I never read "War is a Racket" by General Smedley Butler until I was an adult. I never read It Can’t Happen Here. Sinclair fictionalizes another election year, and traces the popular democratic process from republic to – don’t be alarmed – fascist dictatorship. In Chapter 1, the "cyclonic applause" was the response of average Americans to a retired general’s impassioned claim that we are a great nation that "[arms] itself more and more, not for conquest – not for jealousy – not for war – but for peace!" Tommy Franks on the convention floor, anyone? "Epidemic patriotism" is offered...