That's the million dollar question. I'll be blunt, because this is way past time to pretend to not be a doomer: I don't think there is a Caesar right now. Trump was the best positioned to try and, obviously, that has not panned out. I cannot think of any other genuinely charismatic American politician or general who commanded a similar degree of loyalty among the general population at present.
But we have to remember that before Caesar, there was Marius Senior. Marius Junior. Cinna, Catiline, Quintus Sertorius, the Gracchi brothers and others. All failed to overthrow the elite, most paid for it with their lives and that of their loyal legionaries and supporters. But in the end, despite being much more blasé about the casual mass murder of their enemies than modern society, for all their efforts the Roman Optimates never could completely exterminate the Populares. And the bones of those they did kill formed the foundation for Caesar's rise.
Tl;dr this is certainly going to get much worse before it gets better and anyone who's expecting a last minute savior to gallantly ride in atop a white stallion on January 19 is deluding themselves. But the foundation for an American Caesar has been laid (not just with Trumpist populism, but also with mass disillusionment with every legal institution of order in America - would many have believed you if you said the American right would turn against cops, for example, in 2015 or even this past summer?) and if he does not manifest to use it in our lifetimes, he will before the end of this century.
That's the million dollar question. I'll be blunt, because this is way past time to pretend to not be a doomer: I don't think there is a Caesar right now. Trump was the best positioned to try and, obviously, that has not panned out. I cannot think of any other genuinely charismatic American politician or general who commanded a similar degree of loyalty among the general population at present.
But we have to remember that before Caesar, there was Marius Senior. Marius Junior. Cinna, Catiline, Quintus Sertorius, the Gracchi brothers and others. All failed to overthrow the elite, most paid for it with their lives and that of their loyal legionaries and supporters. But in the end, despite being much more blasé about the casual mass murder of their enemies than modern society, for all their efforts the Roman Optimates never could completely exterminate the Populares. And the bones of those they did kill formed the foundation for Caesar's rise.
Tl;dr this is certainly going to get much worse before it gets better and anyone who's expecting a last minute savior to gallantly ride in atop a white stallion on January 19 is deluding themselves. But the foundation for an American Caesar has been laid (not just with Trumpist populism, but also with mass disillusionment with every legal institution of order in America - would many have believed you if you said the American right would turn against cops, for example, in 2015 or even this past summer?) and if he does not manifest to use it in our lifetimes, he will before the end of this century.
You can bet your ass if they try to sic semper tyranis Trump there will be an American IRA that makes the provos look like schoolgirls