It is a real threat.

Maybe we should all start an online rag that re-words the articles to remove the fear in their voices.

I think the sheer amout of egregious shit that Trump and his henchmen have spewed out for the past 9 years has desensitized everybody. At some point it's just too much, and the opposition has to choose the worst stuff to focus on at any particular moment - and amazingly, a high-ranking US official cracking a Nazi salute doesn't quite cut it anymore.

Almost all dictators have played the same score: overwhelm everybody with outrageous stuff until a critical majority is tired enough, or accepts the least terrible things on the table.

A good antidote for this is to imaging one of our former presidents doing, saying or accepting any of the things that are happening now. Even the worst president: can you imaging Nixon saying he's going to kill the 14th amendment, or sitting idly by while Kissinger makes Nazi salutes in GOP rallies, or picking Schlessinger if he was suspected of sexual misconduct or alcoholism? The press would have been all over him and people would have been in the street demanding his resignation.

a?