A Letter To The Editor

 

 

[To the editor@chicagotribune.com, January 18, 2026] 

On several occasions Gov. Pritzker of Illinois has publicly spoken about the prospect of the Trumpists sending lots of troops (and other armed goons) into cities to intimidate voters and candidates, and on August 31, 2025  he opined that Trump wants to  "stop the elections in 2026." Those were his words. I view that prediction as prescient and plainly obvious, as the Federal government, whether in suits in White House offices or in stormtrooper costumes on the streets of our cities, acts and talks with complete disregard for consequences. 

Indeed we recently saw an ICE trooper murder a white middle class woman in front of several people who were recording the action. This demonstrates that anyone is a target, not just "the usual suspects," and by doing that John Ross might as well have shot Renee Good live on TV. His actions show he fully expected to get away with it, and not only has MAGA declared it "justified" but the FBI has been ordered to investigate Renee Good's family. Does that look to you like Trump and his gang give a damn what the voters think?

The fact almost immediately after being sworn in Trump turned over the Federal government to Elon Musk and started kidnapping suspected immigrants on the street shows that the fix has been in from the beginning. They expected opposition, and they usually responded by doubling down on their crimes. From the beginning they've known that the Democratic politicians and voters would be talking about "just wait till the 2026 midterms" and they've kept on behaving badly. The word for that is impunity: they have foresight enough to know that they simply cannot allow the 2026 elections to happen like they're supposed to. In fact on Wednesday, Jan. 14 in an interview with Reuters Trump himself said "when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election."   

If they allow an election to happen, do your best to vote your conscience. But be prepared for Federal agents to seize the ballot boxes, or stop "certain people" from voting, or even close the polling places so people can't vote. And don't expect the returns to be accurate: I predict a Republican "landslide" in 

contested districts, no matter what actually happens. We also  might expect that opposition candidates Trump doesn't like, such as Repr. Ilhan Omar, will be put in "protective custody" on election day at the latest.      

As a lifelong student of history I've read about such things happening all over the world in many times and places, especially during the 20th century, and I get the general gist of the playbook. The wonder is that this is happening not in some colonized Third World country but right here, in the heart of the empire, "in the belly of the beast." 

We must expect a flat-out dictatorship to blossom any time now, and we must prepare ourselves as best we can. Not only should we keep track of things here, we should familiarize ourselves with what has happened elsewhere in the past. Ever since the last days of the Roman Republic the basic steps of tyrannical takeovers have been the same. 

I can say this in public under my own name because I am a sickly old man with no family and nothing to look forward to but getting sicklier and older. I have nothing to lose but my pains. There must be many people out there who've come to the same conclusions, but who should not say so in such a public fashion for obvious reasons. Those who have something to lose, who have people to protect, should prepare for what  will happen when my prophecy comes true. 
  

 

(With my name, address, phone number, and of course email address. This letter probably won't get posted by them anyway, but might be forwarded right to the FBI.)