Potent quotables
To warn of a threat and be dismissed is to have your own worth questioned, along with the worth of all you strive to keep safe.
It’s one thing to listen, it is another to care. And yet another to act in time.
Once an autocrat gets into office, it is very hard to get them out. They will disregard term limits. They will purge the agencies that enforce accountability. They will rewrite the law so they are no longer breaking it. They will take your money, they will steal your freedom. And if they’re clever, they will eliminate any structural protections you had before the majority realizes the extent of the damage.
One of the most horrific realizations when your government is hijacked from the inside is that there is no official to whom you can turn, because it is rare to find an official that cannot be turned by a corrupt operator.