How does a nation go from a democratic republic to a dictatorship? The answer: quickly.
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. The intention was to control him. As this article states, that was a fatal underestimation.
By the end of March 1933, the Nazis used a national crisis (the burning of the Reichstag Building) to pass legislation that would give Hitler the authority needed to deal with the crisis. This law, known as The Enabling Act, became the legal basis for the Nazi dictatorship that would govern Germany until the end of the war in 1945.
By mid-1933 (less than six months after gaining power), the Nazi government began a process called Gleichschaltung which systematically removed from civil service anyone who was Jewish or disagreed with them. (NOTE: Dachau, the first German Concentration Camp, was opened in March 1933. The first prisoners at Dachau were political enemies of the Reich.)
The average German voter never intended to take their first step as a nation towards what would become the atrocities of the Third Reich. In early 1933, they just wanted the turmoil to end and they wanted a government that could provide what every one of us desires: peace and security. By the time the average German realized that the Nazis were carrying out the threats they had been publicly advocating for since 1923 (10 years), it was too late. Nazi control was complete. You either fell in line and openly agreed with the party policies, or you were arrested and imprisoned.
Why is this relevant to today? We have a similar threat standing at our door. The Socialists that have taken over the Democrat party of 2020 have made their plans clear. They will follow Hitler's plan: gain power, create a crisis, implement legislation to give them full legal authority, destroy their enemies. This legal process to turn a democratic republic like the United States into a Socialist authoritarian state could happen within months.
All the pieces are in plain view.
Let's pray the American voters do not make the same mistake the Germans made in 1933 and fatally underestimate the truly evil intentions of a political party. Not unlike the Democrat Party in 2020, the Nazis did not hide their political agenda. Hitler published his political manifesto, Mein Kampf, in 1924. It was all there in plain view. The German voters simply did not believe him.
PS: One of the things that has perplexed me most in 2020 is the selection of Joe Biden as the Democrat nominee. I don't believe we have seen a more inept and unqualified candidate for president in the two-party era.
Moreover, with Biden's weakness as a candidate, the clear objective would be to put a running-mate on the ticket who is without question a person of great competency and political skill. That didn't happen. Of all the candidates running for the Democratic nomination in 2020 (I think there were 24 at first), Kamala Harris is one of the weakest. She dropped out of the race prior to the Iowa caucuses and even performed badly with African-American voters. She comes from the state of California, which the Democrats will carry regardless of who is on the ticket, and she is declared "the most liberal senator in the US Senate" by GovTrack, a non-partisan organization. She brings zero political advantage to the Democrat ticket, and, instead, brings a lot of political baggage with her.
As I have thought about this, I want to believe the best about the leaders of the Democrat party in 2020. Knowing that the radical left was surging and they were unable to control the rise of Socialism in the Democrat party, they nominated Joe Biden with Kamala Harris as his running mate as a poison pill. Yes, he will carry the party banner in 2020, but they will do as little as possible to get him elected. Their hope is that Americans will reject Biden as a candidate and thus put an end to the rise of Socialism within the Democrat party.
Of course, if you want to believe the worst about the Democrat party leadership in 2020, you have to argue that they put likeable, old "Uncle Joe" up as their candidate to serve as a trojan horse, and once he gets elected, they will push him aside and the radicals will quickly take over the government. In that case, re-read the first part of this article to understand their playbook.
God help us.