{"id":22046,"date":"2025-02-22T03:30:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T03:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=22046"},"modified":"2025-03-15T21:05:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T21:05:20","slug":"if-we-make-it-through-march-thir-teenth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=22046","title":{"rendered":"“If we make it through March Thir-teenth…”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Merle<\/em><\/a> “made it though December” – and on to the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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February 22, 2025 – Back in 1974 Merle Haggard<\/a> released a new song, If We Make It Through December<\/a><\/em>. It explored the feelings of an unemployed father struggling to make ends meet, and provide some kind of happy Christmas for his family. One observer conceded that the song was heartbreaking, but said that didn’t matter to the people who prefer honestly-rendered pain to “false merriment.” Still, the chorus repeats, “If we make it through December, everything’s gonna be alright I know… If we make it through December we’ll be fine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what brought that song to my mind? Just that lately there are lots of Americans heartbroken over the direction they see the country taking. One example? Lots of posts noting Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days<\/a>. Specifically, on how on January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed the 15th chancellor of the Weimar Republic, and how a mere 53 days later, in “one of the most astonishing political transformations in the history of democracy,” he destroyed a “constitutional republic through constitutional means.\u201d And a cautionary note: The original story said he “set out” to destroy, which is way different than actually “dismantling democracy in 53 days.” (One example, a later post said “Hitler tore down a democracy in just 53 Days<\/a>.”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implication was pretty obvious, that something similar will happen in our own country. Aside from the “tore down in 53 days” post, another said Trump told top aides he wanted the same kind of ‘totally loyal’ generals that Hitler had<\/a>. Which sounded pretty bad, until I did some of that Lateral Reading<\/a> stuff and saw what Snopes<\/a> had to say: That lacking further detail or corroboration, “we have rated this claim as unproven.” (Trump has only been in office two days over a month now, meaning: “Boy are the next four years<\/strong><\/em> going to be interesting…”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting back to the 53 days, I some calculating, and our<\/strong><\/em> 53 days – from Trump’s swearing-in on January 20 – comes out to March 13, 2025. As for Hitler, most sources indicate his countdown started on January 30, 1933, when – as noted – German President<\/a> Paul von Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor of Germany<\/a>. (One big difference between our political systems.) At any rate, assuming our countdown started last January 20, the fifty-third day would come on March 13, 2025. (Awfully close to the Ides of March<\/a>, of Julius Caesar fame.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, like Merle’s Make It Through December<\/a>, I figure if we can make it through to March 13th, “Everything’s gonna be all right I know.” Let’s hope so, but here’s the timeline, according to 1933 in Germany – Wikipedia<\/a>, which can give us a heads up. The countdown started on January 30, as noted, and on February 27, “The Reichstag<\/a>, Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, is set on fire<\/a> under controversial circumstances.” With our countdown starting 10 days earlier, that means on February 17 there should have been a suspicious act of destruction, which Trump would say was caused by Democrats, liberals or other such scum of the earth<\/em>*. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next day, February 28, the German legislature – the Reichstag – passed the Reichstag Fire Decree<\/a> in response, “nullifying many German civil liberties.” On our adjusted February 18 timetable, nothing like that happened. In Germany’s March 1, 1933, “Hundreds are arrested as the Nazis round up their political opponents.” Which should have happened for us on February 19. And finally, on Hitler’s March 5, a German federal election<\/a> was held in which the Nazi party gained 43.9% of the votes. (We won’t have such an election. Hmmm<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, adjusting for Trump’s taking office on January 20, not January 30, the new “53 days” timeline would look like this. February 17 will feature some perceived emergency or disaster, “under controversial circumstances.” Next day, February 18, Congress will pass a decree in response, nullifying many American civil liberties. The day after that, February 19, hundreds of Americans should have been arrested as Trump had his political opponents rounded up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that note I just Googled “Trump political enemies jailed” and got nada<\/a><\/em>, except threats he made before <\/strong><\/em>the election. Then Googled “has Trump had any political enemies jailed,” and got much the same list. (Along with this from three months ago, Trump has threatened to jail his critics. As one of them should I be worried<\/a>?) Meaning we might want to keep those February 27, February 28, March 1 and March 5 timelines in mind. And we might even change Merle’s adjusted