Death Throes Of The American Republic

[DocWatts]

I wrote this SubStack article while I was grieving the passage of MAGA Murder Bill today.

I opted for something less polished than I'd usually write - some of my recent forum posts here informed this article - in order to this get information out there in a timely manner, and offer a call to action.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Today is July 4, 2025.

Six decades ago, America began an experiment: could it create—and sustain—a true democracy?

The United States began with the trappings of democracy—but only for a privileged few. It wasn't until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the U.S. could truly be considered a full democracy in practice, securing civil and political rights for all Americans.

In 2025, that noble experiment appears to be on its last legs—the tragic victim of longstanding neglect rooted in ignorance, hate, and greed. As of the time of this article’s writing, it’s unclear whether the patient will survive.

Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”—or the MAGA Murder Bill, if we’re being honest about what this legislation entails—contains many bitter pills that will shape America into a poorer, crueler, and less free nation. You can read a short high level summary of the bill here, but if you want to cut to the main takeaway, it’s this:

17 million Americans are being kicked off their health insurance and $3.4 trillion is being added to the national debt. This is being done to give an enormous tax handout to billionaires, open a series of detention camps within the United States, and hand Trump a private paramilitary with which to fill those camps.

Going forward, it’s important to take honest stock of where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re going.

While America is overpoliced and its prison system is no stranger to human rights violations, the existing prison system is going to look quite tame compared to what’s coming as a direct result of the Big Fascist Bill.

You can read about Kilmar Ábrego García’s experience at CECOT if you want a preview of what MAGA is hoping to do to American citizens. A denial of any semblance of due process, psychological and physical torture, and inadequate access to food and water are the norm for these types of facilities. And if anyone thinks that this will stop at immigrants (regardless of their legal status), I’ve got a lucrative pyramid scheme that I’d be happy to sell them.

The intent was always to use immigrants as an onramp for implementing fascism. This process will begin with folks the regime thinks it can get away with disappearing, but it won't end with them. American citizens who pose a threat to this regime can and will be kidnapped and trafficked to these gulags. ICE is already doing this - and it’s going to become far more common once the American Gestapo is handed a budget rivaling what most nations spend on their entire military.

If we wanted to put a dividing line between the United States being a democracy and it being a hybrid regime, this plus the recent SCOTUS decision that killed nation wide injunctions may well have pushed us over that line.

A hybrid regime is essentially a failed democracy that's in the process of authoritarian consolidation, but isn't a full-on authoritarian state yet. It’s a political system that retains some formal features of democracy—such as elections and a constitution—but these are increasingly hollowed out in practice. In such a regime voting still happens, and on paper you still have 'rights,' but those rights function more like optional guidelines than guarantees. If they get in the way of the ruling faction's ambitions, they're ignored, reinterpreted, or swept aside entirely.

The American Dream, when you boil it down to the essentials, is a dream of progress. The basic idea, however imperfectly realized, is that our kids should be better off than we were, and that it’s our duty as citizens to make that happen. That dream, today, hangs by the thinnest of threads.

As of 2025, any pretense that our leaders are public servants that are bound by our laws and accountable to the people has been gradually eroded to the point where a convicted felon was able to not only evade legal consequences for inciting an insurrection, but was invited by voters to take another bite at the coup-apple.

So What The Hell Do We Do About This?

First off: self-care. Grieve if you need to. Spend time with friends and loved ones. Make arrangements to ensure your safety if you're among the groups being targeted. In short—secure your own oxygen mask before helping others. You won’t be much use to anyone else if you’re an emotional wreck.

We survive this through organization, solidarity, and principled yet uncompromising opposition to this regime and its enablers. Find your organizing home - whether that’s Indivisible, 50501, or some other grassroots organization.

This is undeniably a dark and disturbing turn, but the fundamentals haven't changed. Trump is an unpopular autocrat, and his Cult of personality is incredibly unlikely to survive him. His regime is going to make life for 80–90% of the country noticeably worse than it is now.

