The Most Chilling Thing Donald Trump Has Said

President Donald Trump reportedly has just threatened violence against his political enemies.  According to a news report, he said that his supporters (whom he identified as the police, military and Bikers for Trump) "could get 'tough' on his political opponents at a 'certain point'"  and "'then it would be very, very bad.'"  (See https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-warns-it-would-be-very-bad-if-my-police-biker-gang-fans-decided-to-get-tough-on-my-opponents?ref=home.)  This invokes the specter of the criminal violence of Nazis against their political enemies in the 1920s and 1930s.  The conduct to which Trump alludes wouldn't be legal.  But perhaps he thinks he will be protected by the U.S. Department of Justice policy against indicting a sitting President.  Maybe he thinks this will allow him to establish a dictatorship, thus permanently insulating himself from prosecution.  The Justice Department could end up looking like a bunch of ineffectual, complicit patsies while the Constitution is destroyed.  By all indications, the GOP Senators and Representatives won't have the guts to stand up for democracy--never before in American history have so many cowered so much before such a despicable man.  The Democrats in the House and Senate, and the federal courts, could and likely would attempt to stop incipient totalitarianism.  But the means at their disposal are limited if Trump defies the lawful measures they could take (especially if he inflicts political violence on them).  In the end, it will probably be up to the American people to stand up to and overcome Trump's threats of political violence.  But Americans shook off the chains of tyranny once before, in a struggle that began in Lexington and Concord and ended in Yorktown.  If necessary, they can--and will--do it again.