There is something happening here and what it is is all too clear. 

Officer: Did you watch movies as a child? Did you wonder how Hitler could dominate Germany’s thoughts, dreams, and beliefs to the point of nazifying so many minds and getting the rest to accept their lot? I did. I wondered how that was possible. Even as a youngster I had some silly theories. Was it their language? Their diet? Did they have different genes? I idly offered childish blather. But now it is truth time. 

Officer: You aren’t in a theatre watching a film from the forties. You aren’t reading a book that describes the technology of gas chambers. No. You are in the midst of our own present. So no more idle wondering for you. Look in your mirror. Stare at yourself. It’s easy to find some truth. Just ask yourself. Demand an answer. Are you going to gleefully Nazify yourself? If so, there’s your answer. If not, okay, are you going to sullenly surrender to those who do gleefully goose-step? Will you march alongside others who have uniforms like you and who like you would rather be anywhere else? Are you going to march on that fascistic team? Wield its long guns? That is how Nazification happens. Why? Ask yourself. Orders given. Orders taken.

What would it mean to not gleefully or sullenly agree to help Trump repress liberty and incinerate empathy? The time has come for a hard, pivotal, decision. If you are in position to give repressive orders, don’t do it. If you receive repressive orders, disobey them. Today it comes down to that. It’s that simple. Active or passive obedience on Trump’s side. Active resistance on our side. So, which side are you on?

National Guardian, what the hell are you guarding? Semper Fi Marine, what the hell are you being forever faithful too? It is time to thoughtfully and compassionately decide. Guard Trump to impose ignorance. Be faithful to Trump to destroy dignity. Officer, it has come to that. Marine, that’s how it is. Crush freedom or disobey. Which will it be? Obey to corrode hope. Obedience serves Nazification. Is that your aim? Or disobey. Resist. It is rising all around. It is multi focus, multi tactic. That is the higher calling. You know it. And it has come to that. 

Citizen: We saw the same movies as the officers didn’t we? We wondered too didn’t we? Well, now it is no longer movie time. Now it is crunch time. Skip the popcorn. Are you in high school, college, at work, or retired? It doesn’t matter. Whatever. Misogyny, racism, power, and profit propel hate. Will you serve hate or serve your neighbors? Which side are you on? 

You are not a Proud Thug. Good. Glad to hear it. You are not brandishing a Swastika. Good. Glad to hear it. You have good values. You care. Great. Glad to hear it. Me too. Your children or parents will be too. But there is still a decision to make. Will you look the other way and in doing so abet Trump? Or will you resist to block Trump? The choice is simple. For those who don’t wear soldiers’ clothes and who don’t carry soldiers’ tools, our teacher, our professor, our boss, our parent, child, or mate—has no gun. We can disobey. And time has come today—to decide. Will we place our heads in sand, put our eyes in pants pockets, and continue with life as usual—or will we hold our heads high, open our eyes wide, see Trump’s disgusting path and resist? Resist. It is rising all around. It is multi focus, multi tactic. It is the higher calling. You know it. And it has come to that. 

I could write word after word. I could tout fact after fact. I could present analysis after analysis. I could paint images of hate and images of love, images of regimentation and images of freedom. I could talk of history and of today, I could talk of today and of tomorrow, or I could talk of strategy and of tactics. You can too. And indeed, we need such talk. But really, even before all that, what we need now is simpler than all that. You know, I know, we all know what is happening here. The means are little muddy but the bottom line is crystal clear. Trump lies about everything except what he wants. About his wants Trump has been clear like no one ever before. He wants total control. He wants absolute power plus the corruption that goes with it. So which side are we on? 

Resist. However we can, resist today. Resist this Saturday. Resist until Trump, Trumpism, and fascism are driven into history’s dustbin. Don’t weep over the pain they impose. Organize to make Trump less than zero. And then, after eliminating Trump, struggle on for the true revolution that we all really need. Struggle on until we win a worthy world. Deportations, profits, inequity, abortion, rape, racism, indignity, tariff war, shooting war, genocide, global heating—all of that and much more imposes one unified mutually entwined world of pain. Call it the totality of oppression. To transcend it we need a total struggle, all for one and one for all. Consequences in command. Wage it to win it. June 14th No Kings, and then beyond.

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