We have already seen the dismantling of Roe vs. Wade; the possibility of eliminating smae-sex marriage; threatening transgender rights; women's rights; climate change; all of our laws and conventions dismantled before our very eyes. Trump's con men were willing to overturn an election. What is next when books are banned; IVF is banned in one state; an embryo becomes a person and the press--aside from Fox News--is daily bashed?
I am terrified of his words and the possibility of a world where he places his sycophants in positions of power and jails those who have erred him. He has said he would only be a dictator for one day. This is a blatant lie. Once in the White House, your precious rights and freedoms will be gone, and there will be no protections. Like Russia, your opposing voice will be threatened, and the risk for jail would be overwhelming. He will be president, change the laws and stay in the office forever if given a chance, until he dies.
I am afraid for our country of this would be king. I pray that people, even those not in love with Biden, realize the risks of their silence, of not voting, of saying nothing bad will happen. It already has.
