"This is not a warning. The dark days aren't coming. The dark days are here."

Rachel Maddow. Feb 21, 2020

Rachel Maddow believed that the heroic thing was to sound the alarm and warn people of the direction the country is heading. But last week she realized we are past that. She tells journalists to stop describing what is happening with timid phrases like "the appearance of impropriety."

The media must acknowledge what is happening, "The rules are gone. They will do what they want. The government will be turned against you if you stand against this President." Trump has set democracy on fire. Now it's a 4-alarm blaze and we need to act.  Watch the whole video here. (link)

Trump Set Democracy On Fire. McConnell Spread It

Grass truck on fire. Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador Vía Kenni Bolaños

Shown here is Mitch McConnell driving our burning Democracy though town to spread it. The media recorded the fire but they didn't stop it. Citizens need to save Democracy and put out the fire themselves.( In part two of the video a group of citizens put out the fire

Democracy is burning. Maddow has ideas on what to do but she's not an activist or politician. She identifies first as  a journalist. Their job is to report on the news, not make it. In the middle of the fire it's hard for a reporter to say, "Hey, all you people standing there watching? Jump in and help put this out!" She's not an expert at putting out fires but sees that the people whose job it is aren't doing it.

Last week she said we need to run in and put out the fire.

When journalists see a fire their first instinct is to pull out their cameras, take photos and write up the story while the firefighters battle the blaze. When it's over they'll write the parts of story they could see in real time, like the brave firefighter who ran into the building to save children.

But what if half of the firefighters stood around instead of fighting the fire? A reporter won't run in to put it out. They ask why it happened.  "Chief Red, why didn't your firefighters do anything? Why did they block Chief Blue's firefighters' access to the water that would have put out the fire?" She might ask Chief Red, "Don't you care about the community? What about the children who were in the building?" Chief Red will give reasons and will imply that since she's not a firefighter so she wouldn't understand. "I had to let it burn, I couldn't risk the lives of my firefighters."

It’s hard for people to imaging people robbing others while a fire is happening. But it turns out if you don’t get punished for the theft, it’s a great distraction.

But what if she found out that Chief Red's firefighters were getting money from the mobsters who owned the building that burned? Everyone in the department knew it was arson, but the investigation was shut down. The mobsters would collect the insurance. The insurance money would be kicked back to Red's firefighters as pay off for not acting.

The story about a group of fire chiefs who allowed a building to burn and how they benefited would take months to complete. It would come out as a Sunday magazine feature. The journalists would expect the rest of the community to act. The legal system is supposed to arrest people, politicians connected to the crime are supposed to resign or lose their re-election bids. The general public is expected to be outraged and call for Chief Red and all his corrupt firefighters to be fired.

But what Maddow is saying is we did that story but the responses didn't play out the way they are supposed to in a democracy in America. So this time she's telling everyone, "Run in and put out the fire! Save our democracy!"