The pretense that America is too good, too civilized, and too white to have to contend with violent uprisings, whether coups or revolutions, took away the fundamental threat keeping fascists in check. Once they were normalized as politics as usual, and money was allowed to veto votes and prison sentences, it was inevitable that our imperishable democratic order would collapse. Effortlessly. And return to a corrupt state any 19th century American would recognize.