By Thom Hartmann / Common Dreams / October 1, 2025Will American democracy survive this onslaught, straight out of the Dictator’s Playbook? In previous generations the Dictator’s Playbook was followed, step-by-step, by Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Marcos, Pinochet, Stalin, and Tojo (among others). And now it’s being followed by Donald Trump and JD Vance, who’re a bit more than halfway through the list. The moment a dictator turns military forces built to destroy foreign adversaries against his own people, the rest of the transformation becomes easier. It’s a core feature of the Dictator’s Playbook.