Americans haven't had to fight for our democracy in generations, and this moment is going to demand more of us than a lot of us were expecting. This regime is NOT all powerful - the only way this is over is if we give up. Don't obey in advance. Don't try to placate or reason with MAGA - they're our version of the Nazis, and need to be socially ostracized. No more humoring folks who want a dictator.

We need to be loud and uncompromising as humanly possible in standing up and denouncing this. Your family and friends who "don't follow politics" need to be confronted with the ugly reality of the police state that’s being imposed on us.

Between an America that lives up to its professed ideals and a full-on fascist dystopia is a huge spectrum of in-between outcomes that will be determined in large part by the consequential everyday decisions of millions of ordinary people.

The American fascist movement spent half a century quietly building its power on school boards, in local elections, and in the media before it burst into the open in 2016. It would be the height of arrogance to think that we're going to overturn that in one election or one protest - and it would be folly to conclude just six months that the resistance is doomed and efforts to push back against this vile regime are in vain. The civil rights movement put in more than a decade of disciplined work before Jim Crow finally crumbled. Defeating the Confederacy and ending slavery took years of protracted effort and struggle.

We need to have the same mindset as an American GI landing on the beaches of Normandy - we're in this together for the long haul, whatever it takes for however long as it takes.

A fascist America is NOT inevitable - unless we stop fighting.

Edited July 4 by DocWatts

[Hardkill]

31 minutes ago, DocWatts said:

I wrote this SubStack article while I was grieving the passage of MAGA Murder Bill today.

I opted for something less polished than I'd usually write - some of my recent forum posts here informed this article - in order to this get information out there, and offer a call to action.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Today is July 4, 2025.

Six decades ago, America began an experiment: could it create—and sustain—a true democracy?

The United States began with the trappings of democracy—but only for a privileged few. It wasn't until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the U.S. could truly be considered a full democracy in practice, securing civil and political rights for all Americans.

In 2025, that noble experiment appears to be on its last legs—the tragic victim of longstanding neglect rooted in ignorance, hate, and greed. As of the time of this article’s writing, it’s unclear whether the patient will survive.

Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”—or the MAGA Murder Bill, if we’re being honest about what this legislation entails—contains many bitter pills that will shape America into a poorer, crueler, and less free nation. You can read a short high level summary of the bill here, but if you want to cut to the main takeaway, it’s this:

17 million Americans are being kicked off their health insurance and $3.4 trillion is being added to the national debt. This is being done to give an enormous tax handout to billionaires, open a series of detention camps within the United States, and hand Trump a private paramilitary with which to fill those camps.

Going forward, it’s important to take honest stock of where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re going.

While America is overpoliced and its prison system is no stranger to human rights violations, the existing prison system is going to look quite tame compared to what’s coming as a direct result of the Big Fascist Bill.

You can read about Kilmar Ábrego García’s experience at CECOT if you want a preview of what MAGA is hoping to do to American citizens. A denial of any semblance of due process, psychological and physical torture, and inadequate access to food and water are the norm for these types of facilities. And if anyone thinks that this will stop at immigrants (regardless of their legal status), I’ve got a lucrative pyramid scheme that I’d be happy to sell them.

The intent was always to use immigrants as an onramp for implementing fascism. This process will begin with folks the regime thinks it can get away with disappearing, but it won't end with them. American citizens who pose a threat to this regime can and will be kidnapped and trafficked to these gulags. ICE is already doing this - and it’s going to become far more common once the American Gestapo is handed a budget rivaling what most nations spend on their entire military.

If we wanted to put a dividing line between the United States being a democracy and it being a hybrid regime, this plus the recent SCOTUS decision that killed nation wide injunctions may well have pushed us over that line.

A hybrid regime is essentially a failed democracy that's in the process of authoritarian consolidation, but isn't a full-on authoritarian state yet. It’s a political system that retains some formal features of democracy—such as elections and a constitution—but these are increasingly hollowed out in practice. In such a regime voting still happens, and on paper you still have 'rights,' but those rights function more like optional guidelines than guarantees. If they get in the way of the ruling faction's ambitions, they're ignored, reinterpreted, or swept aside entirely.

