Spitting into the wind... again.

One of the trending theories about America's current problems is called the "dual state," and it makes a lot of sense. 

In Nazi Germany, only a small percentage of the population was a member of the party. About one percent of the population was Jewish. Most people could go about their day, safe and secure. Problems only occurred when people acted or spoke in ways the regime didn't like. 

Gradually, of course, the country that passively accepted fascist leaders became de facto fascist, and WWII happened. 

All the professional commentators seem to agree that the United States is quite different from Germany in the 1930s... we are too big, have too long a democratic history, have institutions that retain a lot of power... And that sounds comforting.

Most Americans are quietly going on with their lives, even as the murders and outrages pile up... even as our clearly declining and increasingly desparate leaders lie and attack and pervert without fear of any repurcussions. If we aren't living in a version of the dual state, I don't understand the theory. And maybe I don't.

But when we watch ICE stormtroopers execute innocent Americans in the streets, immediately followed by bizarre and clearly fictional explanations by our federal government, followed by cruel and unhinged attacks on those murdered? I'm not sure that some hopeful musings about "it couldn't happen here" are comforting to me.

Can ICE ever regain any positive reputation among the majority of Americans? 

Is it remotely possible that Trump and his toadies would simply declare success and remove the ICE agents from Minneapolis? 

Can legal channels function quickly enough to force any changes, no matter how obvious and necessary?

Is there any chance that ICE, which now has access to a huge budget, larger than most other nations' entire military expenditures combined, would be quietly wound down and embrace something that resembles normal law enforcement?

My answers to all those questions is no. I can imagine most of the thugs leaving Minneapolis, but they would simply be sent elsewhere. Denver seems like a good spot for a crushing invasion, for instance. 

Until a few Republican congressmen decide that their dormant ethics need to be strengthened due to fear of losing their next election... until those mystifying cowards decide that all their private hopes that Trump will somehow change are silly, and consider that there could be life outside Washington, D.C., for them... 

Until those unlikely things happen, we are left with the prospect of three more years of constant struggle and chaos and immorality and division ahead of us. Last night I watched both Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel speak in tones reminiscent of Old Testament prophets, clearly distraught and without equivocation. This was on late night TV and I know few Americans pay much attention to those shows.

But I was struck by their emotion and their discarding the expectations that they would be funny. Trump is even ruining silly comedy monologues. 

I hope I am proven wrong, but is there anyone who can seriously see the light at the end of the tunnel right now?