Is this fascism rising in America?

 I watch as National Guard, Marines, and masked ICE agents are deployed in our nation... Is this how Fascism in America rises?

"And if then the tyrants dare

Let them ride among you there, 

Slash, and stab, and maim, and hew,—

What they like, that let them do.”

“Rise like Lions after slumber

In unvanquishable number,

Shake your chains to earth like,

Dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you,

Ye are many-they are few 

~ Percy Bysshe Shelley ~

    I read Shelley and find myself wondering, is America falling?   have never feared for my nation’s future, until now. Donald Trump steps on our Bill of Rights every day. I include the first 10 amendments of The Constitution of the United States of America here to reflect my charge against this man. The first 10 amendments are America's Sacred Ground. 

In my view, this man has attacked the First Amendment since 2016. He repeatedly calls the press  fake news, and calls protestors thugs.  All the while praising the mob who violently attacked our nation’s Capital on January 6th. 2021. He diminishes Amendment 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 by ordering ICE Agents to snatch immigrants off the streets ~ without a warrant, in plain daylight, while hiding behind face masks.  They wear SWAT vests, carry high powered weapons, and refuse to identify themselves. 

        I find myself wondering, when will Shelley’s lions rise?  When will they come to see that they are the many; these thugs are the few.  Why not a national strike?  Shut down the economy.  Along with these modern day Detention Center Bastilles.  Shelley's Lions did not rise after the Massacre at Manchester in 1819 England. 

        But you and I remember.  We remember  Chile... Argentina... Italy... Spain...  and Germany. We have seen this before.  History repeats itself.  I wonder aloud ~  Where are the lions? 

I list my evidence below:

Bill of Rights

Amendment 1 Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly (Constantly attacks these)

Amendment 2 Right to bear arms (Support this one, but my thinking how long before permits come with loyalty pledges) 

Amendment 3 Quartering of soldiers (Has touch this one yet)

Amendment 4 Search and arrest (In my View ICE and his political DOJ office violate this one regularly) 

Amendment 5 Rights in criminal cases (Well not if you are an immigrant, Green Card Holders, and if he gets his way Birthright Citizens are in danger)

Amendment 6 Right to a fair trial (Depends on your loyalty)

Amendment 7 Rights in civil cases ( Well this one depends on if he wins in my view)

Amendment 8 Bail, fines, punishment, (Again not for immigrants sent to El Salvador, or any nation willing to take immigrants for a price)

Amendment 9 Rights retained by the People (I see loyalty pledges down the road)

Amendment 10 States' rights (This one depends on when they favor his position)

        For the first time in my life, I am very scared of Fascism rising in our United States of America. I am a teacher, a writer of prose, and Facebook Posts.  I am no Lion ~ only a teacher who, like Shelley, dreams of Lions Rising.  

    I saw this, heard this, and  read this before.  I remember, I am Jesse, 70, retired, and safe.  I can wait for these Lions to rise up. I can smoke my cigar, drink a little bourbon, and tell Toast (my dog) all that is wrong in America.  I can hope, and take comfort that there are Lions out there,  somewhere.  I chase my tears away with a puff on my cigar.  It is my silence that tugs at this old heart of mine.  It is apathy that keeps their eyes off me.  This safety condemns my soul... 

    What does an old  history/reading teacher do when the  president is trashing our sacred rights?  I am just a teacher, a recently retired teacher.  Do I stay quiet, while I smoke and drink the fine gifts they gave me when I retired?  I am no Lion, but I remember all too well hearing a Chilean Lion's unfinished song. 

I remember hearing about the Chilean teacher "Victor".  He was a poet, a folk singer, a Lion of Lions.  He carried no gun. He sang his songs. His Chile's traditional folklore inspired the working people of Chile.  General Pinochet kidnapped him along with thousands of Chilean citizens who protested the death of their President.  Thousands would be murdered, and thousands more would just “disappear”. The last time Victor was seen was at the university.  He was helping students distribute food and gasoline.  It was right there, with the students, that he was taken.  Victor Jara was targeted because he was a folk singer.  The army made an example of him. He was beaten and tortured.  He had been shot 44 times, when the students finally found his body in the streets ~ as a warning to "All Lions".  The Teacher, The Lion, is immortalized in American Folk Music by Arlo Guthrie in New York City   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vatEqeFmXdQ   

Make no mistake,  America supported Fascism in Chile, and Pinochet’s rise to power.  When President Allende was killed, so too was his nation’s democracy.  Why did Nixon fear President Allende enough to support Pinochet’s Coup?  Allende had just passed legislation which established the Chilean National Health Service, guaranteeing universal health care for Chile.   Nixon along with the CIA feared Allende's brand of democratic socialism would spread throughout South America.  Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship would rule for seventeen brutal years, from 1973 to 1990.   Pinochet lost a 1989 Plebiscite, and  free elections brought Christian Democrat Patricio Alywin to power.  There are no songs for Pinochet.  His only legacy is one of shame and pain.  He was indicted in 1998 by Spanish Baltasar Garzon, and arrested in London, where he was held under house arrest, and ordered to return to Chile.  There he was indicted and charged. He would die in shame before his conviction, no one sings  a memorial song.   Whose song is sung? Victor Jara ~ Chile’s Lion, songs from him and for him, are sung every year in Chile, and all over the world.  A recent movie, The Penguin Lessons,  has me remembering Chile’s Lion Teacher and Folk singer.  In 2006, Dublin, Ireland, I heard Christy Moore singing  Jara’s Song “Victor Jara of Chile lived like a shooting star He fought for the people of Chile with his songs and his guitar". 

His hands were gentle and his hands were strong. > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiKPu5WmOkQ  <

Art moves people to remember, to question, to reflect.  Art endures, even inspires Lions!  Fascism threatens everyone’s Freedom. We can be lions, or we can be silent. I chose to be a teacher of truth, a lion like Victor Jara.  So yes, I am scared for Our Country, Our  People, Our Constitution. It is so easy to enjoy my conversations with Toast in our yard... But Lions must roar!  Lions must warn the pride!  Lions must stand up to the threat!  I can bury my head in the sand as  America’s Bill of Rights and Constitution are under threat. But I am a Teacher...  a Lion...  I am writing to warn the pride...   November '26 and again two years following, November '28,  requires every Lion and Lioness to turn up at the polls.

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired this Teacher Lion tonight, it is Bob Marley’s Stand Up For Your Rights > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhJ0q7X3DLM <