From the same page as I linked above:

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can’t prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don’t know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic...

Certainly, it was argued that I was over the top here 13 years ago when I said TB's defense of the use of torture put him in the same league as the worst villains in history... but here we are with a president he voted for pardoning and praising war crimes... sucking up to mass murderers and inhuman dictators. Palling around with a butcher that cut up a journalist. Meanwhile TB was off on other forums explaining how it would only play into the 'liberal agenda' to make a fuss over the killing of Khashoggi.

Or maybe 12 years ago when I asserted that their refusal to disavow our resident neo-nazi troll on this board demonstrated that they were the party of white supremacists, that they were happy to accept racism as long as it advanced the party line... I was certainly censured for that bit of 'hyperbole'. Yet now we have the tiki-torch marches, and hate crimes are skyrocketing, and we are caging, abusing, molesting and killing brown children. Punishing them for their parent's "crime"- the crime of a parent trying to save their child's life. Thousands of children stolen from their parents with no plan to reunite them. Openly white supremacist views pour from the white house, along with anti-semitic dog whistles.

How about when I warned that the right wing will stop at nothing to seize power, and we need to realize we are in a war... because the other side sure as hell knows it... yes, that was inflammatory, really out of line... yet they are now gutting all the institutions that might keep them in check- openly colluding with our nation's enemies to ensure their voices are the only ones in power... openly calling multiple times for foreign intervention in our elections.

Maybe back then, I could have been called alarmist- when we were just a few steps down this road... but now? Just look how far this trip has taken our nation.

Hell, just 4 years ago if we argued they would be supporting the atrocities we see every damn day, the conservatives here would have been outraged at the slander... yet here we are.

Did I know back then that the road would lead us here? No... but I could see the warning signs that made it clear this road was a well-traveled but dangerous route.

What I can say now with certainty is that the ride is going to get a lot rougher, and that ALL the passengers are doomed unless we wrest control of the wheel from the madmen intent on seeing what nightmares come into view around the next curve.

As far as we have gone, this road can take us so much further into the darkness...