The Iron Fist

The Atlantic magazine, a highly respected publication that has been around for more than a century and a half, published a well sourced and well researched article on Friday (link here) about the links between the far-right anti-democracy movement and the highest levels of the Trump White House.

None other than Peter Thiel was included in the article, who has written "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible." Thiel, you may recall, is an openly gay libertarian and longtime Donald Trump supporter. He's often trotted out as some kind of proof that Donald Trump "loves gays."

People who support anti-democracy movements foolishly believe benevolent dictators could be good leaders. But the problem with that slippery-slope thinking is tolerable dictators often turn very, very nasty, particularly when their opposition grows.

Sometimes, the worst part of a dictatorship is not the beginning but the end. In the early days, only a small number of highly marginalized people may be oppressed and persecuted. By the end, however, the majority is squirming under the dictator's thumb.

Many in Trump's inner circle idolize Vladimir Putin, an autocrat who is far from benevolent and openly persecutes LGBT people, amongst many others. The fact that so many people in power now in America embrace un-American principles could be the beginning of something that ends terribly, and LGBT citizens, along with many others, may all be victims awaiting the inevitable.