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« BREAKING: Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker destroys Donald Trump in a historic "State of the State" Address and draws deeply chilling comparisons between the MAGA administration and Nazi Germany.
This is what a real president should sound like...
"As some of you know, Skokie, Illinois had one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors anywhere in the world. In 1978, Nazis decided that they wanted to march there," said Pritzker.
"The leaders of that march knew that the images of swastika-clad young men goose-stepping down a peaceful suburban street would terrorize the local Jewish population, so many of whom had never recovered from their time in German concentration camps," he continued. "The prospect of that march sparked a legal fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court."
"It was a Jewish lawyer from the ACLU who argued the case for the Nazis – contending that even the most hateful of speech was protected under the first amendment."
"As an American and a Jew, I find it difficult to resolve my feelings around that Supreme Court case – but I am grateful that the prospect of Nazis marching in their streets spurred the survivors and other Skokie residents to act," said Pritzker. "They joined together to form the Holocaust Memorial Foundation and built the first Illinois Holocaust Museum in a storefront in 1981 – a small but important forerunner to the one I helped build thirty years later."
"I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly but I know the history intimately and have spent more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust," said Pritzker. "Here's what I've learned..."
"The root that tears apart your house's foundation begins as a seed," he continued. "A seed of distrust and hate and blame. The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn't arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame."
"I'm watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now," he said.
"After we've discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women, and the minorities... Once we've ostracized and betrayed our neighbors and friends... After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face, what comes next?"
"All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don't want to repeat history then for God's sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it," Pritzker said to enthusiastic applause.
"My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don't have kings in America and I don't intend to bend the knee to one," said Pritzker.
"If you think I'm overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon consider this: it took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours, and forty minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic and all I'm saying is that when the five alarm fire starts to burn every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control."
"Those Illinois Nazis did end up holding their march in 1978, just not in Skokie," he said. "After all the blowback from the case they decided to march in Chicago instead. Only twenty of them showed up but two thousand people came to counter-protest."
"The Chicago Tribune reported that day that the rally sputtered to an unspectacular end after ten minutes. It was Illinoisans who smothered those embers before they could burn into a flame."
"Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity Illinois and do not let the tragic spirit of despair overcome us when our country needs us the most. Thank you," he concluded.
This is exactly the kind of clear-eyed moral guidance that America needs right now. Every inch that MAGA claws from us is an inch we move closer to all-out fascism. Donald Trump has already taken to calling himself a king and his supporters are eagerly endorsing the idea.
We need more leaders like Governor Pritzker. Not only is he as forceful as needed with his words, he is an adept governor — offering a sharp contrast to Trump's weaponized incompetence.
In addition to his State of the State address, Pritzker unveiled a new $55.2 billion spending plan that included an unexpected "budget surplus," proving that compassionate leadership can go hand-in-hand with efficiency.
His new budget proposal also ensures that abortion pills will remain legal in Illinois even if a federal ban goes into effect. It also bans cell phones in state schools during instruction to fight back against the wave of anxiety and attention issues that children are facing.
This is a bold vision of the future and America would be wise to copy it. J.B. Pritzker is what Donald Trump wishes he were.»
