I Gotta Ask

January 9, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

From a reader

If a person threatens "I am going to kill you" and in fact has a weapon and is in a position to do so...
do you wait to see whether or not they do it?

If a person says "I am going to rape you" and is in fact in a position to do so...
do you wait to see whether or not they do it?

So...

If a person says he is going to create a Muslim registry and in fact appoints the people to do so, when that will lead to attacks on people of a whole religion...
do you wait to see whether or not they do it?

If a person says he is going to remove the citizenship of people who engage in constitutionally protected speech that he doesn’t like, and is in fact able to do that...
do you say, "They don't really mean it”?

If a person labels immigrants “criminals” and says he will deport millions...
do you say, “We’ll have to wait and see whether he does it”?

If a person calls for the death penalty for five Black youth innocent of the crime they are charged with, and then says once in power he will bring in police who will be “very much tougher” than they are now...
do you wait to see whether or not he will carry through?

If a person says they will bring back torture in the form of waterboarding, and “far worse”...
do you say they probably won’t do that?

If a person says they will do everything possible to end the right to abortion—by appointing judges who will overturn Roe v Wade and defunding Planned Parenthood, thus denying women basic health care and birth control—and in fact puts in place the people who are ideologically, politically and morally in a position committed to do so...
do you wait to see whether or not they carry through?

If the person tweets that “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” and then appoints people who don’t believe climate change is real as the heads of departments charged with protecting the environment...
do you say, “We’ll see whether he goes ahead with his plans”?

If a person says “Let it be an arms race, we will outmatch them at every pass ... and outlast them all,” and would be the person responsible for the nuclear trigger...
do you wait to see if he doesn’t really mean it?

If the person is not making campaign promises, but in fact is putting the people in charge to implement all of this as he moves to assume power...
do you say we can’t tell for sure whether he will do it?

When do you stop waiting?

It’s PAST time to step into the streets to stop the Trump-Pence regime before it starts!

from RefuseFascism.org:

"Imagine if people, in the tens of millions, filled the streets, powerfully declaring that this regime is illegitimate and demanding that it not be allowed to rule! The whole political landscape would be dramatically transformed, every faction within the established power structure would be forced to respond—and all this could well lead to a situation in which this fascist regime is actually prevented from ruling. This is not some idle dream but something which could be made a reality if all those who hate what is represented by this fascist regime translate their outrage into firm determination and massive mobilization to create the conditions which make this possible."

from the Mission and Plan for a Month of Massive Resistance