So much interest now in fascism

And I am glad, because we need to be alert to encroaching fascism. This is especially true of our current predicament with a president who has mischaracterized Article II powers of the president. So there are many good articles searching for lessons and analogues from fascist leaders past, most recently Andrew Marantz article in the New Yorker sharing a colloquy with a college class on totalitarianism. To take Nazi Germany for instance as a "warning from history" I recommend reading the Opening Statement of Robert Jackson at the Nuremberg Trials. It thoroughly describes not only the ideology but the actual steps taken by the Nazi Party to hijack the German state, to the everlasting sorrow of Europeans.

Bad faith

Finally we hear on the higher channels one of the most important lessons of this presidency: we can no longer rely on good sense and good faith of our president to follow norms. More than that, ignorance of the Constitution - willful and otherwise - leads to dangerous and erroneous statements that, if turned into policy and action, could take us down a road toward tyranny. Just one example, the president has invoked emergency authority that is way out of bounds when considering Congress' intent, and any reasonable interpretation of the situation - like the tariff actions against China. One more thing: the Congress is dysfunctional and therefore unable to restrain the president, and enforce the letter and spirit of laws and norms. Folks, our government is not working!

We need tests!

We need millions of people tested in order to confidently reopen the economy. The connection appears to be lost on the president. Instead of a million tests (I am reminded of the line in the Michael Myers movie) we need 50 million. We are a country of 330 million and a workforce of 160 million. What good does testing 1% do in this pandemic? Oh, and Steve Mnuchin had better come through on his promises to get cash to people and businesses. He's the head of the Treasury Dept so there can be no passing the buck. If the banks don't have enough direction do get the SBA loans processed and funded, DO SOMETHING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!