September 28, 2025 • 39 mins
The house is on fire, and too many people are still pretending it’s just a candle burning.
This is the first episode of Red, White & Bruised, a weekly political analysis series. Every Sunday, I’ll discuss the headlines and give my two cents on this current hellscape that we are living through.
For the debut, we’re walking step by step through Donald Trump’s march toward authoritarianism, a documented trail of power grabs that’s dragged this country closer to fascism than most people want to admit. This isn’t speculation. This isn’t “both sides.” It’s the ugly truth, and it’s time we stop pretending everything is fine.
If you’re ready to cut through the noise, face reality head-on, and get a little bruised along the way, you’re in the right place.
-----------------------------------------------
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Discord: https://discord.gg/X2qYXdB4
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevil
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/we-saw-the-devil-a-true-crime-podcast--4433638/support.
Website: http://www.wesawthedevil.com
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/wesawthedevil
Discord: https://discord.gg/X2qYXdB4
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevil
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.
This is the first episode of Red, White & Bruised, a weekly political analysis series. Every Sunday, I’ll discuss the headlines and give my two cents on this current hellscape that we are living through.
For the debut, we’re walking step by step through Donald Trump’s march toward authoritarianism, a documented trail of power grabs that’s dragged this country closer to fascism than most people want to admit. This isn’t speculation. This isn’t “both sides.” It’s the ugly truth, and it’s time we stop pretending everything is fine.
If you’re ready to cut through the noise, face reality head-on, and get a little bruised along the way, you’re in the right place.
-----------------------------------------------
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/wesawthedevil
Discord: https://discord.gg/X2qYXdB4
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevil
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/we-saw-the-devil-a-true-crime-podcast--4433638/support.
Website: http://www.wesawthedevil.com
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/wesawthedevil
Discord: https://discord.gg/X2qYXdB4
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevil
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, it's Robin. You are listening to the first
episode of Red, White, and Bruised. This is a new
series where I'm going to be unfiltered and unpack my
thoughts and observations on the stories that defined the previous week.
And before we dive into anything, I want to be upfront.
This show may divide some of you. Some of what
(00:23):
I'm going to say is going to make people uncomfortable,
and honestly, I wrestled with whether or not to even
start this mini series to begin with, but here's where
I landed. I have to speak my truth because what's
happening right now around us is terrifying. We are living
through a moment where the political landscape is shifting faster
(00:44):
than most people can keep up with, and currently where
we're at right now, pretending that everything is normal isn't
just dishonest, it's dangerous. So yes, this series might not
be for everyone, but if you're here, if you're willing
to listen, my goal is to cut through all of
the bullshit and all of the noise every Sunday, talk
(01:07):
about what I think is really happening, and God, find
a community to help us all process this new reality
because it is horrendous. For today's episode, I want to
walk you through a timeline, a timeline that shows, step
by step how Donald Trump has moved this country closer
to authoritarianism and closer to fascism. And this isn't hyperbole,
(01:31):
this isn't speculation. It's a documented series of choices, actions,
and events and escalating power grabs. So I'm going to
start at the beginning. And as a side note before
we kick this off housekeeping, I'm going to publish these
episodes via We Saw the Devil. I'm not creating a
separate podcast for this because ninety percent of this includes
(01:53):
crime and it is well within the true crime umbrella.
So if you want to follow, if you're new here,
this is the first you've heard and you want to
continue getting updates and follow, you can do so on
Instagram at We Saw the Devil podcast. You can do
it on Twitter and Facebook under We Saw the Devil,
or you can find me at Robin Underscore WSTD. So
(02:14):
let's start with the beginning. And this is not just
the political landscape. This is specifically as it relates to
where we are finding ourselves right now. I called twenty
fifteen to twenty sixteen the blueprint. Trump launched his campaign
by calling if you remember that escalator ride down Mexican
immigrants rapists and criminals. That's where the scapegoating and dehumanization
(02:36):
officially fully started on such a large scale. Don't forget
that Trump had become popular up until that point and
inserted himself into the news cycle claiming that Barack Obama
was not an American citizen. Do you remember that before
the unfortunate ramblings of him running for president, how he
was on Fox News all the time and trying to
make statements really fighting Barack Obama being an actual citizen.
(03:01):
But Trump's line when he launched his campaign, calling Mexican
immigrants specifically racists and criminals, and then the bad ombres
that line, those lines set the stage for the politics
of the other, the other. That is a classic fascist strategy.
Then you have the cult of personality and these again,
(03:24):
this segment i'm calling the these years, I'm calling the blueprint,
because these are if you do any modicum of research
on fascism, this all is like a fucking checklist. You
have the cult of personality with Trump, right, even I
think both Democrats, Republicans, Independence the purple people eater. Everyone
(03:46):
can agree that Trump has a massive personality. Out of
the gate, he declares, I alone can fix it. From
day one, he was positioning himself not as a servant
of the people, but as its savior, as our savior.
I alone can fix this. I alone can fix this.
This I am the singular figure who can restore greatness.
(04:10):
And then when his campaign got rolling, can we not forget, guys?
I don't know why people, especially in the current political climate,
with the bullshit that Republicans are spewing about Democrats and
leftists being violent. Do we not remember the rallies when
Trump ran the first time, Trump himself encouraged it, encouraged
(04:34):
supporters at the rallies to assault protesters. Do we forget
that he promised to pay their legal fees for fistfights
and beating the shit out of protesters. He made threats
against Democratic lawmakers, he made threats against other Republicans that
he was running against. He was testing the waters seeing
how far political violence can go as a tool, and
(04:55):
that is exactly what happened. But do you, guys again,
remember because I haven't heard anyone talk about this in years.
The Trump rallies were violent. You had protesters outside, you
had the Trump supporters largely largely peaceful, but there were clashes,
and they weren't just due to the leftists. I could
play three hours of audio because I've already heard it,
(05:16):
already watched it of Trump telling his supporters to harm
their opponents. This isn't made up. Twenty seventeen to twenty twenty,
that was more or less norm breaking and authoritarian foundations.
That was laying the foundation. Twenty seventeen, Trump pardoned to
Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Do you guys remember that he was
(05:39):
convicted of criminal contempt for racial profiling. He was a
very loud and proud racist. He treated his prisoners horribly,
human rights abuses, insanely corrupt, And the message is clear.
Joe Arpio was loud and proud for Trump. So loyalty
(05:59):
took Trump matters more than loyalty to the law. Twenty eighteen,
there was the separation of migrant families at the southern border,
and that entire thing shocked the world. Ice even back
in twenty eighteen, but before all of what we're seeing now,
Ice became a symbol of cruelty and unchecked state power.
(06:20):
And I am not solely going to knock Trump on
this one, because separating of families at the border has
happened before in previous administrations as well. Clearly not to
the degree that we are seeing now with over a
thousand people disappearing unaccounted for and disappeared off of the map,
but it has happened in both administrations, and I don't
(06:41):
see a lot of politicians screaming from the rafters on
stopping that program. Twenty eighteen to twenty nineteen, Trump begins
to demonize the press as the enemy of the people.
Do you guys remember that was a direct quote, The
press is the enemy of the people. Don't listen to them.
They're lying to you. You know, fake news, fake news.
(07:05):
He began to threaten to revoke licenses. He was pushing
lawsuits against media outlets for merely reporting things that he
didn't like. Consolidating power over the media is one of
the top and most initial pieces of fascism. In twenty twenty,
George Floyd died as protests were raging over his murder.
