1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Timothy Snyder: "...the present government invites a terror attack. Most of the people directing the relevant agencies are incompetent; the next few layers down have been purged in culture wars; much the remaining personnel have resigned, been fired, or are demoralized; resources have been diverted away from terror prevention; America has been distracted by fiction and chaos; and potential attackers have been encouraged. And so we hav e to think — nd the rest would try to exploit the moment to now — about what would follow such an attack. Musk, Trump, Vance, a undo remaining American freedoms. Let me cite Lesson 18 of On Tyranny. 18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it. " How are we preparing for this future?