lyrics to “if we make it through March Twenty-third,” to err on the side of caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But are we in the same position as the Weimar Republic<\/a> in 1933? Created a mere 15 years before, in 1918, after the devastating losses in World War One? Millions of service-members and civilians dead? Untold billions in war debt and reparations? For one point of view:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our republic is far older than was Weimar; we are not a parliamentary system; the dates of our elections are, for better or worse, fixed; our courts wield greater power; the media environment and superconducting modes of information exchange are particular to our age; our economy, unlike 1933 Germany\u2019s, is not mired in a punishing depression…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That’s from A Fourth Reich? It\u2019s Not Just a Bad Dream<\/a>. For a somewhat different point of view see Here\u2019s what federal judges could do if they\u2019re ignored by the Trump administration<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Cole, a Georgetown Law professor who has repeatedly argued cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, predicted that the most likely penalty a president would face for defying a court order would be political \u2013 not legal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the president were to defy an order, it would cause a political firestorm,\u201d Cole said. \u201cAnd he knows that, and he\u2019s therefore very unlikely to do it.\u201d Which remains to be seen of course…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now a couple thoughts to close out. First, every executive power that Trump expands can be used by every Democrat president from here on. Second, We the People<\/a> hired Trump – temporarily – to do one thing: Fix the economy, period. Which means bringing down prices across the board, and<\/strong><\/em> bringing down inflation. Those two are what the Sovereign People want from Trump. Especially those younger People – and others feeling disadvantaged and left out – who want a better better chance of finally realizing the American Dream<\/a>. In particular, being able to own a home<\/a>, despite high mortgage rates and a scarcity of available houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, there are signs that Trump\u2019s honeymoon is over<\/a>. (See POLITICO<\/a>‘s take: “New polls show a majority of Americans say he has overstepped his presidential authority \u2014 and hasn\u2019t done enough to address high prices.”) But that’s thinking long term. For now let’s just see if we can “make it through March Thir-teenth.” And ponder whether we as a nation prefer the honestly-rendered pain needed to survive, or that \u201cfalse merriment” of ignoring the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The upper image is courtesy of Merle Haggard – Wikipedia<\/a>, which noted that he “accepted a Kennedy Center Honor<\/a> on December 4, 2010, from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts<\/a> in recognition of his lifetime achievement and ‘outstanding contribution to American culture.'” (Which seems rather ironic in light of certain recent events.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “Scum of the earth.” That’s how Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington<\/a>, described the soldiers who made up the bulk of his armies. (Wikiquote<\/a>, though by and through them he defeated Napoleon and saved the English way of life. And “not that there’s any connection to current events or anything.”)<\/em> Another point: Famous leaders need such “scum” to win battles and stay in power.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Owning a home. See The Cornerstone of the American Dream Is Still To Own a Home – and Many Think It’s Achievable<\/a>. But see also Is the American Dream of Homeownership Still Within Reach<\/a>?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another sign of the end of the presidential honeymoon, Angry crowd confronts Republican in deep-red Georgia with \u2018boos and catcalls\u2019 over support for Trump’s agenda<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower image is courtesy We The People Image – Image Results<\/a>. See also Preamble to the United States Constitution – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em> and Constitution101: The Sovereignty of the People<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government acts like it stands as sovereign in the American system, but that was never intended… In fact, the federal government was never meant to serve as anything more than an agent, exercising the specific powers delegated by the true sovereign… While many Americans assume the federal government sits at the top of the power pyramid, it actually belongs on the bottom. Under the intended constitutional system, \u201cwe the people\u201d hold the top position of authority… The very first words of the Constitution make this clear… Have you ever wondered why these three words appear in large, ornate letters? When an 18th<\/sup> century British king issued a grant, his name always appeared at the top in the same fashion. The framers merely replaced the king\u2019s name with \u201cWe the People,\u201d signifying the sovereign authority from which the delegation of power flowed. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A lengthy quote which may be explored further in some future post, if and as necessary.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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