I'm probably going to be dead soon.

“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

--Martin Niemöller

By J. Basil Dannebohm

Political commentator Thom Hartmann recently wrote, “With the raid on John Bolton’s home, it looks like we may have reached that stage when fascist governments begin to turn against their critics, weaponizing the tools of a police state … What Nixon tried to do in secret with plumbers, burglars, and hush money, Trump is doing in the open, loudly, and with the full backing of the Republican Party and its billionaire benefactors.”

Being an outspoken critic of our broken American system, I've been asked more than once, “What are you going to do when Trump's people come to take you away?”

What the hell do you think I'm going to do?

I'm probably going to die.

As the British philosopher Bertrand Russell once quipped, "First they fascinate the fools then they muzzle the intelligent."

The fact that our nation has normalized even asking such questions is a disturbing reflection of our intelligence. America’s resignation to the reality that those who would dare to question authority will be punished is a pathetic indication of just how far our collective conscience has devolved. However, it's important to bear in mind that ours is a nation made up of people who exhibit outrage when a restaurant chain decides to change its logo -- not when authoritarians use the Constitution as toilet tissue.

Over the years, false accusations have been waged by those who don't like me, what I stand for, or what I have said. When it comes to retribution – be it political, spiritual, or personal -- this isn’t my first rodeo. I'm intimately acquainted with the depths some people will descend to in their attempts to destroy a person. Thus, I’ve resigned to the reality that I will probably not live to see how this defecation on democracy plays out.

My soul is at peace with what I believe will be my demise.

In the meantime, I will stand for truth, decency, and compassion. Precisely because, as dystopian author George Orwell reminds us, "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

Writer and astronomer Carl Sagan once opined, "One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back."

I wholeheartedly believe that conservatives have embraced the bamboozle and rejected the truth. Though I admit it sounds far-fetched, I’m inclined to think they are all victims of brainwashing through subliminal messaging courtesy of Fox News. Few other possibilities would explain such fierce loyalty to an inept charlatan.

I’m reminded of the words by the “apostle of industrial unionism,” Eugene Victor Debs, who said, “In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.”

Looking back on history, most Republicans didn’t go to elaborate efforts to cover for Nixon’s crimes. The GOP certainly didn't defend G.W. Bush’s political missteps. Hell, they didn't even pledge such blind obedience to Reagan. So please, tell me how this unwavering devotion to Donald Trump is even remotely normal.

Those who aren’t brainwashed are simply cowards.

I may be a lot of things, but I’m no coward. In the words of Upton Sinclair, "I intend to do what little one man can do to awaken the public conscience, and in the meantime, I am not frightened by your menaces."

In the days that lie ahead, it won't be the familiar faces that are sent to prisons or mysteriously vanished. You’re not likely to see critics like Jasmine Crockett or Lawrence O'Donnell hauled away to a fate unknown. Even authoritarians recognize that such a vulgar display of power would backfire. In the same manner that they have been targeting vulnerable immigrants, the regime will appease their appetites for vengeance by going after the little guys, the easy targets, the low hanging fruit, people that society considers insignificant.

People like me.

When we are gone, don’t mourn for us. We don’t want your pity. Lament instead for a nation that stood by and accepted this injustice as the new normal. Weep for the cowards. Cry out when you think of how our descendants will remember this deplorable era of American history.