We at The Steady State have studied the indicators of authoritarianism for decades — usually dry words in intelligence reports. But sometimes, a single photograph says it all.

Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive all at once. It creeps in under cover of “order,” cloaked in uniforms, justified by fear.

The president of the United States just declared war, actual military war, not a metaphorical one, on a major American city, and one governed by his political opponents.

In any other period, this would be impeachment-worthy.

The president is sending the military to control American cities and if you're a reporter who's framing that illegal power grab as "pushing the boundaries of constitutionality" or "acting boldly to fight crime" or whatever, please go find another line of work where you won't get us all killed.