(07:27):
Trump deployed federal forces, mostly unmarked into US cities, most
notably the city that I was living in at the time,
Portland organ which we're going to talk about Portland in
this episode a bit. I was living there, guys during
this time, and people were being disappeared off the streets.
(07:49):
I had been at protests. I witnessed them with my
own eyes. And what has bothered me and I saw
this coming so long ago, the right specif pacifically. Fox
News has been painting Portland as Antifa shitthole, nothing but
violence and smoke. It's been the same rhetoric that we're
(08:10):
hearing this week on and why he is sending the
military into Portland. I was there on the street, saw
the Ice Center, saw the protests with my own fucking eyes,
and it was all bullshit. Yes, there are some rowdy people.
It was literally a block, one tiny block outside one
(08:32):
building that was it. Were their clashes, yes, absolutely, but
it was in no way over the entire city or
meeting the military or ice or federal agents. We're talking
twenty people getting into a scuffle. And then all of
the lying about Portland. They would play the same clips
(08:52):
over and over from one of the protests that yes,
did turn violent, and then the newscasters would paint the
entire city of Portland. That way, people can't go. They're
scared in their homes. And I remember being downtown Portland,
literally one street over from the Ice detention center. I
was going to a coffee shop that I loved, and
it was just a beautiful day outside. There was not
(09:14):
there weren't a lot of people over there, no bullets,
no fires, no, you know, like I've watched the right
demonized Portland for a decade now leading to this moment,
leading to where we are as of this week. But
in Portland, people in little green outfits started abducting protesters
off the street. They were obviously federal agents and they
(09:35):
were abducting and pulling protesters off the streets. I mean,
it was very very early, similar and reminiscent of secret
police tactics. Then we had the twenty twenty election aftermath.
Don't we all remember that Trump immediately the entire election
said if I lose, the Democrats rigged it. Remember he
was the one doing that. He was the one that
(09:56):
did that. He brought up Democrats stealing the election. He
said that his supporters should fight against the Democrats the results.
He insisted it was stolen, and then he incited the
January sixth insurrection. A lot of us after that election
were like, oh my god, a return to some form
(10:18):
of peace. But that doesn't happen. At that point, you
had the Republican Party, which you know, was filled with
everything from never Tromp to Maga to you know, more
left leaning Republicans to more you know, opposite polar end
of the spectrum of Nick Fuintes. Then you had the
alt right, like moderates, you know, you had a whole
(10:42):
spectrum on the right wing right, and then likewise on
the left wing. You have a lot of moderates, you
have the far far far left, you have progressives, you
have liberals. You know, we have our own split on
our side as well, a spectrum of beliefs and and ideals.
And I feel at that point it was just broken,
(11:04):
you know. I mean during Obama, really it was broken.
And I love especially I'm sitting on this week hearing
all the you know, the Charlie Kirk shit still thankfully
that's dying down, because I have no idea how someone
who said that if his ten year old daughter was
raped and pregnant, he would force her to have it.
You know, I don't know why we're celebrating him as
some saint or martyr. But I digress. But do we
(11:28):
remember when Obama was president? And I can pull up
fifty mental images and even Google. There's thousands of people
at Trump rallies talking about Obama, of him hanging Obama
and noose. Remember the truck pickup truck liners that had
Obama noosed. They had the same for Joe Biden, like
(11:52):
he was tied up and had a bull's eye on him.
I saw people actually driving out in public with those
on the back of their pickup truck beds. Where did
this history go? Did it just disappear? But a lot
of us thought that, you know, twenty twenty one, we
were heading into somewhere good, right, We were going to
have some peace. Things were going to go back to
(12:13):
some relative sense of normality. But interestingly enough, Trump immediately
began to rewrite history. He recast the January sixth rioters
as patriots and hostages. I mean, he was laying down
the groundwork for pardons back in twenty twenty one, calling
them patriots and da da da da da da dah.
(12:35):
These patriots broke in to our government buildings, They pissed
on desks, they ripped up paperwork. They were threatening and
chanting that they were going to kill our congress people,
some Democrats and Republicans as well. Don't forget the calls
to hang Mike Pence that went out on mass in
(12:57):
the protests. But they were the patriots, right, They were
the patriots. Also if you look in also if you
look at leadership within the Republican Party, between twenty twenty
one and twenty twenty four, everyone knew that Trump was
running again. Everyone knew that Trump was running again. He'd
claimed that it had been stolen from him, that the
Democrats stole the election, which is not true. And so
(13:19):
in Republican leadership, loyalists began to fully, fully, fully dominate
the Republican Party leadership. Any Republican who pushed against him
during his first term were removed or sidelined, or were
embroiled and scandal of some sort. So there was a
complete purge from the top down of high ranking Republican officials,
(13:41):
putting only the top Trump loyalists in command. Then we
had the conservative attacks on education, conservative legislation spreads, banning books,
restricting curriculum on race and gender. Remember the book, Remember
the book Banning's DEI critical race theory, things like that,
All of that came an ideological apparatus is built at
(14:04):
this time again, others, others, and all of this aligned
with Trump's rhetoric. Also, in preparation for Trump announcing his
you know, additional run, his allies began openly discussing quote,
unitary executive theory. Unitary executive theory. If you google that,
you can find multiple discussions of that on Fox News.
(14:27):
And I'm sure most of the listeners at the time
didn't take the time to look that up or see
what that means. Do you guys know what unitary executive
theory is. Unitary executive theory is presidency unconstrained by law,
a president where the president is essentially above the constitution.
(14:48):
That is what Fox News and his allies and his
supporters and other congressmen, you know, his his allies and
supporters there, they were openly discussing that. By the way,
before the selection even took place. Why do you think
the left was screaming, Hey, this smells an awful lot
like someone who you know, we've seen before, and how
(15:13):
they kind of were talking before they seize power. Maybe
this isn't this isn't a good sign. But we were
called snowflakes and woke and all of this other shit.
So America got the day that it voted for, essentially,
and so we move on to the election. If you're
listening to the podcast, I know that you have a
functioning brain and you were able to look at a
(15:34):
screen and that you were able to click buttons. We
all are, so I know that you also. Guys also
remember the Trump rallies on his return to power for
the second round and how violent they got. I can
again think of many, many, many instances of violence at
these rallies. I also lived and forget in Portland, and
(15:56):
I saw the Proud Boys come through, literally drive through
again with my own eyes, drive down the street, jump
out and jump people like jump who they perceive to
be Antifa or alt or other. That's why Portland is
such a hot bed of activity. Yes, it's far left,
it's pretty liberal there. You are free to be who
you want to be with almost zero constraint. And so
(16:19):
you know, you have the Proud Boys coming in, ill macho,
toxic masculinity, it out on steroids and shit, and they
come in and they hoot and holler, and then, of
course the more left leaning people see that as provocation,
and then there's always a fight, and then it's then
that's how sound bites and the media takes clips like that.
Fox News runs with it and says, oh my god,
these you know, wonderful patriots were beaten by Antifa in Portland.
(16:43):
And then on CNN, MSNBC and you know other places
you have evil proud boys come in and beat the
shit out of innocent, sweet angel babies. In Portland, the
media was splitting us. And this is going to be
a side note and an ultimate theme of this episode.