The American Dream, when you boil it down to the essentials, is a dream of progress. The basic idea, however imperfectly realized, is that our kids should be better off than we were, and that it’s our duty as citizens to make that happen. That dream, today, hangs by the thinnest of threads.

As of 2025, any pretense that our leaders are public servants that are bound by our laws and accountable to the people has been gradually eroded to the point where a convicted felon was able to not only evade legal consequences for inciting an insurrection, but was invited by voters to take another bite at the coup-apple.

So What The Hell Do We Do About This?

First off: self-care. Grieve if you need to. Spend time with friends and loved ones. Make arrangements to ensure your safety if you're among the groups being targeted. In short—secure your own oxygen mask before helping others. You won’t be much use to anyone else if you’re an emotional wreck.

We survive this through organization, solidarity, and principled yet uncompromising opposition to this regime and its enablers. Find your organizing home - whether that’s Indivisible, 50501, or some other grassroots organization.

This is undeniably a dark and disturbing turn, but the fundamentals haven't changed. Trump is an unpopular autocrat, and his Cult of personality is incredibly unlikely to survive him. His regime is going to make life for 80–90% of the country noticeably worse than it is now.

Americans haven't had to fight for our democracy in generations, and this moment is going to demand more of us than a lot of us were expecting. This regime is NOT all powerful - the only way this is over is if we give up. Don't obey in advance. Don't try to placate or reason with MAGA - they're our version of the Nazis, and need to be socially ostracized. No more humoring folks who want a dictator.

We need to be loud and uncompromising as humanly possible in standing up and denouncing this. Your family and friends who "don't follow politics" need to be confronted with the ugly reality of the police state that’s being imposed on us.

Between an America that lives up to its professed ideals and a full-on fascist dystopia is a huge spectrum of in-between outcomes that will be determined in large part by the consequential everyday decisions of millions of ordinary people.

The American fascist movement spent half a century quietly building its power on school boards, in local elections, and in the media before it burst into the open in 2016. It would be the height of arrogance to think that we're going to overturn that in one election or one protest - and it would be folly to conclude just six months that the resistance is doomed and efforts to push back against this vile regime are in vain. The civil rights movement put in more than a decade of disciplined work before Jim Crow finally crumbled. Defeating the Confederacy and ending slavery took years of protracted effort and struggle.

We need to have the same mindset as an American GI landing on the beaches of Normandy - we're in this together for the long haul, whatever it takes for however long as it takes.

A fascist America is NOT inevitable - unless we stop fighting.

Thanks for his post.

Are you actually a professional political activist?

[DocWatts]

6 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

Thanks for his post.

Are you actually a professional political activist?

I make my living as a software developer and graphic designer, and I do some non-commercial writing on the side.

I'm not a professional political activist - just someone who tries to be civically engaged, and is encouraging others to do likewise.

[Lyubov]

Good stuff 

[Hardkill]

1 hour ago, DocWatts said:

I make my living as a software developer and graphic designer, and I do some non-commercial writing on the side.

I'm not a professional political activist - just someone who tries to be civically engaged, and is encouraging others to do likewise.

Oh, cool. Our country could definitely use graphic designers like you to help clearly illustrate American politics.

For someone who isn’t an activist, pundit, or professional political expert, your Substack—and your writing on U.S. politics—seems really impressive!

 

 

[DocWatts]

16 minutes ago, Hardkill said:

Oh, cool. Our country could definitely use graphic designers like you to help clearly illustrate American politics.

For someone who isn’t an activist, pundit, or professional political expert, your Substack—and your writing on U.S. politics—seems really impressive!

Thank you 

[Boethius]

"Don't try to placate or reason with MAGA - they're our version of the Nazis, and need to be socially ostracized."

