Democracy sold down the river

Trump and MAGA commit horrible acts every day. ICE abductions to secret locations. Starving children in Africa. Attacks on our public health and environment. Alliances with dictators over democracies. However, it is often the smaller story that begins revealing the greatest truths. These stories are accessible, a doorway to walk through to then consider democracy’s greater threats.

What has stuck in my craw, as my Appalachian grandfather would say, is The Guardian’s story on J.D. Vance raising the Little Miami River level just for his family trip in August. While no story on mass deportations, the federal government’s destruction, or the economy’s collapse, this story is on a personal, lived-experience scale.

. . . JD thought nothing about the dam’s intent and how water is managed for a community’s safety. He just wanted a better outing, and that needed a higher river level.

This is peak-level fascism.

Take me to the river

River rat JD wanted a good time for his family outing (like this one) on the Little Miami River, This paddling route goes from the Caesar Creek Lake dam, down the river to the town of Milford. Reddit has this anecdotal but illuminating discussion of high water level preference. By everything I have read this morning, the trip looks restful and relaxing, if the water is high enough.

Caesar Creek Lake dam was built in the 1970s with the primary goal of flood control. Later, the lake became the source for nearby Wilmington, Ohio’s drinking water and will serve the needs of a new Honda battery plant. The project considered its recreational benefits as well. But flooding drove the dam’s construction. Just look this 1913 flood and the history afterwards.

Now consider this story on flooding in the area April 2025. Flooding is still an issue to manage in the river basin that the dam is meant to prevent. So, JD comes in and releases water for his amusement downstream. Now his particular release did not flood anywhere, but how saturated is the area at the moment? What will it contribute to anything happening a few weeks from now? Who knows?

Peak Fascism

What sticks with me is JD thought nothing about the dam’s intent and how water is managed for a community’s safety. He just wanted a better outing, and that needed a higher river level. This is peak-level fascism. That a vice-president simply orders more water in disregard for any future public harm. It is peak because JD asked AND government employees answered his request. The United States at its worst, before Trump, would have had civil servants pushing back harder against any elected making such a potentially harmful request. Not today.

A problem with scale

Edward R. Murrow began his condemnation of Sen. Joe McCarthy by first telling the story of Lieutenant Milo Radulovich, a U.S. Air Force Reserve officer discharged without trial for “disloyalty” because his father read Serbian newspapers and his sister was a lefty. The story raised tremendous support for Radulovich, which led to his reinstatement. Murrow never mentioned McCarthy by name, but this was a significant step towards ending McCarthyism by rendering its sweeping injustice down to a human scale.

Americans have a problem considering scale. You say some big horrible thing is coming or is here in the United States, and most people just do not see it as a statistical possibility. Most Americans, raised in a stable abd consistent environment, cannot visualize large conspiracies to deny us democracy. But this J.D. Vance story is accessible. How can this guy snap his fingers and get water for his trip, the community be damned? This is no Epstein files, but I contend this story says much more about what is happening today than not releasing some paperwork. It reveals a government for the powerful, not the people. Otherwise known as fascism.