As another American Labor Day Weekend ends, I hope everyone has had the opportunity to enjoy it, even under the circumstances.
I am sure most of us have had the chance to read uplifting messages on the history, tradition and significance of the holiday that pays tribute to the “contributions and achievements of American workers.”
One of the essays I read, however, made me reflect on the possibility that this Labor Day could be the last one we celebrate in the way we have celebrated it for more than 120 years.
It is written by Brynn Tannehill. She graduated from the Naval Academy graduate in 1997 with a B.S. in computer science, after which she earned her Naval Aviator wings in 1999 and flew SH-60B helicopters and P-3C maritime patrol aircraft during three deployments between 2000 and 2004, In 2008 Brynn earned a M.S. in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology and transferred from active duty to the Naval Reserves. In 2008 Brynn began working as a senior defense research scientist in private industry. She left the drilling reserves and began transition in 2010. Since then she has written for OutServe magazine, The New Civil Rights Movement, and Queer Mental Health as a blogger and featured columnist. Brynn and her wife Janis currently live in Springfield, VA, with their three children.
It is short. It is gloomy. It may be too far-fetched for some, too radical or too progressive for others – foreboding for me. In any case, worthy of reading and of reflection, for sure.
The more I write about this, the more it becomes plain: if Biden loses, 2020 will be the last remotely free and fair election we have for decades, and certainly my lifetime. We are in the middle of an autocratic attempt, and it looks so much like Hungary’s.
The courts are being packed with loyalists. Most state legislatures in swing states are gerrymandered beyond belief. The executive branch is gaining unitary power. The Dept of Justice is blatantly selectively applying the law to favor the autocrat. Inspector Generals are being destroyed.
Attorney Generals are being replaced. Congress is no longer a check on corruption, as the Senate has been captured by Trump loyalists. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in bad shape. Ditto Breyer. Hybrid regimes (competitive authoritarianism) are remarkably stable. This is why 2020 is for all the marbles.
This is why I have no use for people who whinge about Biden/Harris not being far enough left for their tastes. They are under the mistaken belief that if Biden loses, they will have another chance to elect people that are far enough left for their liking. The truth is, if Biden/Harris lose, there isn’t going to be an opportunity to elect someone they like in their lifetime. Not without secession of blue states. That’s the only plausible scenario I can come up with after the autocratic breakthrough.
The people who study autocracy are all singing the same tune: American Democracy is not strong enough to survive another four years. The guardrails are already almost completely down. This is entirely consistent with how others have fallen in the post-Cold War period. Trump’s intentions are clear. So are the GOP’s. While Republicans are fear-mongering the hell out of this election, Democrats refuse to call what is happening what it is for fear of sounding alarmist. Maybe this helps their chances of election… But it leaves the vast majority of the American public in the dark as to how incredibly dangerous this moment is. Especially with QAnon, a group that wants enemies thrown in concentration camps, inexorably capturing the Republican party even as it becomes autocratic.
Beware, be warned, or don’t. Because once this election comes and goes, if Donald J. Trump is still President on January 21st, 2021, We’re [screwed.] Democracy in America is not coming back.
Brynn Tannehill can be followed on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BrynnTannehill
Learn more about Brynn Tannehill Here
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.