"We need to be loud and uncompromising as humanly possible in standing up and denouncing this. Your family and friends who "don't follow politics" need to be confronted"

 

This is how we guarantee that J.D. Vance becomes president in 2028, is my two cents.

[DocWatts]

1 hour ago, Boethius said:

"Don't try to placate or reason with MAGA - they're our version of the Nazis, and need to be socially ostracized."

"We need to be loud and uncompromising as humanly possible in standing up and denouncing this. Your family and friends who "don't follow politics" need to be confronted"

This is how we guarantee that J.D. Vance becomes president in 2028, is my two cents.

Because normalizing a fascist movement has worked out great so far. /s

But hey, maybe we just need to cede even more ground to people who want other Americans disappeared to detention camps. Surely, when the Christo-fascists get everything they want, they'll start to see the error of their ways! 

Edited July 7 by DocWatts

[Willie]

1 hour ago, DocWatts said:

Because normalizing a fascist movement has worked out great so far. /s

But hey, maybe we just need to cede even more ground to people who want other Americans disappeared to detention camps. Surely, when the Christo-fascists get everything they want, they'll start to see the error of their ways! 

It also implies 3 things:

- Republicans will want Donald Trump to stop being the President of the USA.

- Donald Trump will want to stop being President of the USA.

- The phrase ‘President of the USA’ will continue to mean something.

[Boethius]

1 hour ago, DocWatts said:

Because normalizing a fascist movement has worked out great so far. /s

But hey, maybe we just need to cede even more ground to people who want other Americans disappeared to detention camps. Surely, when the Christo-fascists get everything they want, they'll start to see the error of their ways! 

If stuffing cotton in our ears and screaming on the streets about White Supremacy and Toxic Masculinity and Fascism was ever going to work, it would have worked in 2024 already.

So sure, show up to the No Kings protest (as I did) to call out the most egregious (fascistic, if you like) acts of the administration. But also let's please have meaningful conversations on the left about what mistakes we made in the past and how we can do better, and let's do some bridge-building with at least center right people who may have voted for Trump but don't think of themselves as Nazis. A smart strategy is not built on confrontation alone.

[DocWatts]

1 hour ago, Boethius said:

So sure, show up to the No Kings protest (as I did) to call out the most egregious (fascistic, if you like) acts of the administration. But also let's please have meaningful conversations on the left about what mistakes we made in the past and how we can do better, and let's do some bridge-building with at least center right people who may have voted for Trump but don't think of themselves as Nazis. A smart strategy is not built on confrontation alone.

I do agree with the gist of what you're saying here. Condemn what needs to be condemned, while building an ideologically diverse pro-democracy movement that's big enough for anti-Trump conservatives. The Lincoln Project and The Bulwark are two center-right organizations that are some great examples of how conservatives can be a part of the Popular Front against fascism.

So no disagreement at all on having meaningful conversations with people we don't agree with on everything. At the same time, we need to draw a hard line with Trump's enablers. In other words: we should be building a broad tent, but one with clear boundaries.

For the Democratic Party in particular, in my mind they need to be doing two things simultaneously.

1) Cede zero ground to this regime for its flagrant disdain for our laws, our constitution, and human rights. Any compromise with Trump and his enablers is only an invitation for them to take more. Their horrific vision for the country needs to be rejected loudly and uncompromisingly.

2) Offer people a better alternative based on economic populism, that will make a real difference in their day to day lives. Instead of offering small tweaks to a system that mostly isn't working for people, Dems need to offer a bold vision for the country that inspires people - not become 'Republicans lite'.

Zohran Mamdani is an example of how to do both of these things exceptionally well, which is why, he won a commanding victory over the corrupt Democratic establishment in the NYC mayoral election.

 

Edited July 7 by DocWatts

[Boethius]

14 minutes ago, DocWatts said:

I mostly agree with the gist of this sentiment. Condemn what needs to be condemned, while building an ideologically diverse pro-democracy movement that's big enough for anti-Trump conservatives.

So no disagreement there.

For the Democratic Party in particular, in my mind they need to be doing two things simultaneously.

