Nightmares

I awoke at 2:30 a.m. from a nightmare that left me shivering in a cold sweat.  I was afraid.  I’m well beyond worrying about the bogeyman, or things that go bump in the night, or ghostly apparitions or monsters under the bed.  I had a dream that shook me to the core.

Democrats finally decided to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump.  The impeachment articles included obstruction of justice, failure to fulfill the duties of the Presidency, and violations of the emolument clause.  The hearings were televised and the witnesses and facts just kept rolling out.  He was guilty.  The House voted to impeach and the case went to the Senate for confirmation.  McConnell attempted to stonewall, but the House threatened to begin impeachment proceedings against him.  In a historic vote in the fall of 2019 Trump was convicted and ordered to vacate the office of the Presidency.

He refused.  As Commander-in-Chief he ordered the Army to form a defensive ring around the White House where he gathered his family and confidants.  He televised speech after speech encouraging his followers to rise up, take to the streets, and use their weapons to defend him.  Trump cast himself as America’s savior and the victim of a coup and a conspiracy.  There was little likelihood that the Cabinet would invoke the 25^th amendment to add additional rationale for his departure.  But the Joint Chiefs were stuck.  Trump was commander in chief.  Capitol police were not likely to invade the White House when confronted by the US Army.  The FBI was not going to intervene as they were thoroughly under Trump’s thumb.  Trump was violating the Constitution and the due process of law, but his followers did take to the streets to defend him.  It was a coup.  It was Trump becoming the first Imperial President of the US and undoing Constitutional restraints on his powers.  He signed an Executive Order disbanding Congress and ordered the Army to supervise the departure of the elected representatives.  Once gone, he took the sole reins of power.  Still his followers supported him.  Civil war was brewing and the nation was beginning to splinter.  Putin was celebrating.

I awoke.  Scared to death.  Could this possibly happen?  I got up, paced and fretted.  I drank a scotch to calm my frazzled nerves and attempted to shake the dream from my head.  I finally returned to bed, once again to sleep, once again to dream.

The Democrats decided not to impeach Trump for fear it would be too divisive for the nation.  Plus in secret meetings the military revealed their dilemma should he refuse to vacate the office.  It was decided to let the chips fall and allow the voters to decide in the fall of 2020, and decide they did.  Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were overwhelmingly elected as President and Vice President respectively.  It was a landslide in both the popular vote and the Electoral College.  Democrats regained control of the Senate and even McConnell was defeated.

Trump immediately claimed voter fraud, declared the results invalid, and launched a nationwide investigation.  By Christmas it was clear that the vote was legitimate, but Trump claimed it was merely an inside attack by his enemies to remove him.  Though Biden formed a transition team and planned an inauguration, Trump ordered the Army to surround the White House where he and his were cloistered.  Trump called on his followers to rise up, take to the streets and defend what he called his stolen Presidency.

In January, Biden was sworn in on the steps of the Supreme Court.  The ceremony was interrupted twice by armed gangs firing shots into the crowd, killing some and wounding many.  Once sworn in, the nuclear codes were disabled for Trump and the football passed to Biden.  Biden, now Commander in Chief, ordered the Army to return to their base.  Most did.  Some Trump loyalist remained, however.  They became surrounded by the Army loyal to the US, not to Trump.  As the Army began to advance on the White House, militia members, Trump supporters, attacked them from the rear.  By nightfall, DC was in bloody chaos.  Trump would not relinquish power and the nation began its second Civil War.

In Red states known Democrats and liberals were dragged from their homes and placed in internment camps.  In Blue States the National Guard was called out to maintain order and sweep up militia members who refused to honor curfews.  Blood was shed.  American blood shed by Americans.

By the end of the week it was clear which states would remain loyal to Trump and which states would honor the Constitution and the rule of law.  Trump closed the stock market and banks.  Our allies were conflicted.  Should they enter the fray on the side of our Constitution or let Trump have his way.  They could only stand by and watch as the former United States of America fell apart and a dictator began his rule of terror.  Democrats, liberals, the media, minorities, folks with other faiths and no faith were all rounded up and interred.  The military was ordered to form a human barrier at our border with orders to shoot to kill anyone attempting to cross into the US.  Trump declared the former name of this country, the United States of America, was no longer valid and directed that from now on we were simply “America” and he was making us great again.

This man will not go easily and he will not obey Constitutional restraints.  Thoughtful conservatives realized too late what was happening and risked being interred if they spoke up.  Trump was an American Hitler and by the time that was clear all but the uneducated, bigoted, gun-toting evangelicals knew it was a huge mistake.

I awoke in a horror that quickly morphed to tears.  Freedom is fragile and in reality it is already showing cracks.