The F Word

When Trump walked out onto Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, in June 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests and after having a peaceful gathering of people broken up by tear gas, he stood in front of St. John's Episcopal Church and held up an upside-down bible—a prop. He didn't quote any scripture from it. He just held it in his tiny hands.

It was then that I began referring to him as a fascist.

For the most part, then, he had people in his orbit who kept him reigned in from his more fascistic tendencies. Later, retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley would say former President Trump is "a fascist to the core." Other senior staff in Trump's administration echoed the same concern. None of those people (respected people with decades of experience) are part of his administration anymore, and it shows. 

It should be clear to anyone paying attention to the destructive moves Trump's administration has made since his inauguration that fascism has arrived here. 

A disturbing event occurred yesterday when California Senator Alex Padilla (D) attempted to ask a question of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference she was holding. He was doing his oversight as the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety. She ignored him while her security needlessly assaulted him by throwing him to the ground and handcuffing him in a disturbing act of authoritarianism. 

If you've ever wondered what fascism looks like, what happened to Senator Padilla is but one example. Other examples include:

• A lack of due process, such as we're seeing with the warrantless arrests and lengthy detentions of people suspected of being here illegally. 
• Masked unidentified men pulling people out of cars, arresting people walking with their children, arresting innocent people just living their lives, taking them and stuffing them in a van with no official warrant, and speeding off. 
• Book bans and the elimination of and the rewriting of our country's history, such as is happening all across the country where Republicans hold power. 
• Demonizing immigrants, saying nonsense like, "They're eating the cats! They're eating the dawgs!" or constantly labeling them as criminals, rapists, and killers when they're less likely to get into trouble with the law than are U.S. born citizens. That's a fact.
• 
  Attacking the media. Trump's routine claims of "fake news" have had the desired effect as his followers appear to be in lockstep to discount factual reporting in favor of conspiracy nonsense. It's not hard to find examples of media conglomerates caving to Trump as they pay millions in extortion fees to keep their licenses. (That's actually what's happening and is not a stretch to state it that way.)
• A showy use of our military, such as the parade Trump has planned for tomorrow, when our military apparatus will roll down the streets of D.C., tearing them up in an embarrassing and expensive display akin to something Russia, China, or North Korea does. (I'm thrilled to see a 70% chance for thunderstorms in the D.C. area for tomorrow to hopefully rain on Trump's parade.)
• Propaganda. Our country is awash in disinformation, and it's predominantly on the right as conservative media networks such as Fox (link to $787.5 billion judgment against Fox for lying to their viewers), podcasters (link to report of Russia paying right-wing U.S. influencers to spread lies), and elected officials, including Trump, literally parroting Russian talking points, while waging nonstop culture wars that keep us from ever coming together as a unified country. 
• Undermine faith in elections. I never imagined people being so gullible as to believe Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, but they were and they are that gullible.
• Approving of violence enacted on the leader's behalf. Trump's pardons of 1600 convicted felons who attacked our Capitol on January 6th, 2021, are a glaring example. 
• Corruption at the highest levels. There's never been a pay-to-play presidency of the kind we're seeing now. Trump has raked in hundreds of millions, perhaps a billion or more dollars, as he assembles obscure deals leveraging his position as president. He's also profiting greatly through cryptocurrency, a market he deregulated and removed oversight of. Also, Trump's pardoning of criminals who are wealthy enough to pay him an exorbitant fee is highly corrupt.
• Attacking science, and in the process, defunding vital ongoing research that has been years in the making, such as cancer research and Alzheimer's research, and so many other areas of research that benefit not only us but the world.
• Attacking the judiciary. Republicans are threatening to remove judges they disagree with. The Department of Justice has been thoroughly compromised under the leadership of Pam Bondi as Attorney General. She's a rubber stamp for Trump and acting as his personal revenge attorney as she targets people who stood up to Trump, with Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs being two examples. 
• Consolidate executive power. This is happening in an insidious way as Trump fills important appointments with people who lack the qualifications needed for the appointment but will do whatever Trump asks of them, even if it's illegal—it's why he chose them. He has also fired career federal workers and replaced them with individuals loyal to him.
• Marginalizing and demonizing those in the queer community. There's been a ridiculous assault on transgender people relatively recently—a community of people who make up less than 1% of the population. 
• Attacking diversity. I've never imagined an attack of the kind that conservatives are waging on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs and policies as we've witnessed since Trump took office again. Mentions of prominent people of color and women who have made significant contributions to our history are being removed from the Library of Congress and other institutions.
• Attacking our institutions of higher education. There has been an assault on these institutions with threats to withhold funding unless they clamp down on the free speech of students who hold views that the administration disagrees with. Some universities have had their research grants rescinded unless they agree to eliminate any references to DEI.
• Economic policies that benefit the wealthy and corporations at the expense of everyone else. Our system has been massively corrupted by a few individuals with malicious intentions, who have no lack of money to fuel propaganda and fund their chosen candidate to carry out their desires—desires that don't benefit the rest of us.
• Embracing of Christian Nationalism—an ugly form of Christianity that lacks any sort of Jesus.
• Taking away human rights, especially a woman's right to make her own bodily decisions. Suppressing minority votes through a variety of means. Trying to eliminate Birthright Citizenship from our Constitution. (And, speaking of the Constitution, it's still missing from the White House website. Enter a search for it in the box that comes up in the link to see for yourself.)

The list could be longer, but I believe it gives an idea of what it looks like to live under a fascist regime. We're there, and it will get worse if we allow it.

How long before we can no longer exercise our 1st Amendment right to free speech or to publicly assemble in protest? Will I have to delete my blog because I'm critical of Trump? Will I have to delete my social media accounts? Because I'm a dissenter, will they come after my pension? These are things I actually think about. I hate to have to say that, but this is what we are becoming, and for some, it's already thrown their lives into upheaval.

Now is the time to let your voice be heard. Stand up for your family, your community, and your country, because this doesn't end well for us if we don't take that opportunity while we still can. There is a nationwide protest rally tomorrow called No Kings. Tammy and I will be attending the gathering planned for Northfield. Go to the link to find a No Kings protest near you to stand with others and be counted among those who are horrified by the direction Trump and his MAGA Party are taking us. 

If you ever look back on important moments in our nation's history, such as civil rights legislation, and wonder how you would have responded or whose side you would have taken, we're in one of those moments. 

There will be a right side to this history. Will you be on it?

That's all I've got.