Diversity Rules Magazine

11 Diversity Rules Magazine March 2020 Her most recent book, An American Queer, a collec on of "The Ama- zon Trail" columns, was presented with the 2015 Golden Crown Literary Society Award in Anthol- ogy/Collec on Crea ve Non Fic on. This, and her award- winning fic on, including The Raid, The Swashbuckler, and Beggar of Love, can be found at h p://www.boldstrokesbooks. com/Author-Lee-Lynch.html. My sailor friend e-mailed me last night. She had just go en home from her wom- en's group where they discussed the fears engendered by the state of our na on. Only they didn't use the term state of our na on, they used the word "coup." Another friend writes a valuable Word Press blog tled "Nel's New Day." Ever since the presiden al elec on of 2016 she's been, almost daily, gathering informa on about the person she calls DDT, or, Dic- tator Donald Trump. Dictator? Coup? Are they talking about the United States of America? Coup is a word that goes back to 1572 in its usage as coup d'état, according to Merriam Webster. Their defini on of coup is "a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful stroke or act." While the outcome of the 2016 elec on was not brilliant in the least, it was sudden and is s ll coming at us like a freight train with failing brakes. Rachel Maddow, on her TV show, unearthed a brief essay by Masha Gessen from the November 11, 2016 issue of the "New York Review of Books." Gessen is a Russian American journalist and LGBTQ ac v- ist who suggested an alterna ve concession speech Clinton might have offered ( h ps://bit.ly/38rR2nl ). Gessen warned us about dangers to watch for once our own "autocrat-elect" took office, based largely on Gessen's experience of living under the Pu n re- gime. She wrote, and explained with unsurprising pre- science, the following: "Rule #1: Believe the au- tocrat. He means what he says. Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normal- ity. Rule #3: Ins tu ons will not save you. Rule #4: Be outraged. Rule #5: Don't make compromises. Rule #6: Remember the future. Nothing lasts forever." In par cular, too many people have given Mister Trump, once in office, the benefit of the doubt. Small signs of normality, to our naturally hopeful American hearts, have delayed the comeuppance he needs. Today, for example, the a orney gener- al appointed by Mister Trump, complained about "presiden al" tweets interfering with his ability to do his job. Not long a erward, the Republican Sen- ate, under Mitch McConnell, actually voted to limit a president's war powers regarding Iran. Amazon Trail - Con't on page 12 thE amazon trail PlEasE undErstand hoW muCh dangEr WE arE in By Lee Lynch (c) Can Stock Photo Inc. / grsphoto

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