Blitzkrieg (German, "lightning war") is a method of warfare whereby an attacking force, spearheaded by a dense concentration of armoured and motorised or mechanised infantry formations with close air support, breaks through the opponent's line of defence by short, fast, powerful attacks and then dislocates the defenders, using speed and surprise to encircle them. Through the employment of combined arms in manoeuvre warfare, blitzkrieg attempts to unbalance the enemy by making it difficult for it to respond to the continuously changing front and defeating it in a decisive Vernichtungsschlacht ("battle of annihilation").
I went to the Syracuse International Airport last night to protest the Big Leader’s Muslim ban. He’d rather we not call it a Muslim ban, but Rudy Giuliani, who was tasked with devising the plan, let the cat out of the bag, and at this point, why not call things as they are? It’s clear what these White Nationalists are trying to do. It was good to go to the protest which was large but entirely peaceful, loud but not destructive, and I came home from it feeling I am not alone.
This morning I read Charles M. Blow’s The New York Times column about how if politicians won’t stand up, the people will. It reminded me of my favorite sign and slogan of late: First they came for the Muslims and we said "not this time, motherfucker.” I’m waiting for Chuck Schumer to lead, for John McCain to stand up. I wonder if protesting will do enough good. I wonder how long we can hold out. It has been just a week and already so much damage has been done.
It came to me that we are caught up not in a war but in a blitzkrieg. The White Nationalists are hitting so many fronts at once with so many weapons it’s nearly impossible to keep up. We are trying to catch every drop of rain with a bucket, but it’s a deluge. The bucket catches next to nothing and the water is already over my ankles.
The Germans didn’t win on strength and skill and they sure as hell didn’t win because they were in the right. They won because they surprised and overwhelmed those who believed in tradition. They won because they designed a lightning war that preyed on people’s best natures. That’s how they won those battles.
But they lost the war.
Steve Bannon is a White Nationalist. He calls himself a leader of the Alt-Right but you don’t get to give yourself a nickname, Steve, or rename who you are so we forget you’re a racist. Steve Bannon is a White Nationalist. Anyone complicit with him and the Big Leader is a sympathizer. That or a fool. Either way, it amounts to the same.
Resistance to the Nazis began with small cells and Churchill saying the British would never give up, they would defend their island whatever the costs. Then, forced into action by attacks, the mighty United States and Russia joined the fight and the Nazis lost. Blitzkrieg surprised, but right was might.
I’m not saying the administration is the new Nazi party. Draw your own conclusions on that. I am saying Bannon’s model is the blitzkrieg and so far, it’s working. Politicians are dumbstruck on both sides of the aisle. The people, however, are already out in the streets making noise.
Vive la résistance!
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