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Stand back and stand by. Democracy is on fire.

If Democratic politicians, anti-Trumpers and progressive activists have been sounding the alarm for years, the threat is now imminent, the danger close: American democracy faces its gravest constitutional challenge since the Civil War.

President Donald J. Trump has trounced so many democratic traditions, flouted so many of its customs and thwarted so many constitutional imperatives that the civic fabric is now torn to shreds, perhaps irreparably so. He wholly owns the Republican Party, whose pols have become nothing more than a cynical claque, reflexively bowing before the emperor, defending his deranged excesses. His attorney general, William Barr, serves as the presidents consigliere recasting the Department of Justice, designed to ensure full equality under the law to all Americans, as the enforcement arm for Trumps corrupt schemes and petty reprisals.

Now the president is loudly and repeatedly suggesting that he may not adhere to a bedrock principle of this republic, a founding pillar of Western democracy: the peaceful transfer of power in the event of his electoral loss. While his rival, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, insists that Trump would not dare defy that principle, I am less sure. He has defied every other without consequence. Why would he suddenly respect the U.S. Constitution in November?

Days after the disgraceful shout-fest that billed itself as a debate, Trump has still not had the decency to clearly and firmly rebuke violent white supremacist groups, including the Proud Boys. Instead of condemning them, he issued what many white domestic terrorists heard as a clarion call, a command: Stand back and stand by.

According to several published reports, white supremacist groups celebrated Trumps command online; the Proud Boys, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group, immediately incorporated the presidents call to "stand by" into their logo. And what is the moment for which they should be ready?

The president has spent months trying to undermine the integrity of elections, insisting that mail-in ballots result in overwhelming fraud and threatening to send "sheriffs" to monitor polling places. But he hadnt made those outlandish claims in as significant a forum as a presidential debate until last Tuesday.

Moderator Chris Wallace asked the president whether he would urge his supporters to avoid "civil unrest" while waiting for the election to be independently certified. Instead, Trump said, "Im urging supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully. If its a fair election, I am 100% on board. But if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I cant go along with that."

In other words, he will go along with the expressed intent of the electorate only if he is the presumed winner. If Biden wins ... stand by.

In an alarming article in The Atlantic, writer Mike Giglio revealed the existence of several nationalist militias ready to take up arms if things dont go their way. Their concerns are eerily similar to the plans that Trump claims the "radical left" and its Antifa allies will inflict on the country if Biden is elected: confiscation of firearms, anti-Americanism in public schools, a Green New Deal that will destroy single-family housing. Giglios report reinforced testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who testified last month that "racially motivated violent extremism" has made up the majority of domestic terrorist threats.

While militias are gathering their AK-47s and bandoliers, other Trumpists are gathering their cellphone cameras to barge into election offices and polling stations to intimidate voters, as the president commanded. In mid-September, Trump supporters disrupted early voting at a polling station in Virginia, waving flags, blocking easy access and yelling, "Four more years!" Some voters and county election staffers reported that they were intimidated by the crowd.

Trumpists wave American flags, denounce those who take a knee during the playing of the national anthem and bray loudly about patriotism. But they dont respect the nations values. Neither does the president. So stand back and stand by. They want to burn our democracy down if they dont get their way.

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Stand by to protect democracy - Times Union