Call me slow, but… what are we to do when the superpower the world looked to to prevent tyrannical dictatorships becomes one?

The ascendant strain of Republican thinking and action is more dangerous than I have previously diagnosed. I’ve long suggested that since Reagan the R’s have wanted to reduce the size of government, in order to privatize every possible service for profit.

But that assessment is too narrow.

It’s time to listen to Ronald Reagan with fresh ears, and take him literally:  “Government IS the problem.”

They are actively seeking an end to the rule of law, because they somehow believe that a dog-eat-dog world — in which the persons, or corporation, who can gather the best army  — is preferable to a civil society.

They are essentially mafia, or warlords. They have decided that they no longer benefit from, nor need to abide by, the rules of a system in which cordial opponents work toward a common goal.  No legislation or financial regulation is acceptable if it prevents them achieving their individual goals.   (Of course this means that eventually, they will eat their own, but for now the carcass of government funding is succulent and distracts the hyenas from seeing each other’s throat.)

At a national level, we seem to have white nationalists (again, I type in disbelief) willing to align with Vladimir Putin to retain power.

At a state level, the actions of the Republican controlled North Carolina legislature and lame-duck governor McRory, in the wake of their loss, is emblematic.

We can trace back to the Supreme Court’s actions in Bush v. Gore in 2000, Citizens United in 2010, and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act in 2015.  We can see the Plutocrats beta-testing their model on Kansas, then Wisconsin, and it is now ready for a national roll-out. Take legislative control in both houses, install a puppet, and start the gutting while being sure to hand out enough rewards to keep the police and military behind you… for now.

The only rule beyond “gut government” is “Retain power, by any means necessary.” They seek to end democratic, civil society, and anyone who resists be damned.  Son of a bitch — now I know why they’ve all been buying guns.  They aren’t arming  to fight a tyranny.  They’re arming to be a part of one.