You guys, the media is not our friend, especially not
(17:04):
under a fascist rezime regime like the one we're experiencing
slipping into. But in general, you guys, the news doesn't
give a shit. It is all about money. Like everything
else in the world, the media just wants clicks. It
wants money. And in times of insane political moves and
danger and a bunch of you know things going on
like how we are now, especially as a functioning arm
(17:26):
of a government, it's meant to divide us. It's like
that one really popular class. Please forgive me. I'm not
going to take the time to look it up. But
you know, someone came in and they spoke and then left,
and then they asked the whole class to write down
their account of the interaction that took place. What kind
of clothes were the person was the person wearing? What
(17:47):
did they say? Did they have jewelry on? Da da
da dah. It had like forty different opinions on what
they saw, right, I know that's normal, but please, on
both sides, do not believe anything in everything you see
and always get two to three additional sources if I
see anything, if I see anything that I even question,
I will go to a variety of sources and fact
(18:09):
check it. Get out into your communities and see what's
going on. All of this was evident from the very beginning,
and we told you so. So then there was an
open authoritarian escalation. He is elected, He's sworn in and
immediately pardons all January sixth rioters, including the most violent offenders.
(18:31):
He was rewarding insurrection and inviting repetition. Isn't that what
people always say if you know, you don't punish someone,
and all of you know what I'm getting at. I
don't care what side I even if the left had
done January sixth I would want each and every single
one of them locked up, period court trial. All of
(18:55):
you that does not belong in any sort of democracy
or democratic republic. He also went back to his cult
of strength. Trump started doubling down on the only I
can save you from chaos rhetoric. Despite overall declines in
violent crime. There have been declines in violent crime and
all of the cities that he's saying that he's going
(19:17):
to send people to. Then we have the federalization of
policing in Washington, d C. He invokes a so called
quote crime emergency that is based on nothing, and I
was really surprised when I saw even Fox News talking about,
actually crime rates are down, there's no reason for this.
(19:37):
But he strips the city of control over its own
police force. That's a direct assault on local democracy. In
April of this year, we had the ex Diplomat's Warning.
Dozens of former US ambassadors warned that America is sliding
into authoritarianism. They describe it as a climate of fear
among civil servants. He began to purge judges, Immigration courts,
(20:03):
and enforcement agencies were stacked with loyalists. Any dissenting judges
describe ICE under Trump as operating quote like the Gestapo,
many many direct quotes there. Over the summer, Trump actually
had already mentioned he tried to label antifa and other
left wing groups as terrorists. That is a tactic borrowed
(20:23):
straight from fascistro's regimes to criminalize opposition. We see that everywhere,
look at the worst most authoritarian countries, and that is
one of the first things that rulers do when they
get in is they make again the other illegal. Over
the summer, he also began to weaponize the DOJ. He
(20:43):
was pushing prosecutions of his political enemies, making constant statements
about how people like Gavin Newton, Newsom, Adam Schiff, James Comey, Obama, Biden,
the Clintons. He was talking about how they should all
be prosecuted for all sorts of crimes, but also protecting
his allies. The justice system is no longer impartial, it's
(21:05):
just being utilized as a weapon. And the reason why
again I'm doing this episode is because of what's happened
in the month of September, primarily the Portland escalation as
we'll call it. Trump orders US troops into Portland organ
to defend ICE, facilities, authorizing quote full force against protesters.
(21:28):
Donald Trump's social media posts said, at the request of
Secretary of Homeland Security christ Nome, I am directing Secretary
of War Pete Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to
protect war ravaged Portland and any of our ice facilities
under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.
I am also authorizing full force in caps, by the way,
(21:52):
if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Full force. City leaders of Portland obviously immediately reject the
framing of Portland as lawless and point out that the
Trump is that Trump is manufacturing a crisis to justify militarization. Yes, yes,
(22:12):
Christy Nome and Republican talking heads like Nancy Mayce and others,
especially Stephen Miller. They federal officials and lawmakers begin to
describe local activists as Antifa terror cells, deliberately inflating these
threats to justify their repression. There is no Antifa, you guys.
There's no Antifa there. Antifa is an ideology. There is
(22:37):
no Antifa group that has a meeting every tuesdays behind
the dairy Queen. It is just an idea that means
anti fascist. What I hope every single listener of this
podcast is, I hope you are antifa. I hope you
are antifa, because if you're not, the opposite is that
(23:00):
you're a fascist. But what's interesting specifically about the Portland
issue that a lot of people aren't aware of is
that ongoing in Portland for a while now, the City
of Portland has been citing Ice for violating city rules
by detaining migrants illegally. They're saying that they have evidence
of federal attempt for law, and then you also have
(23:23):
land right issues, right, I think believe it was immigrants
being held for longer than twelve hours violates the land
use policies and all of that. So there has been
an ongoing issue of the City of Portland fighting back
on that, and so some people are saying that this
is potentially revenge or retribution for Portland fighting back. I
(23:44):
honestly think, in my opinion, In my opinion, I honestly
believe that Portland is just probably the easiest powder keg
to this, that Portland is probably what would be the
closest city to exploding. Although it looks like Chicago is
giving people a run for their money with a broadview
protests outside the ICE attention center for the last day
and a half. But it's just absolutely wild. And this
(24:08):
militarized presence mirrors historic fascist use of paramilitary and secret police.
We're seeing this, you guys, We're seeing this. Have you
seen a lot of videos of ICE and the type
of people they hire for ICE? And if you are
against picking up a legal immigrants and rough housing with
(24:29):
people and potentially killing people, you wouldn't be signing up
for ICE. That means that there is an alignment in
your beliefs and ideals if you voluntarily go sign up
for ICE. ICE has quite literally become almost Donald Trump's
personal army at this point. And then over the last
several months, have you seen all of the job the
(24:50):
job postings and commercials for becoming an ICE agent? They
are hiring so many of them, so many of them.
And what's going to happen, in my opinion, is our
riots are going to continuously be eroded. Prices are going
to continue to skyrocket. We're going to see desperation in
this country. People are going to be brutalized. People are
(25:11):
going to start eventually probably fighting back. We're going to
have in the clashes in the street. And Trump is
going to have a massive force of ice plus the military,
because now he's already crossed that threshold into deploying the military.
Oh I'm sorry, from the new named Department of War
against internal states in America. What's next? And there is
(25:33):
a very distinct fascist pattern here. When you stack them
on top of each other, it's unmistakable. You have the
enemy construction from day one, escapegoating immigrants, demonizing Antifa, vilifying
the press, democrats. You have the cult of the leader.
I alone can fix it. I'm a celebrity. I'm great.
It's just some charismatic push. He promises pardons for his loyalists,
(25:57):
and he has total loyalty demanded, using the law as
a weapon, using the Department of Justice against critics, FBI
witch hunts, purging the courts, pardons for allies. Then you
have violence in force January sixth, the insurrection, federal troops
and cities taking over Washington, DC, greenlighting assaults on protesters
(26:22):
with quote full force. Then there's a ratiure of limits,
which ignoring court rulings, which we've seen him do, expanding
executive theory, which again is something that Fox News talked
about multiple times expand executive theory. We want a president
who is above the constitution and above the law. And again,
(26:42):
federalizing local police also follows under that, because then you're
eroding the state and local governments to be taken over
by the federal who is directly aligned. And lastly, normalization,
the constant repetition of law and order, law and order,
which we're seeing that all the time right now, especially
on Fox News and Newsmax and all the others talking
(27:05):
about how Chicago, Detroit, Portland, especially LA like how these
are liberal cesspools and Trump needs to bring law and order.
If you look up lawn order quote by Pam Bondi,
you'll be here for the rest of the night reading
quotes from her about how Republicans are here to restore
law and order. We are going to see them mainstream
(27:27):
extreme tactics. They've already been gaslighting the public into accepting
authoritarian measures as security. George W. Bush did that for
nine to eleven, and the whole country Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats and Republicans helped put us even both feed in
to a surveillance state after nine to eleven, all it
(27:47):
takes is one thing to change the whole cultural landscape.
