The concept of America as a representative democracy has worked relatively well for over 2 centuries, and it is ultimately superior to other forms of government that are oppressive and despotic; Americans can thank the Founding Fathers for protecting this country from becoming an authoritarian dictatorship. It is difficult to imagine many Americans agreeing to abandon democracy for another form of government, but there are a frightening number of citizens who hate America’s representative democracy with such passion that they are leaning heavily toward overthrowing the government and installing a fascist dictatorship. The group in question is not an extremist militia organization and they are not concealing their plans from plain view, and in fact, have begun the transition to fascism from within the conservative movement with full cooperation and assistance from establishment Republicans in Congress and state legislatures around the nation.
The idea that America’s democratic form of government could fall to an authoritarian regime began taking shape shortly after the election of Barack Obama, and after a little over four years of constant propaganda by Republican politicians incensed that their reign came to an end in 2009, almost half of Republicans believe “an armed revolution might be necessary to protect our liberties.” A recent poll reveals that it is worse than it seems because more Republicans believe armed revolution might be necessary to overthrow the legally elected government than believe is not required, and GOP politicians have been hard at work inciting their base and putting the brakes on democracy since January 2009.
On Tuesday, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll revealed that despotism is rampant among the Republican rank and file who are following the lead of Republicans in Congress who have taken extraordinary steps to bring America’s democracy to a halt through not-so-devious machinations and with stunning impunity. In the Senate, for example, the inordinate use of the filibuster has given minority Republicans control of the upper legislative chamber, and around the nation Republican-controlled states are taking extraordinary steps to bring an end to free and fair elections for non-Republican voters. If Americans are foolish enough to believe the Republican’s use of armed revolution to install a permanent Republican government is predicated on the right to unrestricted firearm possession, democracy is already doomed and all that is left is ceding control of the government to the Koch brothers and their fascist regime.
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The idea of using violent force to prevent democratically elected government from operating according to the will of the people began when the Koch brothers’ funded teabaggers brought signs to rallies claiming “we came unarmed this time” during the healthcare reform debate throughout 2009. Republicans and conservative pundits inflamed conservatives with claims their liberties were being infringed up to the time the U.S. Congress passed a law helping 40 million Americans have access to healthcare insurance, and despite the Supreme Court ruling the Affordable Care Act was Constitutional, Republicans are angrier than ever that democracy worked and 44% of them think “armed revolution might be necessary” to protect their liberty. However, healthcare for millions is not the only Republican claim of an assault on their liberties as evidenced by Republican claims their liberties are infringed because the Constitution prevents them from imposing religious edicts on the people. Nearly half of Republicans believe armed revolution might be necessary to enforce Christianity on the population. In Republican-controlled states, the loss in two general elections enraged Republicans who tasked the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to write template legislation restricting Democratic-leaning voters from exercising their right to vote, and because the Department of Justice enforces the right to vote it is interpreted as an infringement of Republicans’ liberties; their solution is “armed revolution” to “protect their liberty” to eliminate voting rights.
Republican politicians are the primary drivers of the rise in threats of “armed revolution” against the government because if they cannot rule by religious and Koch brother edict, or get their way through the electoral process, then violent insurrection is their solution. The idea of using gun violence reared its ugly head when failed senatorial candidate Sharon Angles said the “public would bring down the out-of-control (Democratic) Congress with Second Amendment remedies” because they were part of “the tyrannical U.S. government,” and made particular mention of her opponent, Majority Leader Harry Reid. Michelle Bachmann said she wanted residents of her state “armed and dangerous” to oppose President Obama “because we need to fight back and do everything we can to thwart Democrats at every turn to make sure they aren’t able to secure a power base.” Last year, the Virginia Republican Party called for “armed revolution should we fail with the power of the vote in November,” because they claimed President Obama was a “political socialist ideologue unlike anything world history has ever witnessed or recognized.” Republicans began claiming everything associated with the Obama Administration was a “government takeover” and infringement on Republicans’ liberties beginning in 2009, and it is close to bearing fruit now that half of Republicans support armed revolution against the democratically elected government, and it is all because Republicans are not allowed to rule.
What the Republican threats of armed revolution really expose is that anything outside the conservative agenda, whether it is gay rights, contraception, clean air regulations, free and fair elections, immigration, or freedom from religious imposition is an assault on their liberty and more than enough reason for “armed revolution” against the government. The threats, all of them, have been incited by leading Republicans in Congress and statehouses who have used fear mongering and vitriol to encourage armed insurrection that, like during America’s Civil War, began with nullification infecting Southern states and spreading so that now, nearly half of all Republicans have made their chosen form of government fascism, and not democracy. America has survived for over 230 years because democracy is the greatest form of government, and in the course of four years, because the people chose a Democratic President, nearly half of all Republicans believe “armed revolution might be necessary to protect their liberty” to impose an authoritarian and despotic regime.
Image: Democratic Underground
Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.
Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
