There has been massive institutional failure in the US in not exposing what was going on before Trump was allowed to con his way into power
That goes for the FBI, CIA the media and the Obama administration itself
They didn’t take the threat remotely seriously enough
The US really is at the precipice of full blown authoritarian fascism now
It has one last chance to pull back but will require a war-like effort from pro-democracy forces
But if Trump “wins” again in 2020, the US is headed for absolute disaster, the rule of law will collapse, institutions will completely collapse, democracy will collapse and kleptocracy will have won, it will be Ivanka Trump 2024 and so much more shit thereafter
Once fascism gets in, it’s almost impossible to dislodge
The Democrats are far too timid - Marion McKeon called it right some weeks back - she said “they are not bringing a slingshot to a gunfight, they are bringing…a flower”
Facism works on purges
Trump has been relentlessly purging the FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department, the State Department and elsewhere and installing his cronies in place of people who actually know what they’re doing
Barr is the ultimate irredeemably corrupt crony, he has been for his whole career
Sarah Kendzior is the most cogent voice in the US media as regards the reality of what’s happening - she predicted show trials and the wholesale corruption of the US DOJ well over a year ago
She couldn’t have been more right, and she has been every step of the way
Then again she has the advantage of being an actual expert on what happens in totalitarian former Soviet states and autocracy in general - it helps when people are able to interpret current events through the prism of history, in fact it’s completely essential