We all knew that when Trump came back, we were
gonna have the teriffs. I mean, we're getting exactly what
he promised. I myself never thought that we would be
here on this precipice. Donald Trump isn't just bending the rules.
He is reshaping the United States into a system where
(28:08):
power flows from the strong man, all dissent is crushed,
and law serves the leader rather than the people. I
will never forget or forgive myself for seeing what began
with him mocking immigrants and journalists, and before he won
the first time, I was like, no, there's no way.
That has escalated into him having a full first term,
(28:29):
and escalated into him pardoning insurrectionists, deploying troops against US cities,
and now openly defying law. And these are not isolated acts.
They are a coherent pattern right from the fascist playbook.
And it is unfolding in real time, you guys. And
the last thing that I want to cover really quickly
is this October, something unprecedented is happening. Defense Secretary Pete
(28:54):
Hegseth again, Donald Trump's hand picked leader of the Pentagon
and former alcohol like wife meter in Fratborough has called
for a mass meeting of America's top military brass And
I'm not talking about a routine briefing or a handful
of generals. I'm talking about hundreds of generals one star
and above, summoned to Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia,
(29:18):
pulled in from commands all over the world. Nay, the Army,
Air Force Marines, all under one roof, on very very
very very short notice. And here's the kicker. The agenda
is so vague, the purpose is unclear, and the current
stakes for us here, US peons and mere mortals is
pretty fucking high. What we know about this meeting according
(29:42):
to according to reporting from the Associated Press, Politico, and
The Guardian, what we know is that it's set for
early October. Trump himself is scheduled to speak at it.
The topics floated will be military standards, grooming, warrior ethos,
and leadership condom. This isn't business as usual. Retired officers
(30:04):
and defense experts are warning in full force that they've
never seen anything like this in modern US history. So
why does that matter? Why should you care or we
care about a military meeting at Quantico, because the pattern
that we're seeing so far is we are seeing a
major push in the centralization of power. By dragging all
(30:26):
senior officers into one room, heg Seth and thus Trump
gain enormous leverage. It's an opportunity for them to read
the room, intimidate dissenters, reward loyalists, and then, obviously the
thing that's on everyone's mind right now is a potential purge.
The fear is that this becomes the shining decisive moment
(30:47):
to sideline or fire any of these military people who
aren't fully on board with Trump's agenda. And this isn't
just about policy, this is also about optics. It's about
showing the public like a unified, obedient military under Trump's command.
Pulling generals and let's not talk about the insane amount
of expense, just the sheer amount of money that this
(31:12):
is going to cost for full security details for hundreds
of America's top military specialists and officers. Pulling these people
from their posts worldwide even briefly leaves gaps in command.
The fact that the administration is willing to take that
risk signals how much importance they're placing on loyalty and
(31:32):
control here. You know, they're not bringing these people from
all around the world and spending millions of dollars on
their travel and security just to be talking about grooming.
You and I both know that You and I both
know that either something big is coming on the world stage.
Maybe there is intelligence that something is about to happen.
Maybe we are about to go to war. Maybe we
(31:56):
have a new danger that they want everyone, a global
danger that they want everyone on the same page for.
But here's the thing is that if this situation sounds familiar,
it should. When Adolph Hitler consolidated his grip on power
in the nineteen thirties, he understood one thing clearly. You
(32:16):
cannot control a country without controlling the military. In nineteen
thirty four, if you've heard of the Night of the
Long Knives, Hitler gathered military leaders and demanded they swear
a personal oath not to Germany, not to its constitution,
but to him. He wrapped this directive in language of order, law, honor,
(32:40):
and discipline, but the subtext was the same, loyalty to
the fear above all else. And soon after that, military
officers who hesitated were removed, killed, or sidelined, while loyalists
rose quickly through the ranks. What Hegsepp is doing here
at Trump's direction and has eerie parallels summoning the generals,
(33:03):
preaching about warrior ethos, turning closed door meeting into a
filmed spectacle potentially. And these are not random choices, they
are public rituals of loyalty. And that's also lifted straight
from the authoritarian playbook. Justice Hitler transformed the military into
a personal instrument of Nazi rule, and the military has
(33:26):
always been one of America's strongest guard rails against authoritarian drift.
Civilian control is enshrined in our system, and that's what
makes America so beautiful. But it's balanced by a professional
officer corps loyal to the constitution, not to a single person.
(33:46):
I don't want a military taking an oath just to
a president or just a one leader. By pulling these
people into Quantico, Trump and hegseeth are testing loyalty guys
like there's no other reason for this, pressuring them to
align not just with the office of the presidency, but
with him personally. That's why you go face to face
and you know more than a zoom call. And when
(34:08):
this line blurs once generals are treated less like independent
leaders and more like political functionaries, that road to outright
fascism it gets a lot shorter. So you're going to
be hearing a lot about Hegsett's October meeting over the
next week. And remember it's not just a calendar item, guys,
it's a stress test for democracy, a page out of
(34:31):
Hitler's own book and a very very bright and obvious
warning flair about where this administration is taking this country.
And I'll be honest with you, and I'll be honest
with you, guys. I'm actually frightened right now. I've covered
a lot of dark stories. I'm obsessed with with history,
I'm obsessed with politics. My degree is in political science.
(34:51):
I've read many books on how authoritarianism takes root, and
yet seeing it happen right now in my own country
in real time, it's like it just feels different and
it feels heavier, because here's the truth of the matter.
In my opinion, nothing ever changes when people just lay
down and take it. But at the same time, we're
(35:13):
told again and again that violence isn't the answer, and
they're right because violence almost always plays directly into the
hands of those who want more control. And now, with
a military being pulled into the cities, with generals being summoned,
with protesters being labeled terrorists, we are sitting on a
powder keg and Donald Trump is the one holding the match.
(35:35):
To my friends back home in Portland, I am begging you,
or anyone listening who lives there, I am begging you,
stay home, do not engage with this. That's exactly what
Trump and the DOJ want. They want a spectacle, they
want an excuse, and they want a flash point where
(35:56):
they can point to and say, see, we told you
that Portland as a shithole, that it's hell, that it's
war ravaged. Look at these photos, or look at this video,
which will then run every day and fucking night on
Fox News to prove the point. Do not give them
that protect yourselves, protect your neighbors. Do not give them
(36:17):
that be peaceful, protect yourselves, protect your neighbors. We cannot
win or survive this by becoming the picture they already
painted of us. And I also want to say this
directly and clearly. My fear is not abstract. It's focused
on real communities who will hurt first and worst, Black communities,
(36:38):
Hispanic communities, trans people, gay and lesbian people, queer people,
immigrant communities, people of color. These groups are already being scapegoaded, surveiled,
and targeted, and in times like this they face the
greatest danger. So if you can do anything right now,
do these things. Check your neighbors, Amplify the voices and
(37:02):
needs of those who are the most vulnerable. Support local
mutual aid networks, help your neighbors, legal aid groups, community shelters.
Donate if you can share reliable information that you fact check.
Don't add to the media you know social media network
of bullshit, fake news. Do not share rumors. Share information
(37:26):
about safe places and resources. If you are already in
a position of relative safety, try to use it to
help others who are not. This is the part of
history that no one wants to live through. The moment
when democracy is tested and when people are asked to
decide if they're going to resist or if they're going
to look away. It is way above my pay grade.