1) Cede zero ground to this regime for its flagrant disdain for our laws, our constitution, and human rights. Any compromise with Trump and his enablers is only an invitation for them to take more. Their horrific vision for the country needs to be rejected loudly and uncompromisingly.

2) Offer people a better alternative based on economic populism, that will make a real difference in their day to day lives. Instead of offering small tweaks to a system that mostly isn't working for people, Dems need to offer a bold vision for the country that inspires people - not become 'Republicans lite'.

Zohran Mamdani is an example of how to do both of these things exceptionally well, which is why, he won a commanding victory over the corrupt Democratic establishment in the NYC mayoral election.

 

I do think a bit of moderation on social issues would help (are we really going to die on the hill of freely available sex reassignment surgeries for minors, especially in the aftermath of Skrmetti?) but otherwise I agree with the general game plan.

I do hope you have a bit more hope for our future than your title about "death throes" suggests. You write about a "bold vision for the country that inspires people", so you seem to agree that people need something positive to latch onto. To move forward, both individually and collectively, requires a deeply embodied sense of hopefulness, I suspect.

[DocWatts]

3 minutes ago, Boethius said:

I do think a bit of moderation on social issues would help (are we really going to die on the hill of freely available sex reassignment surgeries for minors, especially in the aftermath of Skrmetti?) but otherwise I agree with the general game plan.

Again, I agree with this sentiment: we should be more willing on The Left to meet people where they're at on social issues, while putting most of our focus on economic policies that will help large numbers of people. 

That doesn't mean abandoning immigrants to detention camps, or ceding the narrative on the barbarity of Trump's deportation regime. It does mean picking our battles over which hill we're going to go to war over (metaphorically speaking).

[DocWatts]

25 minutes ago, Boethius said:

I do hope you have a bit more hope for our future than your title about "death throes" suggests. You write about a "bold vision for the country that inspires people", so you seem to agree that people need something positive to latch onto. To move forward, both individually and collectively, requires a deeply embodied sense of hopefulness, I suspect.

I was deliberately being provocative with that title. Not a lamentation that America is doomed, but a call for some Radical Acceptance.

If in actuality I thought that the END IS NIGH, I wouldn't be encouraging folks to get more involved in the political process - I'd be encouraging them to flee the country.

But I also want to set realistic expectations about what this struggle is going to entail - it's not going to be quick, and it's not going to be easy. But the future is absolutely worth fighting for.

Edited July 7 by DocWatts

[Leo Gura]

Look. Just like always, humanity will bumble through this mess and come out the other side.

It's like raising a child. He's gonna be messy but it will work out.

[Twentyfirst]

Once you guys fix this I think a lot of problems will suddenly solve themselves. It can't just be that the left is perfect and Trump is a meanie that's a childish way of seeing things 

[PurpleTree]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

 

It's like raising a child. He's gonna be messy but it will work out.

What if he’s going to shoot up a school or steal money from his parents and then overdose on fentanyl.

[DocWatts]

10 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Look. Just like always, humanity will bumble through this mess and come out the other side.

It's like raising a child. He's gonna be messy but it will work out.

We may bumble through in the end, but let's not kid ourselves that these problems just fix themselves.

Fascism lasted 17 years in Chile; 34 years in Spain. Jim Crow lasted for a century.

Finding our way out of this mess is going to require that millions of ordinary people care enough to put their time, energy, and potentially their personal safety on the line to oppose the police state that's being built around them.

That doesn't mean that everyone needs to be out on the streets - protesting is just one tactic - but it does mean that ordinary people need to step up their civic participation. Restoring democracy isn't someone else's problem, it's going to depend on what all of us do in the coming years.

Edited July 8 by DocWatts

[Twentyfirst]

@DocWatts You guys don't have the testosterone to do jack shit lol

[Leo Gura]

19 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

What if he’s going to shoot up a school or steal money from his parents and then overdose on fentanyl.

The child may die, but society will go on.

Society is larger than any one guy, or even any group of guys.