Today Was the Day It Hit Me

Some days I worry more than others. But today was different. Today was the first time I let myself truly wonder: what if this keeps going? What if our country actually slips into the same place Germany and Italy did when fascism took root? I’ve never let myself go there until now. Maybe it’s always been in the back of my mind, but today it came into full focus.

At the beginning of Trump’s second term, I told myself it was dramatic to worry about dictatorship. I hoped it was. I trusted our system—that the courts, Congress, and our institutions would hold the line. But the more I see, the more I realize those safeguards are cracking.

The Supreme Court has already changed the rules. In Trump v. United States (2024), the Court said presidents are absolutely immune from prosecution for “core” constitutional acts and presumed immune for most “official” acts. Only purely private acts can be prosecuted. Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned the ruling risks creating a president above the law. That’s not paranoia—that’s in the opinion.

Meanwhile, Republicans control both the House and the Senate in the 119th Congress, and the Court leans conservative. Inside the executive branch, Trump has moved to replace nonpartisan expertise with loyalty. He reinstated “Schedule F”, and the Office of Personnel Management has moved to revive it in regulation. When people push back, they’re sidelined or removed. That’s not stability—it’s consolidation.

Supporters cheer as if one man can “fix crime” or “fix D.C.” But facts matter. Nationally, violent crime fell in 2023 and again in 2024, per the FBI’s 2023 and 2024 releases. In Washington, D.C., homicides spiked in 2023, then dropped sharply in 2024 per MPD data. Yet in August 2025, the administration asserted federal control over D.C. policing and deployed National Guard troops. (And yes, uniquely, the D.C. Guard answers to the President, not a governor.) If that logic spreads, what’s next—troops in every city with crime? That’s not democracy. That’s authoritarian policing.

And it’s not just policing. Housing support is in the crosshairs. The White House has pushed deep cuts and time limits on rental assistance—see reporting and analyses here: Washington Post, CBPP, Shelterforce. The administration says the proposed two-year cap wouldn’t apply to elderly or disabled households—HUD’s own FY2026 justification says time limits would apply to “non-elderly, non-disabled” households (HUD FY2026 CJ). But here’s why I don’t just take that on faith: on March 11, 2025, the White House insisted it wouldn’t cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid (“Fact Check” post), and Trump himself said we’d “love and cherish” those programs and “we’re not going to touch it” (Georgetown CCF). Then on July 4, 2025, he signed a budget law (nicknamed the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) that independent analysts say would cut federal health spending by over $1 trillion and increase the uninsured by about 10 million (KFF summary). PAYGO rules could also trigger up to $536 billion in Medicare cuts unless Congress waives them. So when I hear “don’t worry—this won’t touch the elderly or disabled,” I remember how those other promises played out.

Then there are the words. Trump quipped he’d be a “dictator on day one.” He also said he’d “encourage Russia” to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that don’t hit spending targets. If any other president said that, we’d call it what it is: embracing an adversary and undermining our alliances.

One line I read today won’t leave my head: once fascism takes root, it’s almost never stopped early. Historians like Robert Paxton describe fascism as a process that grows in stages—movement, rooting, seizure of power, exercise of power, radicalization. If you want to see the framework, start here: Paxton, “The Five Stages of Fascism” and his book. Looking at where we are—with presidential immunity expanded, watchdogs purged, elections pressured, allies undermined, and adversaries indulged—don’t tell me this is normal politics.

The most depressing question is: if this keeps going, where does it leave us? Where does it leave disabled people, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ communities? Where does it leave democracy itself?

But I refuse to let despair win. No, we can’t fix everything at once. But we can write. We can speak out. We can call or write our representatives—even when it feels pointless. We can support independent media. We can show up at local meetings. We can vote in every election, not just the big ones. Authoritarians count on silence. Our job is to make noise.

Today was the first day I truly thought about what happens if we go all the way down this path. I don’t want to live in that world. I don’t think most Americans do. The only way to prevent it is to be honest about what we’re seeing and keep speaking up, even when it feels like no one is listening.

This is me, just an ordinary person, saying out loud what too many are thinking quietly. If you’ve ever wondered how people in other countries “didn’t see it happening”—this is how. They did see it. They just hoped someone else would stop it. I don’t want to make that mistake.