(37:47):
I obviously do not have easy answers there. I have
no idea what's going to happen next. But I do
know this, if we want something better, we'll have to
build it together. To everyone still listening, who made it
this far. Thank you. I know this show probably came
as a complete out of nowhere, strange thing on this channel,
but I've been political my whole life. Again. My degree
(38:08):
is in political science polysy French double major. I've been
interested in this and censored myself in my beliefs, and
I can't do that anymore. If you're listening and you
disagreed with everything that I just said. First, thanks again
for listening this far. But secondly, I don't hate anyone.
I just really want both sides to see both sides
(38:29):
to see what is going on, and to see collectively,
as citizens of this nation together that this is not okay.
The right wouldn't want a Democrat doing any of this,
the left doesn't want a Republican doing this. This is
not okay, period, full stop, regardless of what party it is.
And we have to come together and stop feeding into
(38:50):
the algorithms and the rage bait machine, to come together
in some semblance to stop it because pretty soon, guys,
with the way this is headed, we're not gonna have
any options there. That's it for today, guys, talk to
you next week.
Hey guys, it's Robin. You are listening to the first
episode of Red, White, and Bruised. This is a new
series where I'm going to be unfiltered and unpack my
thoughts and observations on the stories that defined the previous week.
And before we dive into anything, I want to be upfront.
This show may divide some of you. Some of what
(00:23):
I'm going to say is going to make people uncomfortable,
and honestly, I wrestled with whether or not to even
start this mini series to begin with, but here's where
I landed. I have to speak my truth because what's
happening right now around us is terrifying. We are living
through a moment where the political landscape is shifting faster
(00:44):
than most people can keep up with, and currently where
we're at right now, pretending that everything is normal isn't
just dishonest, it's dangerous. So yes, this series might not
be for everyone, but if you're here, if you're willing
to listen, my goal is to cut through all of
the bullshit and all of the noise every Sunday, talk
(01:07):
about what I think is really happening, and God, find
a community to help us all process this new reality
because it is horrendous. For today's episode, I want to
walk you through a timeline, a timeline that shows, step
by step how Donald Trump has moved this country closer
to authoritarianism and closer to fascism. And this isn't hyperbole,
(01:31):
this isn't speculation. It's a documented series of choices, actions,
and events and escalating power grabs. So I'm going to
start at the beginning. And as a side note before
we kick this off housekeeping, I'm going to publish these
episodes via We Saw the Devil. I'm not creating a
separate podcast for this because ninety percent of this includes
(01:53):
crime and it is well within the true crime umbrella.
So if you want to follow, if you're new here,
this is the first you've heard and you want to
continue getting updates and follow, you can do so on
Instagram at We Saw the Devil podcast. You can do
it on Twitter and Facebook under We Saw the Devil,
or you can find me at Robin Underscore WSTD. So
(02:14):
let's start with the beginning. And this is not just
the political landscape. This is specifically as it relates to
where we are finding ourselves right now. I called twenty
fifteen to twenty sixteen the blueprint. Trump launched his campaign
by calling if you remember that escalator ride down Mexican
immigrants rapists and criminals. That's where the scapegoating and dehumanization
(02:36):
officially fully started on such a large scale. Don't forget
that Trump had become popular up until that point and
inserted himself into the news cycle claiming that Barack Obama
was not an American citizen. Do you remember that before
the unfortunate ramblings of him running for president, how he
was on Fox News all the time and trying to
make statements really fighting Barack Obama being an actual citizen.
(03:01):
But Trump's line when he launched his campaign, calling Mexican
immigrants specifically racists and criminals, and then the bad ombres
that line, those lines set the stage for the politics
of the other, the other. That is a classic fascist strategy.
Then you have the cult of personality and these again,
(03:24):
this segment i'm calling the these years, I'm calling the blueprint,
because these are if you do any modicum of research
on fascism, this all is like a fucking checklist. You
have the cult of personality with Trump, right, even I
think both Democrats, Republicans, Independence the purple people eater. Everyone
(03:46):
can agree that Trump has a massive personality. Out of
the gate, he declares, I alone can fix it. From
day one, he was positioning himself not as a servant
of the people, but as its savior, as our savior.
I alone can fix this. I alone can fix this.
This I am the singular figure who can restore greatness.
(04:10):
And then when his campaign got rolling, can we not forget, guys?
I don't know why people, especially in the current political climate,
with the bullshit that Republicans are spewing about Democrats and
leftists being violent. Do we not remember the rallies when
Trump ran the first time, Trump himself encouraged it, encouraged
(04:34):
supporters at the rallies to assault protesters. Do we forget
that he promised to pay their legal fees for fistfights
and beating the shit out of protesters. He made threats
against Democratic lawmakers, he made threats against other Republicans that
he was running against. He was testing the waters seeing
how far political violence can go as a tool, and
(04:55):
that is exactly what happened. But do you, guys again,
remember because I haven't heard anyone talk about this in years.
The Trump rallies were violent. You had protesters outside, you
had the Trump supporters largely largely peaceful, but there were clashes,
and they weren't just due to the leftists. I could
play three hours of audio because I've already heard it,
(05:16):
already watched it of Trump telling his supporters to harm
their opponents. This isn't made up. Twenty seventeen to twenty twenty,
that was more or less norm breaking and authoritarian foundations.
That was laying the foundation. Twenty seventeen, Trump pardoned to
Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Do you guys remember that he was
(05:39):
convicted of criminal contempt for racial profiling. He was a
very loud and proud racist. He treated his prisoners horribly,
human rights abuses, insanely corrupt, And the message is clear.
Joe Arpio was loud and proud for Trump. So loyalty
(05:59):
took Trump matters more than loyalty to the law. Twenty eighteen,
there was the separation of migrant families at the southern border,
and that entire thing shocked the world. Ice even back
in twenty eighteen, but before all of what we're seeing now,
Ice became a symbol of cruelty and unchecked state power.
(06:20):
And I am not solely going to knock Trump on
this one, because separating of families at the border has
happened before in previous administrations as well. Clearly not to
the degree that we are seeing now with over a
thousand people disappearing unaccounted for and disappeared off of the map,
but it has happened in both administrations, and I don't
(06:41):
see a lot of politicians screaming from the rafters on
stopping that program. Twenty eighteen to twenty nineteen, Trump begins
to demonize the press as the enemy of the people.
Do you guys remember that was a direct quote, The
press is the enemy of the people. Don't listen to them.
They're lying to you. You know, fake news, fake news.
(07:05):
He began to threaten to revoke licenses. He was pushing
lawsuits against media outlets for merely reporting things that he
didn't like. Consolidating power over the media is one of
the top and most initial pieces of fascism. In twenty twenty,
George Floyd died as protests were raging over his murder.
(07:27):
Trump deployed federal forces, mostly unmarked into US cities, most
notably the city that I was living in at the time,
Portland organ which we're going to talk about Portland in
this episode a bit. I was living there, guys during
this time, and people were being disappeared off the streets.
(07:49):
I had been at protests. I witnessed them with my
own eyes. And what has bothered me and I saw
this coming so long ago, the right specif pacifically. Fox
News has been painting Portland as Antifa shitthole, nothing but
violence and smoke. It's been the same rhetoric that we're
(08:10):
hearing this week on and why he is sending the
military into Portland. I was there on the street, saw
the Ice Center, saw the protests with my own fucking eyes,
and it was all bullshit. Yes, there are some rowdy people.
