What makes America different from Russia, China, or Germany is the degree of independence that local and state governments have from the central authority. In the Northeast, the West Coast, and the Upper Midwest, and urban areas outside these regions, state and local authorities are of the same mindset as their Federal counterparts. Do not forget that the Left has plans to take over the rest. California is the template: a formerly moderate to conservative state has morphed into a cross between a Scandinavian socialist state and a Latin American narco-state. The Golden State is the Left's vision for the rest of the country, and indeed all the Western democracies.
However, until the remaining moderate to conservative states develop leadership with backbone, the fate of these states will be like that of California. Southern and Plains state politicians love to whine about Obama, the Federal bureaucracy, and the Federal courts. They pass toothless legislation that routinely gets struck down by the courts. However, no governor or legislature has threatened to actually stop Federal power through preventing the Feds from, for instance, blocking roads in national forests or refusing to pay for health care for illegal aliens.
Humanly speaking, I cannot see any hope for this country until state and local authorities unequivocally tell the Federal courts and bureaucracy that their decrees cannot be enforced in their jurisdictions.
‘The Bolsheviks and Nazis followed the same route: the government found ways to suppress opposition and street thugs (Red Guard, Brown Shirts) physically intimidated any public demonstrations’
What is currently being done in this country by the political Left to suppress free speech and organizing by the likes of the Tea Party is far too close to what Bolsheviks and Nazis did.
This is an ugly and dangerous game that they are embarked upon.