I have boxes of old Time and Life magazines that lay out the story of 20th century America with some of them going back to the late 1930s. I love reading them. Opening them is like going through a time capsule from the news stories, images, advertising, styles of writing and expressions of opinion, hope and worry.
They are also warnings. They forecast what is going to happen next, and portend the conflagrations to come.
Time has lost much of its luster, influence and power over recent years, but this week’s edition is a tour de force that represents the highest traditions of Time journalism and insightfulness. In fact, it may be one of the most important stories ever written under the Time banner. Its cover story may turn out to be among the most memorable in its long and venerable history.
Here is an excerpt. Please read it slowly. It is chilling, real and happening. Every American has a role to play in stopping this. We must stop this.
What emerged in two interviews with Trump, and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisers and confidants, were the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. To carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country, Trump told me, he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland. He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans. He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
The story says it takes 26 minutes to read. Trust me when I tell you that you should take the time to read every single word.
I wrote about the concept of ‘who knows what and when’ a couple of weeks ago when I returned from Poland, after visiting multiple Nazi German death camps, where millions were murdered.
Here is what I said:
Like I said, everyone knows. Always.
We have no excuse in America for not understanding what is coming.
There are 189 days to go, and if the election were tomorrow, Donald Trump would win.
Wake up, America.