When Fascism Finally Came to America

When I was in university I used to bore and no doubt depress my friends, by frequently and confidently predicting that fascism was coming to America.

And that it would be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross, as Sinclair Lewis said it would in his 1935 novel It Can't Happen Here.

Until I found out that Lewis never said that. 

And then when I survived the Bush regime, unlike about a million others. And religious fanatics like Jerry Falwell hit the ground hit the ground with a sickening thud, that was music to my ears, I began to think I was lucky, and that we were safe eh?

But of course, as we all know, we weren't lucky, and now nobody is safe.



For thanks to Donald Trump fascism has arrived in America. 

Yesterday I wrote about how some members of the MSM were finally calling him a fascist, after he pardoned the bestial Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who liked to brag about turning prisons into concentration camps. 

And today Paul Krugman had this to say about what he called fascism, American style. 

Let’s call things by their proper names here. Arpaio is, of course, a white supremacist. But he’s more than that. There’s a word for political regimes that round up members of minority groups and send them to concentration camps, while rejecting the rule of law: What Arpaio brought to Maricopa, and what the president of the United States has just endorsed, was fascism, American style.

Arpaio is a fascist, Trump is his would be American Fuhrer.



Trump’s motives are easy to understand. For one thing, Arpaio, with his racism and authoritarianism, really is his kind of guy. For another, the pardon is a signal to those who might be tempted to make deals with the special investigator as the Russia probe closes in on the White House: Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.

Those Republicans who should know better, but still support him should be ashamed of themselves.

What makes it possible for someone like Trump to attain power and hold it is the acquiescence of people, both voters and politicians, who aren’t white supremacists, who sort-of kind-of believe in the rule of law, but are willing to go along with racists and lawbreakers if it seems to serve their interests.

There is only one word to describe them:

As I said, there’s a word for people who round up members of ethnic minorities and send them to concentration camps, or praise such actions. There’s also a word for people who, out of cowardice or self-interest, go along with such abuses: collaborators. How many such collaborators will there be? I’m afraid we’ll soon find out.

And as I would point out, there is no lower group of collaborators than Trump's evangelical supporters. 



A new poll out today finds that President Trump continues to earn high marks from a key part of the Republican base: white evangelicals. The poll, from the Public Religion Research Institute, finds that 65 percent of white evangelicals have a favorable view of Trump. What’s more, they are “among the most resistant to the idea of impeachment,” with 79 percent of them opposing it.

For by worshipping at the feet of a grubby pervert with no morals, they are betraying both their country and their faith.

But at least whoever wrote that fascism would come to America wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross, was right after all.

And the good news is that those backward, bigoted cross bearers are only crucifying themselves.

And so are the Republican collaborators.

Trump will go down, sooner rather than later. 

And when he does, he'll take them all with him...