*****. “It is not necessary in a totalitarian dictatorship to be loved by the people. It is enough to be
feared, as Stalin was in Soviet Russia.” [William Shirer: “The Nightmare Years 1930-1940”]
1]. “GOP’s Murkowski: ‘We are all afraid’ of Trump moves.” [Theodoric Meyer, Patrick Svitek: Washington Post Weekly; 4/20/25]: “Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-Alaska]…said she is worried about speaking out because of the threat of political revenge by President Donald Trump…”We are all afraid.”….”I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real..”
***. “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” [Theodore Roosevelt]
2]. “This is how authoritarianism functions in the 21st century. It doesn’t need a dictator in a military uniform when it has billionaires in boardrooms, access to surveillance technology, and cronies embedded deep within the machinery of government. It replaces accountability with loyalty. It replaces oversight with secrecy. And it replaces democracy with intimidation and control, just like in Hungary and Russia.”
“Even if Musk and DOGE never use the data they’ve extracted, the damage is already done. The fear is out there. As labor expert Kate Bronfenbrenner put it, “Just saying that they have access to the data is intimidating.” And that’s the point.”
“This isn’t just about controlling government agencies and the courts; it’s about creating a culture of fear so pervasive that no one dares challenge power. Workers won’t organize. Regulators won’t enforce. Whistleblowers won’t come forward. Democracy withers not with a bang, but with a whimper of silence and complicity.” [Thom Hartmann: ‘
“The Department of Government Efficiency Is A Lie – And It Might Destroy Us All”; The progressive Populist; 5/15/25}
***** READ THIS AGAIN – think on it, read it again – YOUR democracy is threatened as never before*****
*** “..the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts..” [ President Franklin D. Roosevelt; 3/4/1933]
3]. “More than six weeks into the second Trump administration, there is a chill spreading over political debate in Washington and beyond. People on both sides of the aisle..say they are intimidated by the prospect of online attacks from Mr. Trump and Elon Musk, concerned about harm to their companies and frightened for the safety of their families. Politicians fear banishment by a party remade in Mr. Trump’s image and the prospect of primary opponents financed by Mr. Musk.”
“When you see important societal actors – be it university presidents, media outlets, C.E.O.’s, mayors, governors – changing their behavior to avoid the wrath of the government, that’s a sign that we’ve crossed the line into some form of authoritarianism,” said Steven Levitsky, professor of government at Harvard and the co-author of the influential 2018 book “How Democracies Die.” [Elisabeth Bumiller: “Fearing Payback, Critics of Trump Mute Themselves”; New York Times; 3/9/25]
***”Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” [ Harry S. Truman, 33rd President ]
4]. “The American Oligarchy is Petrified by Trump’s Economic Chaos But Careful Not to Criticize Him Directly” [Robert Reich; The Progressive Populist; 5/15/25]: “None dare come right out and say it: Trump is out of his mind and crashing the entire world economy. “It’s not smart to criticize the President,” said Robert K. Steel, a veteran Wall Street executive and top Treasury Department official under President George W. Bush. Not smart because Trump has too many ways to punish them.”
***. “Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters.”
[ Justice Robert Jackson ]
5]. “Real power is – I don’t even want to use the word – fear.” Donald Trump made that remark to the journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa in March 2016. Fear is, of course, a favorite tool of the president-elect. He has used it for decades to intimidate opponents, critics and allies to give up, give in or give way. He built his real estate empire through law suits and threats against rivals and partners.
“He cowed and demolished political opponents through humiliation and invective, He consolidated control of the Republican Party and silenced G.O.P. detractors with pressure tactics and threats to end careers. And as president, he used thre power of his office and the power of social media to make life miserable for anyone he chose.”
“His goal in these efforts has been to push people to check themselves rather than check his power….Mr. Trump is using fear not only with Congress but also with other essential independent institutions such as courts, business, higher education and the news media. The goal is broadly the same: to deter elected officials, judges, executives and others from exercising their duties in ways that challenge him or hold him accountable. He wants to make dissent so painful as to be intolerable.” [ “Saying No To Fear”; New York Times Editorial; 1/19/25 ]
***. “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” [ Edmund Burke ]
With Justice For All 