It was literally a block, one tiny block outside one
(08:32):
building that was it. Were their clashes, yes, absolutely, but
it was in no way over the entire city or
meeting the military or ice or federal agents. We're talking
twenty people getting into a scuffle. And then all of
the lying about Portland. They would play the same clips
(08:52):
over and over from one of the protests that yes,
did turn violent, and then the newscasters would paint the
entire city of Portland. That way, people can't go. They're
scared in their homes. And I remember being downtown Portland,
literally one street over from the Ice detention center. I
was going to a coffee shop that I loved, and
it was just a beautiful day outside. There was not
(09:14):
there weren't a lot of people over there, no bullets,
no fires, no, you know, like I've watched the right
demonized Portland for a decade now leading to this moment,
leading to where we are as of this week. But
in Portland, people in little green outfits started abducting protesters
off the street. They were obviously federal agents and they
(09:35):
were abducting and pulling protesters off the streets. I mean,
it was very very early, similar and reminiscent of secret
police tactics. Then we had the twenty twenty election aftermath.
Don't we all remember that Trump immediately the entire election
said if I lose, the Democrats rigged it. Remember he
was the one doing that. He was the one that
(09:56):
did that. He brought up Democrats stealing the election. He
said that his supporters should fight against the Democrats the results.
He insisted it was stolen, and then he incited the
January sixth insurrection. A lot of us after that election
were like, oh my god, a return to some form
(10:18):
of peace. But that doesn't happen. At that point, you
had the Republican Party, which you know, was filled with
everything from never Tromp to Maga to you know, more
left leaning Republicans to more you know, opposite polar end
of the spectrum of Nick Fuintes. Then you had the
alt right, like moderates, you know, you had a whole
(10:42):
spectrum on the right wing right, and then likewise on
the left wing. You have a lot of moderates, you
have the far far far left, you have progressives, you
have liberals. You know, we have our own split on
our side as well, a spectrum of beliefs and and ideals.
And I feel at that point it was just broken,
(11:04):
you know. I mean during Obama, really it was broken.
And I love especially I'm sitting on this week hearing
all the you know, the Charlie Kirk shit still thankfully
that's dying down, because I have no idea how someone
who said that if his ten year old daughter was
raped and pregnant, he would force her to have it.
You know, I don't know why we're celebrating him as
some saint or martyr. But I digress. But do we
(11:28):
remember when Obama was president? And I can pull up
fifty mental images and even Google. There's thousands of people
at Trump rallies talking about Obama, of him hanging Obama
and noose. Remember the truck pickup truck liners that had
Obama noosed. They had the same for Joe Biden, like
(11:52):
he was tied up and had a bull's eye on him.
I saw people actually driving out in public with those
on the back of their pickup truck beds. Where did
this history go? Did it just disappear? But a lot
of us thought that, you know, twenty twenty one, we
were heading into somewhere good, right, We were going to
have some peace. Things were going to go back to
(12:13):
some relative sense of normality. But interestingly enough, Trump immediately
began to rewrite history. He recast the January sixth rioters
as patriots and hostages. I mean, he was laying down
the groundwork for pardons back in twenty twenty one, calling
them patriots and da da da da da da dah.
(12:35):
These patriots broke in to our government buildings, They pissed
on desks, they ripped up paperwork. They were threatening and
chanting that they were going to kill our congress people,
some Democrats and Republicans as well. Don't forget the calls
to hang Mike Pence that went out on mass in
(12:57):
the protests. But they were the patriots, right, They were
the patriots. Also if you look in also if you
look at leadership within the Republican Party, between twenty twenty
one and twenty twenty four, everyone knew that Trump was
running again. Everyone knew that Trump was running again. He'd
claimed that it had been stolen from him, that the
Democrats stole the election, which is not true. And so
(13:19):
in Republican leadership, loyalists began to fully, fully, fully dominate
the Republican Party leadership. Any Republican who pushed against him
during his first term were removed or sidelined, or were
embroiled and scandal of some sort. So there was a
complete purge from the top down of high ranking Republican officials,
(13:41):
putting only the top Trump loyalists in command. Then we
had the conservative attacks on education, conservative legislation spreads, banning books,
restricting curriculum on race and gender. Remember the book, Remember
the book Banning's DEI critical race theory, things like that,
All of that came an ideological apparatus is built at
(14:04):
this time again, others, others, and all of this aligned
with Trump's rhetoric. Also, in preparation for Trump announcing his
you know, additional run, his allies began openly discussing quote,
unitary executive theory. Unitary executive theory. If you google that,
you can find multiple discussions of that on Fox News.
(14:27):
And I'm sure most of the listeners at the time
didn't take the time to look that up or see
what that means. Do you guys know what unitary executive
theory is. Unitary executive theory is presidency unconstrained by law,
a president where the president is essentially above the constitution.
(14:48):
That is what Fox News and his allies and his
supporters and other congressmen, you know, his his allies and
supporters there, they were openly discussing that. By the way,
before the selection even took place. Why do you think
the left was screaming, Hey, this smells an awful lot
like someone who you know, we've seen before, and how
(15:13):
they kind of were talking before they seize power. Maybe
this isn't this isn't a good sign. But we were
called snowflakes and woke and all of this other shit.
So America got the day that it voted for, essentially,
and so we move on to the election. If you're
listening to the podcast, I know that you have a
functioning brain and you were able to look at a
(15:34):
screen and that you were able to click buttons. We
all are, so I know that you also. Guys also
remember the Trump rallies on his return to power for
the second round and how violent they got. I can
again think of many, many, many instances of violence at
these rallies. I also lived and forget in Portland, and
(15:56):
I saw the Proud Boys come through, literally drive through
again with my own eyes, drive down the street, jump
out and jump people like jump who they perceive to
be Antifa or alt or other. That's why Portland is
such a hot bed of activity. Yes, it's far left,
it's pretty liberal there. You are free to be who
you want to be with almost zero constraint. And so
(16:19):
you know, you have the Proud Boys coming in, ill macho,
toxic masculinity, it out on steroids and shit, and they
come in and they hoot and holler, and then, of
course the more left leaning people see that as provocation,
and then there's always a fight, and then it's then
that's how sound bites and the media takes clips like that.
Fox News runs with it and says, oh my god,
these you know, wonderful patriots were beaten by Antifa in Portland.
(16:43):
And then on CNN, MSNBC and you know other places
you have evil proud boys come in and beat the
shit out of innocent, sweet angel babies. In Portland, the
media was splitting us. And this is going to be
a side note and an ultimate theme of this episode.
You guys, the media is not our friend, especially not
(17:04):
under a fascist rezime regime like the one we're experiencing
slipping into. But in general, you guys, the news doesn't
give a shit. It is all about money. Like everything
else in the world, the media just wants clicks. It
wants money. And in times of insane political moves and
danger and a bunch of you know things going on
like how we are now, especially as a functioning arm
(17:26):
of a government, it's meant to divide us. It's like
that one really popular class. Please forgive me. I'm not
going to take the time to look it up. But
you know, someone came in and they spoke and then left,
and then they asked the whole class to write down
their account of the interaction that took place. What kind
of clothes were the person was the person wearing? What
(17:47):
did they say? Did they have jewelry on? Da da
da dah. It had like forty different opinions on what
they saw, right, I know that's normal, but please, on
both sides, do not believe anything in everything you see
and always get two to three additional sources if I
see anything, if I see anything that I even question,
I will go to a variety of sources and fact
(18:09):
check it. Get out into your communities and see what's
going on. All of this was evident from the very beginning,
and we told you so. So then there was an
open authoritarian escalation. He is elected, He's sworn in and
immediately pardons all January sixth rioters, including the most violent offenders.
