For over three years we’ve been subjected a nonstop barrage of “alternate facts”. In essence, an alternate reality as envisioned in the mind of the president and echoed by his sycophants. Every time it doesn’t seem it can get worse, it does. The strange thing is that none of what he does is secret. He’s not playing three-dimensional chess. He’s barely playing checkers. He puts out there what he’s going to do.

With the recent protests, the president wants to deploy our military in our cities. This, in essence, would be martial law as this country has not seen since the Civil War. He’s going to do it. How do I know that? Because he’s said he wants to. He does what he says. His latest pronouncement does have the caveat that governors have to invite the federal troops in; I’m sure a handful will, but the majority won’t.

He’s now lashing out an organization that doesn’t exist as an organization: Antifa. It has no organization, but is rather an ideology. It is extreme left wing while we have many more white supremacist right wing activists which riddle our police forces and military. Trump does this with little evidence to back up his assertions, but that’s the norm for this administration. Blatant lies are no longer considered odd. In fact, the truth would be startling.

We’ve become used to it and therein lies our supreme danger. We’ve become used to a daily death toll in the hundreds, if not thousands, from COVID-19; and we face a huge second wave, exacerbated by states opening when not ready and these riots. With zero coordinated federal response. We’re into June and you still can’t get an N-95 mask; even front-line health workers are having a hard time getting them. This is such a basic thing that should have been taken care of months ago.

I’ve always known humans can adapt, both good and bad.

We are now heading down the bad path. We’re not far away from mass arrests. We already have concentration camps at the borders. You can call them something else, but that’s what they are. While they were initially protested, now we’re used to them. We’re used to families being separated. Because they’re “others”. It’s always “others” until its you.

I remember in the Special Forces Qualification Course when we studied the French Resistance. The most startling thing was how few French actually were part of the Resistance. The vast majority of people go along with things, even when they get really bad, such as shipping neighbors off to concentration camps because of their religion. It happened.

How far will Americans continue down this dark path?

I watched Trump have hundreds of police and military move peaceful protestors yesterday so he could get a photo op in front of a church holding a bible. An utterly disgusting move and image. It came because he was incensed about articles showing that he hid in the White House the night before. And therein lies the only good news. Trump is incapable of planning beyond the next news cycle. He reacts. He is a pathetic, scared bully. His actions and lack of them has caused much death and misery and will cause much more. His supporters won’t admit they were wrong. They’d rather the country burn down and fall apart than accept the obvious reality of who and what he is and what he does and says. Can they see reality?

Once more: How far will Americans continue down this dark path?

The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide (same as above, minus the preparation part in order to be smaller in print)

The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also in Kindle Unlimited.