Trump election sedition represents third American existential crisis in 3 centuries.

American democracy has faced an existential crisis of possible collapse in each of the last 3 centuries.

The 19th century saw the Civil War which claimed over 700,000 lives, roughly 2.2% of the 1861 population. Only late 1864 war victories ensuring defeat of ‘peace’ candidate George McClelland, prevented possible permanent secession.

The 20th century crisis was potentially more ruinous, but largely ignored. The Wall Street based American Liberty League planned the overthrow of FDR’s New Deal, replacing it with a fascist government in the throes of 1934 Depression Era America. It was so covered up by mainstream media it’s not even taught in U.S. history classes. Suffice to say the House committee that investigated it issued this confirmation in November, 1934:

“In the last few weeks of the committee’s official life it received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country…There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.”

– Report of the McCormack-Dickstein Committee

It took their designated leader, double Medal of Honor winner, retired General Smedley Butler, ratting them out to Congress to prevent the coup.

Just 20 years into this century, the Trump cult plotters scattered across the 23 Republican controlled states have introduced hundreds of bills to suppress largely Democratic and minority voting. They are doing this in plain sight, egged on by the national Republican Party and their treasonous ex-president who’s about to return to his Nuremberg style campaign rallies starting this Saturday in North Carolina.

Trump's current soft coup to return him to power is only happening because his violent coup attempt January 6 failed to overturn his re-election loss. Yet, with few exceptions, the national, state and local Republican Parties remain loyal to Trump. Some are true wannabe fascists. Many are simply cowering before the majority of Republican voters who can send them into retirement for not paying fealty to Trump’s anti-democratic agenda.

Informed about the Civil War in school, when vets of the carnage were still alive, I couldn’t imagine I would witness an internal attack on our democracy in my lifetime. But when a truely democratic president uses Memorial Day to proclaim that voting is under attack, not by external enemies, but from within, we’d better pay attention.

It’s not that ‘it can’t happen here.’ It is happening here.