(18:31):
He was rewarding insurrection and inviting repetition. Isn't that what
people always say if you know, you don't punish someone,
and all of you know what I'm getting at. I
don't care what side I even if the left had
done January sixth I would want each and every single
one of them locked up, period court trial. All of
(18:55):
you that does not belong in any sort of democracy
or democratic republic. He also went back to his cult
of strength. Trump started doubling down on the only I
can save you from chaos rhetoric. Despite overall declines in
violent crime. There have been declines in violent crime and
all of the cities that he's saying that he's going
(19:17):
to send people to. Then we have the federalization of
policing in Washington, d C. He invokes a so called
quote crime emergency that is based on nothing, and I
was really surprised when I saw even Fox News talking about,
actually crime rates are down, there's no reason for this.
(19:37):
But he strips the city of control over its own
police force. That's a direct assault on local democracy. In
April of this year, we had the ex Diplomat's Warning.
Dozens of former US ambassadors warned that America is sliding
into authoritarianism. They describe it as a climate of fear
among civil servants. He began to purge judges, Immigration courts,
(20:03):
and enforcement agencies were stacked with loyalists. Any dissenting judges
describe ICE under Trump as operating quote like the Gestapo,
many many direct quotes there. Over the summer, Trump actually
had already mentioned he tried to label antifa and other
left wing groups as terrorists. That is a tactic borrowed
(20:23):
straight from fascistro's regimes to criminalize opposition. We see that everywhere,
look at the worst most authoritarian countries, and that is
one of the first things that rulers do when they
get in is they make again the other illegal. Over
the summer, he also began to weaponize the DOJ. He
(20:43):
was pushing prosecutions of his political enemies, making constant statements
about how people like Gavin Newton, Newsom, Adam Schiff, James Comey, Obama, Biden,
the Clintons. He was talking about how they should all
be prosecuted for all sorts of crimes, but also protecting
his allies. The justice system is no longer impartial, it's
(21:05):
just being utilized as a weapon. And the reason why
again I'm doing this episode is because of what's happened
in the month of September, primarily the Portland escalation as
we'll call it. Trump orders US troops into Portland organ
to defend ICE, facilities, authorizing quote full force against protesters.
(21:28):
Donald Trump's social media posts said, at the request of
Secretary of Homeland Security christ Nome, I am directing Secretary
of War Pete Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to
protect war ravaged Portland and any of our ice facilities
under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.
I am also authorizing full force in caps, by the way,
(21:52):
if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Full force. City leaders of Portland obviously immediately reject the
framing of Portland as lawless and point out that the
Trump is that Trump is manufacturing a crisis to justify militarization. Yes, yes,
(22:12):
Christy Nome and Republican talking heads like Nancy Mayce and others,
especially Stephen Miller. They federal officials and lawmakers begin to
describe local activists as Antifa terror cells, deliberately inflating these
threats to justify their repression. There is no Antifa, you guys.
There's no Antifa there. Antifa is an ideology. There is
(22:37):
no Antifa group that has a meeting every tuesdays behind
the dairy Queen. It is just an idea that means
anti fascist. What I hope every single listener of this
podcast is, I hope you are antifa. I hope you
are antifa, because if you're not, the opposite is that
(23:00):
you're a fascist. But what's interesting specifically about the Portland
issue that a lot of people aren't aware of is
that ongoing in Portland for a while now, the City
of Portland has been citing Ice for violating city rules
by detaining migrants illegally. They're saying that they have evidence
of federal attempt for law, and then you also have
(23:23):
land right issues, right, I think believe it was immigrants
being held for longer than twelve hours violates the land
use policies and all of that. So there has been
an ongoing issue of the City of Portland fighting back
on that, and so some people are saying that this
is potentially revenge or retribution for Portland fighting back. I
(23:44):
honestly think, in my opinion, In my opinion, I honestly
believe that Portland is just probably the easiest powder keg
to this, that Portland is probably what would be the
closest city to exploding. Although it looks like Chicago is
giving people a run for their money with a broadview
protests outside the ICE attention center for the last day
and a half. But it's just absolutely wild. And this
(24:08):
militarized presence mirrors historic fascist use of paramilitary and secret police.
We're seeing this, you guys, We're seeing this. Have you
seen a lot of videos of ICE and the type
of people they hire for ICE? And if you are
against picking up a legal immigrants and rough housing with
(24:29):
people and potentially killing people, you wouldn't be signing up
for ICE. That means that there is an alignment in
your beliefs and ideals if you voluntarily go sign up
for ICE. ICE has quite literally become almost Donald Trump's
personal army at this point. And then over the last
several months, have you seen all of the job the
(24:50):
job postings and commercials for becoming an ICE agent? They
are hiring so many of them, so many of them.
And what's going to happen, in my opinion, is our
riots are going to continuously be eroded. Prices are going
to continue to skyrocket. We're going to see desperation in
this country. People are going to be brutalized. People are
(25:11):
going to start eventually probably fighting back. We're going to
have in the clashes in the street. And Trump is
going to have a massive force of ice plus the military,
because now he's already crossed that threshold into deploying the military.
Oh I'm sorry, from the new named Department of War
against internal states in America. What's next? And there is
(25:33):
a very distinct fascist pattern here. When you stack them
on top of each other, it's unmistakable. You have the
enemy construction from day one, escapegoating immigrants, demonizing Antifa, vilifying
the press, democrats. You have the cult of the leader.
I alone can fix it. I'm a celebrity. I'm great.
It's just some charismatic push. He promises pardons for his loyalists,
(25:57):
and he has total loyalty demanded, using the law as
a weapon, using the Department of Justice against critics, FBI
witch hunts, purging the courts, pardons for allies. Then you
have violence in force January sixth, the insurrection, federal troops
and cities taking over Washington, DC, greenlighting assaults on protesters
(26:22):
with quote full force. Then there's a ratiure of limits,
which ignoring court rulings, which we've seen him do, expanding
executive theory, which again is something that Fox News talked
about multiple times expand executive theory. We want a president
who is above the constitution and above the law. And again,
(26:42):
federalizing local police also follows under that, because then you're
eroding the state and local governments to be taken over
by the federal who is directly aligned. And lastly, normalization,
the constant repetition of law and order, law and order,
which we're seeing that all the time right now, especially
on Fox News and Newsmax and all the others talking
(27:05):
about how Chicago, Detroit, Portland, especially LA like how these
are liberal cesspools and Trump needs to bring law and order.
If you look up lawn order quote by Pam Bondi,
you'll be here for the rest of the night reading
quotes from her about how Republicans are here to restore
law and order. We are going to see them mainstream
(27:27):
extreme tactics. They've already been gaslighting the public into accepting
authoritarian measures as security. George W. Bush did that for
nine to eleven, and the whole country Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats and Republicans helped put us even both feed in
to a surveillance state after nine to eleven, all it
(27:47):
takes is one thing to change the whole cultural landscape.
We all knew that when Trump came back, we were
gonna have the teriffs. I mean, we're getting exactly what
he promised. I myself never thought that we would be
here on this precipice. Donald Trump isn't just bending the rules.
He is reshaping the United States into a system where
(28:08):
power flows from the strong man, all dissent is crushed,
and law serves the leader rather than the people. I
will never forget or forgive myself for seeing what began
with him mocking immigrants and journalists, and before he won
the first time, I was like, no, there's no way.
That has escalated into him having a full first term,
(28:29):
and escalated into him pardoning insurrectionists, deploying troops against US cities,
and now openly defying law. And these are not isolated acts.
They are a coherent pattern right from the fascist playbook.
