I quite agree that I tend to be a Pollyanna, too optimistic by half. It's a personal failing, but it keeps me happy. In other words, all evidence to the contrary, this retired Navy man insists that glass is at least half full, doggone it!

One other factor is required in order to have a fascist regime: control of the military, and in the latest Military Times poll, two-thirds of the commissioned officers (the ones in charge, all of whom have college degrees) disapprove of Trump...and this poll was taken *before* the "losers and suckers" news came out about Trump's opinion of soldiers killed in combat. Yes, about half of the white enlisted (the ones generally without college degrees) still support Trump, but they're not the ones in charge. The officer corps is the key.

In other words, the military will not support him. They've already refused his patently-unconstitutional orders to deploy against protesters within our borders. What's more, retired flag officers (generals and admirals) hold a lot of sway among the active-duty officer corps, and they see all too well the opinions of those flag officers like Mattis and Kelly who worked for Trump directly.

My only real concern about our military is that at the behest of Putin, Trump might try to start a war with China. I don't think Putin would push him to start a war with Iran or some other third-world nation, but Putin most certainly would be happy to see America at war with China. I just hope our flag officers are courageous enough to resist any orders to start such a war.

If Russia is somehow able to keep Trump in office (because I do not believe Trump and his cronies are able to make it happen by themselves), it's going to get much worse - no doubt about it. But he's already going off the deep end now. Once he's gone, as bats**t crazy as the GOP is, I see no one else on the Right with the wherewithal or determination to turn America into a dictatorship.

We just have to survive as a nation until Trump is out of office.