The Reichstag fire was what Hitler used to get the absolute power he wanted.
How Modern Tyrants Use Terror Management to Consolidate Power
On Feb. 27, 1933, at about 9 p.m., the building housing the German Parliament, the Reichstag, began to burn. Who set the fire that night in Berlin? We don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that this spectacular act of terror initiated the politics of emergency. Gazing with pleasure at the flames that night, Hitler said: “This fire is just the beginning.” Whether or not the Nazis set the fire, Hitler saw the political opportunity: “There will be no mercy now. Anyone standing in our way will be cut down.” The next day, a decree suspended the basic rights of all German citizens, allowing them to be “preventively detained” by the police.
On the strength of Hitler’s claim that the fire was the work of Germany’s enemies, the Nazi Party won a decisive victory in parliamentary elections on March 5. The police and the Nazi paramilitaries began to round up members of left-wing political parties and place them in improvised concentration camps. On March 23 the new parliament passed an “enabling act,” which allowed Hitler to rule by decree. Germany then remained in a state of emergency for the next 12 years until the end of the Second World War. Hitler had used an act of terror, an event of limited inherent significance, to institute a regime of terror that killed millions of people and changed the world.
The authoritarians of today are also terror managers, and if anything they are rather more creative. Consider the current Russian regime so admired by the president. Vladimir Putin not only came to power in an incident that strikingly resembled the Reichstag fire, he then used a series of terror attacks—real, questionable, and fake—to remove obstacles to total power in Russia and to assault democratic neighbors.
Since Putin assumed totalitarian power in Russia thanks to his own Reichstag scenario, he has attacked many countries with asymmetrical cyber warfare. Yes, he also attacked our political system not just by social media shenanigans but, as Reality Winner warned us, he attacked the vote counting systems too. He has been in a one sided asymmetrical cyber war with us.
Putin plays chess. He is thinking many moves ahead. Trump is his asset or chess piece. He already controls the White House. He now wants his sacrificial puppet to become a dictator like him. The only thing that can prevent is an impeachment and/or a 2020 election defeat.
A Reichstag fire scenario would give Trump an opportunity to do what Putin, Hitler and other tyrants did to assume absolute power. It would be a checkmate and his main adversary would never recover.
Things have gotten worse in the last few days. Significantly worse.
White House kicks infosec team to curb in IT office shakeup
An internal White House memo published today (10/23) by Axios reveals that recent changes to the information operations and security organizations there have left the security team in tumult, with many members headed for the door. And the chief of the White House's computer network defense branch—who wrote the memo after submitting his resignation—warned that the White House was likely headed toward another network compromise and theft of data.
And then there is this from a month ago;
Whistleblower case opens window into secret computer systems
WASHINGTON (AP) — The whistleblower complaint at the heart of Congress’ impeachment inquiry opened a window Thursday into government computer systems that White House and other government employees use to share and manage classified information on a day-to-day basis.
All the computers in government are interconnected.
Russian hackers paid by Putin can hack the White House and from there get into Congress systems. I hope I am very wrong but I do believe that the probability that Putin will try to hack Congress has significantly increased now that the Executive power has lost its top computer people.
Imagine you work in a large organization, private or government. If all the computers shut down you would be stuck in your desk using your possibly hacked phone, as we all know after the SCIF pizza party. You would be able to talk to people but nothing would get done. Nothing. And every day the systems do not function, it gets worse and harder to recover from.
The obsolete computer systems in Congress and elsewhere in government are vital for its functioning. We all know that they are obsolete for at least 2 years; Congress to get White House-backed bipartisan bill to upgrade aging federal networks. Has anything been upgraded yet? Not that I know.
So if you are Putin looking at the chessboard, wouldn’t you contemplate the possibility of facilitating your puppet’s rise to tyranny once Congress votes for impeachment perhaps? What would happen if you shut down Congress, the main check and balance on your puppet Trump, by hacking its computer systems? Would Trump have enough militias, after he declares a “national emergency”, to become a dictator? What would the state National Guards do? Would the US Armed Forces go along? Would they just follow the Commander in Chief orders?
Do not expect Congress to understand all this;
Congressional Ignorance Leaves the U.S. Vulnerable to Cyberthreats
In the last U.S. presidential election, Russian hackers penetrated Illinois’s voter-registration database, viewing voters’ addresses and parts of their social security numbers. Election results were not affected, but the attack put intruders in the position to alter voter data, according to a report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The incursion was part of hacking attempts against all 50 states, and intruders will try even more vigorously in 2020, yet experts say Congress is doing little to improve defenses. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University says states will need just more than $2.1 billion to upgrade election computer systems, yet last month the Senate approved only a fraction of that amount: $250 million.
And then Trump will blame the radical left and/or a 400 lbs guy sitting on a bed.
The NSA can stop all this but I’m afraid they have to be told by the C in C to do so.
As I said, I hope I’m wrong but I also hope some patriot with capabilities is looking at this possible cyber attack from the Reichstag fire perspective.
UPDATE
I just got this in an email from Rep. Mike Levin;
I was disappointed to see my Republican colleagues vote against it and give no indication they intend to take up similar legislation in the Senate. The SHIELD Act was an opportunity for Republicans to finally stand up to keep our democracy intact. Instead, they decided to stand on the sidelines and do nothing.
Election security is not a partisan issue. But until McConnell and his Republican allies realize that, it’s incumbent on each one of us to stand up for the integrity of our democratic process.