And it is unfolding in real time, you guys. And
the last thing that I want to cover really quickly
is this October, something unprecedented is happening. Defense Secretary Pete
(28:54):
Hegseth again, Donald Trump's hand picked leader of the Pentagon
and former alcohol like wife meter in Fratborough has called
for a mass meeting of America's top military brass And
I'm not talking about a routine briefing or a handful
of generals. I'm talking about hundreds of generals one star
and above, summoned to Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia,
(29:18):
pulled in from commands all over the world. Nay, the Army,
Air Force Marines, all under one roof, on very very
very very short notice. And here's the kicker. The agenda
is so vague, the purpose is unclear, and the current
stakes for us here, US peons and mere mortals is
pretty fucking high. What we know about this meeting according
(29:42):
to according to reporting from the Associated Press, Politico, and
The Guardian, what we know is that it's set for
early October. Trump himself is scheduled to speak at it.
The topics floated will be military standards, grooming, warrior ethos,
and leadership condom. This isn't business as usual. Retired officers
(30:04):
and defense experts are warning in full force that they've
never seen anything like this in modern US history. So
why does that matter? Why should you care or we
care about a military meeting at Quantico, because the pattern
that we're seeing so far is we are seeing a
major push in the centralization of power. By dragging all
(30:26):
senior officers into one room, heg Seth and thus Trump
gain enormous leverage. It's an opportunity for them to read
the room, intimidate dissenters, reward loyalists, and then, obviously the
thing that's on everyone's mind right now is a potential purge.
The fear is that this becomes the shining decisive moment
(30:47):
to sideline or fire any of these military people who
aren't fully on board with Trump's agenda. And this isn't
just about policy, this is also about optics. It's about
showing the public like a unified, obedient military under Trump's command.
Pulling generals and let's not talk about the insane amount
of expense, just the sheer amount of money that this
(31:12):
is going to cost for full security details for hundreds
of America's top military specialists and officers. Pulling these people
from their posts worldwide even briefly leaves gaps in command.
The fact that the administration is willing to take that
risk signals how much importance they're placing on loyalty and
(31:32):
control here. You know, they're not bringing these people from
all around the world and spending millions of dollars on
their travel and security just to be talking about grooming.
You and I both know that You and I both
know that either something big is coming on the world stage.
Maybe there is intelligence that something is about to happen.
Maybe we are about to go to war. Maybe we
(31:56):
have a new danger that they want everyone, a global
danger that they want everyone on the same page for.
But here's the thing is that if this situation sounds familiar,
it should. When Adolph Hitler consolidated his grip on power
in the nineteen thirties, he understood one thing clearly. You
(32:16):
cannot control a country without controlling the military. In nineteen
thirty four, if you've heard of the Night of the
Long Knives, Hitler gathered military leaders and demanded they swear
a personal oath not to Germany, not to its constitution,
but to him. He wrapped this directive in language of order, law, honor,
(32:40):
and discipline, but the subtext was the same, loyalty to
the fear above all else. And soon after that, military
officers who hesitated were removed, killed, or sidelined, while loyalists
rose quickly through the ranks. What Hegsepp is doing here
at Trump's direction and has eerie parallels summoning the generals,
(33:03):
preaching about warrior ethos, turning closed door meeting into a
filmed spectacle potentially. And these are not random choices, they
are public rituals of loyalty. And that's also lifted straight
from the authoritarian playbook. Justice Hitler transformed the military into
a personal instrument of Nazi rule, and the military has
(33:26):
always been one of America's strongest guard rails against authoritarian drift.
Civilian control is enshrined in our system, and that's what
makes America so beautiful. But it's balanced by a professional
officer corps loyal to the constitution, not to a single person.
(33:46):
I don't want a military taking an oath just to
a president or just a one leader. By pulling these
people into Quantico, Trump and hegseeth are testing loyalty guys
like there's no other reason for this, pressuring them to
align not just with the office of the presidency, but
with him personally. That's why you go face to face
and you know more than a zoom call. And when
(34:08):
this line blurs once generals are treated less like independent
leaders and more like political functionaries, that road to outright
fascism it gets a lot shorter. So you're going to
be hearing a lot about Hegsett's October meeting over the
next week. And remember it's not just a calendar item, guys,
it's a stress test for democracy, a page out of
(34:31):
Hitler's own book and a very very bright and obvious
warning flair about where this administration is taking this country.
And I'll be honest with you, and I'll be honest
with you, guys. I'm actually frightened right now. I've covered
a lot of dark stories. I'm obsessed with with history,
I'm obsessed with politics. My degree is in political science.
(34:51):
I've read many books on how authoritarianism takes root, and
yet seeing it happen right now in my own country
in real time, it's like it just feels different and
it feels heavier, because here's the truth of the matter.
In my opinion, nothing ever changes when people just lay
down and take it. But at the same time, we're
(35:13):
told again and again that violence isn't the answer, and
they're right because violence almost always plays directly into the
hands of those who want more control. And now, with
a military being pulled into the cities, with generals being summoned,
with protesters being labeled terrorists, we are sitting on a
powder keg and Donald Trump is the one holding the match.
(35:35):
To my friends back home in Portland, I am begging you,
or anyone listening who lives there, I am begging you,
stay home, do not engage with this. That's exactly what
Trump and the DOJ want. They want a spectacle, they
want an excuse, and they want a flash point where
(35:56):
they can point to and say, see, we told you
that Portland as a shithole, that it's hell, that it's
war ravaged. Look at these photos, or look at this video,
which will then run every day and fucking night on
Fox News to prove the point. Do not give them
that protect yourselves, protect your neighbors. Do not give them
(36:17):
that be peaceful, protect yourselves, protect your neighbors. We cannot
win or survive this by becoming the picture they already
painted of us. And I also want to say this
directly and clearly. My fear is not abstract. It's focused
on real communities who will hurt first and worst, Black communities,
(36:38):
Hispanic communities, trans people, gay and lesbian people, queer people,
immigrant communities, people of color. These groups are already being scapegoaded, surveiled,
and targeted, and in times like this they face the
greatest danger. So if you can do anything right now,
do these things. Check your neighbors, Amplify the voices and
(37:02):
needs of those who are the most vulnerable. Support local
mutual aid networks, help your neighbors, legal aid groups, community shelters.
Donate if you can share reliable information that you fact check.
Don't add to the media you know social media network
of bullshit, fake news. Do not share rumors. Share information
(37:26):
about safe places and resources. If you are already in
a position of relative safety, try to use it to
help others who are not. This is the part of
history that no one wants to live through. The moment
when democracy is tested and when people are asked to
decide if they're going to resist or if they're going
to look away. It is way above my pay grade.
(37:47):
I obviously do not have easy answers there. I have
no idea what's going to happen next. But I do
know this, if we want something better, we'll have to
build it together. To everyone still listening, who made it
this far. Thank you. I know this show probably came
as a complete out of nowhere, strange thing on this channel,
but I've been political my whole life. Again. My degree
(38:08):
is in political science polysy French double major. I've been
interested in this and censored myself in my beliefs, and
I can't do that anymore. If you're listening and you
disagreed with everything that I just said. First, thanks again
for listening this far. But secondly, I don't hate anyone.
I just really want both sides to see both sides
(38:29):
to see what is going on, and to see collectively,
as citizens of this nation together that this is not okay.
The right wouldn't want a Democrat doing any of this,
the left doesn't want a Republican doing this. This is
not okay, period, full stop, regardless of what party it is.
And we have to come together and stop feeding into
(38:50):
the algorithms and the rage bait machine, to come together
in some semblance to stop it because pretty soon, guys,
with the way this is headed, we're not gonna have
any options there. That's it for today, guys, talk to
you next week.
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