"This president is no friend of democracy. He has declared himself above the law, preached insurrection by encouraging armed supporters to "liberate" states from the governance of duly elected officials, told police not to be "too nice" while doing their job, and gloated over the ability of the Secret Service to turn "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons" loose on demonstrators — to "come down on them hard" if they get too "frisky". He has politicized the Department of Justice while remaking the judiciary in his image. He has stifled investigations into his administration's corruption, fired officials charged with holding federal agencies accountable to the public, and rewarded his donors and cronies with government contracts, subsidies, deregulations, and tax breaks. He has maligned and mocked the disadvantaged, the disabled, and people of color. He has sought to politicize the military, including in his entourage the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs (dressed in combat fatigues), as his orderlies unleashed chemical fumes on peaceful protesters — all so that the president could use them as stage props in a photo op, holding up a Bible in front of a historic church, just to make a dandy ad for his re-election campaign. He has purged his own party of independent thinkers and turned it into a spineless, mindless cult while demonizing the opposition. He has purloined religion for state and political ends. He has desecrated the most revered symbols of Christian faith by converting them to partisan brands. He has recruited religious zealots for jobs in his administration, rewarding with government favors the electoral loyalty of their followers. He has relentlessly attacked mainstream media as purveyors of "fake news" and "enemies of the people" while collaborating with a sycophantic right-wing media — including the Murdoch family's Fox News — to flood the country with lies and propaganda. He has maneuvered the morally hollow founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, into compromising the integrity of the most powerful media giant in the country by infusing it with partisan bias. And because truth is the foe he most fears, he has banned it from his administration and his lips. Yes, Bernie, you are right: the man in the White House has taken all the necessary steps toward achieving the despot's dream of dominance. Can it happen here? It is happening here. Democracy in America has been a series of narrow escapes. We may be running out of luck, and no one is coming to save us. For that, we have only ourselves."