I’m more curious what the rank and file military would think, ...

As long as a sufficiently large enough minority of rank and file toe the fascist line, they will be successful enough. Good people will take pause, being reticent to "mobilize against their own." Fascists will take no such pause.

I honestly think they may draw the line at going after people like Milley. I know what rednecks are like when they rally for a cause, but if enough of their superiors and friends also serving have enough doubt at seeing where all this leads, they may say no.

I hope, at least.

If it comes to pass then arming yourself is too late.

You'll need to have arms before then. People talk about the second amendment and that scenario is exactly why it exists.

Yeah, we left-wing people have needed to start arming ourselves and training for years now.

This shows you don't know history.

Hitler no more forced himself into power than Trump has. Hitler's rise to power is a good study in how differing approaches lead to Fascism. Hitler did try the force himself into power approach in 1923. It ended poorly for him. He spent a year there, coming up with a new plan. That included a manifesto (Mein Kampf, perhaps you've heard of it), and a change in strategy. Rather than trying the direct approach, he decided to do something different. He promised to only build his party, the National Socialist German Worker's Party, through democratic means, and waited for an opportunity.

24 October 1929 provided him the opportunity he needed. He leveraged the average German's frustration at the ineffectiveness of government to attend to basic needs and built support of his party from 2.6% of the vote in 1928 to 37.3% in July 1932. He'd see his support dip in November of '32 during a snap election, but he secured a promise to be appointed Chancellor of the Weimer Republic, and by March of '33, his party surged to 43.9%. Mind you, he achieved that goal by basically outlawing the political opposition, specifically the German Communist Party, and set up for his takeover of Germany. They worked fast. From March until July, every single other party in Germany was outlawed, and by August of '33, the only legal party in Germany was the Nazi party. And a year later, when Hindenburg died, Hitler officially took over his office as well, and became the Leader and Chanceller, which later just became Leader. You should know the German word for that. Führer.

There are differences between America's road to Fascism, just like there were differences in Italy and Spain's roads to Fascism. Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco are all three authoritarian Fascists that rose to power by promising people stability. So is Trump. Mussolini did force himself into power and maybe you're remembering that, but Hitler tried to force himself into power and failed, so he came at it a different way. A way that Trump's using. Mind you, the final step IS forcing oneself into power, and Trump will try to do so eventually, but again. The roadmap there is always different.

Trump's roadmap is still not written, but right now, I'd say we're somewhere around November of '32 on Hitler's. There has been a refutation of Trump's power and base, and his support is flagging. But the economy is still struggling, and people are dissatisfied with the Status Quo. Trump is counting on Manchin and Kennedy to draw just enough support from the Left that another bitterly divided Congress is formed in 2024, and he rides in on a unified Right into the Presidency. Then we'll be at March 1933 in Hitler's plan.

Now, go read up on Trump's Project 2025. That's basically Hitler's plan post-Chancellor. The most sure fire way to ensure you never lose another election is to jail your political opponents. We'll go from March to July on Hitler's roadmap, and many of us will be dead or in jail.

A lot of Germans wanted Fascism because people want to live more comfortable lives than their neighbours. That's the same for Americans. By dismissing that fact, Germans got Hitler. I'd not like to get Trump, thank you.