(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Waco changes everything. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-27 I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know how this story ends. What I do know is that, after watching two videos this afternoon, by the time I finished the second, I did indeed get a sense. Not tingly like a spidey-sense. More of a dread, like when you’re driving on the freeway and you realize a wasp is in the cabin with you. It’s already a high-stakes situation and now there’s an added element of danger, an immediate, urgent threat that can’t be set aside. I’d already posted a diary today, one that I originally wrote at two in the morning. But this afternoon, I felt it incumbent to watch a video on the Step Back channel (hosted/narrated by Tristan Johnson, a historian), which specifically dealt with Waco and Ruby Ridge all in one. Considering that my diary also joined those two incidents, Tristan’s video seemed on-point. What he describes is almost a step-by-step tour of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s of how we got to our current moment. He lists exactly how significant both Ruby Ridge and Waco were (and are) to the broader extremist movement, talking about how the ridiculous and outlandish conspiracy theories about ZOG and white genocide have morphed into talk about “globalists” and QAnon fantasies. He wraps his video leading directly into his next, all about Timothy McVeigh and his attack on the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City in 1995. But right after that I came across Jesse Dollemore’s take on Donald Trump’s speech. Dollemore, a YouTube influencer, has a very particular view about white supremacists. He was raised in that culture (though obviously he has broken away), so he’s criticizing it from an embedded perspective. So when he warns us about the import of Trump’s words, he’s sounding that alarm as someone who knows how these extremists think and what their values are, because he lived them. It was watching his video that I got the sensation, the astonishment. Mind you, this was not fear. It was cold realization. We really are in uncharted territory. Now, I don’t have the power to change what is happening on the national stage. My small bit of influence is here, in these opinions that I offer at Daily Kos. That said, I generally hold back on prescriptions as far as this case goes because I don’t want to even feel like I’m meddling in the process. Just today, I was stressing the need for us, as liberals, to follow the strictures of the law and let the process play out. Going by the book is really important to me in this instance. Still, with the unverbalized yet clearly communicated threat Trump directed against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a tweet last week, the fact that no official move has been taken to hold Mr. Trump—a private citizen!—accountable for the assault is due to embolden even more responses like that asshat who sent the nontoxic white powder to Bragg’s office. This is terror; and Trump, malignant narcissist that he is, surely gains a warm sense of pleasure seeing his lackeys respond to his call. Must feel like brandy slipping into his stomach. He’s enjoying this. Absent an actual security threat that would be triggered by moving against Trump at this time, the Justice Department must seriously consider not only taking Mr. Trump into custody for this crime (he’s criming in plain sight) but also the cost of not arresting him and how much worse that could be in the future. The near future. The thing to keep in mind, when comparing this time to the early- to mid-’90s, when Ruby Ridge and Waco happened, was that there was no Fox News around. There was none of this RW media infrastructure. Right now, Trump is buoyed by all of this scaffolding of support. The arrest needs to come sooner than later. If the Justice Department doesn’t move soon, it will may have fewer moves at its disposal in the future. But hey! Talk me down. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/27/2160557/-Waco-changes-everything Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/