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For Trump, This Is a Dress Rehearsal (Atlantic)
Ordering the National Guard to deploy in Los Angeles is a warning of what to expect when his hold on power is threatened.By David Frum
"...
if the Trump-Hegseth threats have little purpose as law enforcement, they signify great purpose as political strategy. Since Trump’s reelection, close observers of his presidency have feared a specific sequence of events that could play out ahead of midterm voting in 2026:
Step 1: Use federal powers in ways to provoke some kind of made-for-TV disturbance—flames, smoke, loud noises, waving of foreign flags.
Step 2: Invoke the disturbance to declare a state of emergency and deploy federal troops.
Step 3: Seize control of local operations of government—policing in June 2025; voting in November 2026.
Some of Trump’s most fervent supporters urged him to follow this plan in November 2020. But in 2020, they waited too long—until after the votes were cast. Using the military to overturn an election already completed was too extreme a step for a Department of Defense headed by a law-respecting Cabinet secretary such as Mark Esper. Trump looked to the courts instead. Only after the courts disappointed him did Trump attempt violence, and then the only available tool of violence was the lightly armed mob he summoned to Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021. Harrowing as those events were, they never stood much chance of success: Without the support of any element of the military, Trump’s rioters could not impose the outcome Trump wanted.
But the methods Trump threatened in Los Angeles this weekend could be much more effective in November 2026 than the attempted civilian coup of January 2021."
I have noted in numerous threads the Trump regime's reliance on fascist methodology, and this is a classic example of that. No reasonable observer believes that anything occurring in Los Angeles, or elsewhere, constitutes a "rebellion"; just as there is no immigration "invasion". These are just pathetic efforts to justify the unjustifiable.
Trump is trying to enhance his authority by abusing language in federal statutes, distorting them out of recognition. "Second-term Trump and his new team are avidly using those powers in ways never intended or imagined." If this sounds historically resonant, consider the sequence of events that led to the installation of Adolph Hitler a century ago.
Hitler's Rise to Power: A Timeline
The Nazis' rise to power began in 1919 with Adolf Hitler's infiltration of the German Workers' Party. Learn Hitler's rise to power timeline.
This is not an exaggeration, and the historical parallels are uncanny. Like Hitler, Trump joined an existing party and took it over. Like Hitler, he staged a failed coup. Like Hitler, he was a convicted felon (although for other crimes, as Trump's trial for his coup attempt was interrupted.) Like Hitler he has organized "irregulars" to engage in violence on his behalf - the Beer Hall Putsch, Kristallnacht, January 6 - and pardoned them for their illegal and violent behavior. Like Hitler, he has installed loyalists in government positions, replacing the qualified technocrats who previously held those positions. Like Hitler, he is engaging in censorship, intimidation, revocation of civil liberties, and use of military forces to suppress opposition.
We are in serious peril, but being forewarned is being forearmed. So far, federal courts have reined in the worst abuses, but that effort is being overwhelmed by the incredible and historic number of cases that are being brought. This regime is acting in so many different illegal ways, the courts cannot keep up with the sheer volume. That is deliberate, and this use of force is being used to condition the populace to both the violence and military enforcement - just like Hitler.
The rhyming themes are unmistakable.