Fascist Fantasies

My old buddy Darrell Michaels is back to blogging.

Readers may remember when Darrell banned me from his blog for saying “hateful” things. (It was fine for someone to call me a “racist commie”, though.)

I admit to being snarky in response to his outrageous claims. I must have angered him, or made him uncomfortable with facts.

But I admit I missed Darrell. He always inspired me. I’m so happy he’s back to vent his anger, resentments, scapegoating and misunderstanding of almost every issue.

He’s rather upset by President Biden calling election-denying, rioting Trumpists “semi-fascists”.

Mah stars! This triggered a pandemic of pearl-clutching. Please pass the smelling salts.

So Darrell had to respond to this outrage, and expounded on the hypothetical idea, “If I Were a Fascist Bent on Destroying America...”

He means Democrats. As everyone on the far Right will tell you, “Democrats are destroying America”.

He’s so upset, he’s taken a new direction in his attacks on Democrats. For he is a righteous man

Democrats are no longer communists, but fascists. Or they are fascists, socialists, communists, anarchists, arsonists, or are of any other ideology that hates America, or opposes Trump. It’s all the same thing to them.

Confused? Don’t be. The radical Right has always assumed authority to unilaterally define terms to suit their mood and agenda. Democracy is now a bad thing for a republic. Minority rule that denies rights is better than majority rule with minority rights. Trump is an honest, but very unfairly persecuted, patriot. White conservatives are the real victims of racism, etc.

With my remarks italicized, let’s learn how the radical Right Trump Cult views “fascism”.

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If I Were a Fascist Bent on Destroying America

If I were a fascist or even a semi-fascist and wanted to destroy our democratic republic and eradicate the freedoms that our constitution was formed in order to protect, how could I best go about doing so?

Well, I would first want to take over our education system in order to indoctrinate our kids into believing that they live in an unjust and racist nation that brings nothing but ruin to others throughout the world. (Not happening. The straw man fallacy is his friend.) I would ignore teaching them of the United States history where we overcame so many great sins, like slavery and women’s inequality in rights.(The radical Right is banning teaching the history of slavery and racism, falsely labeling it “CRT”)  I would bury the truth of how the United States fought and buried hundreds of thousands of men in defense against the true fascism of Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Mussolini’s Italy. (Where is WWII history “buried”?) I surely wouldn’t tell of the largesse in charity and foreign aid given to nations throughout the world, especially in times of disaster.  No, that would go against the woke narrative.(He thinks the “woke narrative” opposes financial aid?)  Oh, and I’d erase college debt for the rich that went to college and put the burden on the tax payers that chose not to go, as they couldn’t afford it. (He thinks public education is “fascism”?)

I would champion that I was a member of the party of science (Because pollution contributes to climate change?)  and then explain how gender is fluid and boys can actually be women and dominate girls’ sports, walk around naked in girls’ shower rooms, and any complaining about that or the man’s ability to menstruate or become pregnant would immediately be mocked and shut down with cries of transphobia. (Can he name ONE Democrat proposing boys take showers with schoolgirls?)

Which leads to the next thing that I would do, which would be to weaken and eventually destroy the traditional nuclear family. (Because Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh and Trump and their TEN wives exemplify the “traditional nuclear family”?)  It is just another form of patriarchal oppression designed to keep women and children in their places, even though I would ignore the fact that my supreme court justice would be unable to define what a woman was. (The women on the court actually know they are women.)

Next, I would raise taxes on the “rich” and on corporations that “don’t pay their fair share” in order to appease the ignorant and greedy among us.  (For “defense against true fascism”: In 1944-45, “the most progressive tax years in U.S. history,” the 94% rate applied to any income above $200,000, $2.4 million in 2009 dollars, given inflation. In World War Two, tax law revisions increased the numbers of “those paying some income taxes” from 7% of the U.S. population (1940) to 64% by 1944. ) I sure wouldn’t let it be known that the top 1% of income earners pay nearly 40% of the federal tax burden while only making 20% of the national income.  I would never tell that the bottom 50% of income earners pay 3% of the overall federal tax burden.  Oh, and I wouldn’t let the foolish know that corporations simply pass the cost of corporate taxes onto their customers via higher prices for their goods and services.  I’d certainly never point out the waste, fraud, and abuse of our federal revenues by our congress and president to fund things never intended and often forbidden in our constitution.  But I would definitely add 87000 more IRS agents to bring in additional revenue anyway. (So Constitutional taxation is also “fascism?)

I would abandon our non-woke allies, (What is “non-woke” anyway?) especially those that have fought and died beside us, like the myriads of good people we left behind in Afghanistan along with not too few Americans.  I would ignore the only stable democracy and friend in the Middle East and champion the creation of a terrorist state right beside Israel with a divided Jerusalem as their respective capitals. (Never happened. The US has always supported Israel. In September 2016, under Obama, the two governments signed a new ten-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on military aid covering FY2019 to FY2028.)  I would give the terrorist mullahs of Iran whatever they wanted in exchange for proven empty promises of not building nuclear weapons. (Diplomacy for arms reduction with monitoring is fascism?).

I would sacrifice America’s energy independence by fiat so that inefficient and woefully inadequate “green technologies” could be subsidized by tax payers and thus create enormous inflation in energy costs.  (Because Biden is to blame for global inflation, and climate change is a “hoax”?) Of course, those cost would be transmitted on down to the necessary goods we need as the price of creating them and transporting them to market skyrocket accordingly.(Corporate profits, especially energy, are at record highs.)

I would collude with like-minded fascist politicians, media outlets, and social media CEOs to ensure that only my narrative of the good I am doing was promulgated to the ignorant masses.  I would ensure that any contrary opinion, especially if backed by evidence, was censored at best or ridiculed as false information and ironically as propaganda at worst. (Hmm. The old “Fake News!” whine. Regurgitating only pro-Trump and GOP propaganda by FOX(R), OAN. NewsMax would meet that standard.)

Continuing, I would point out that the constitution is a “document of negative liberties” that restricts the benevolence of our federal government from taking the steps necessary to take care of us all from womb to the tomb.  Assuming one makes it out of the womb alive, that is. (Actually the Constitution LITERALLY provides for federal taxes, regulation of commerce, and provision for the general welfare.)

I would find non-existent rights in the constitution to kill our unborn and decry the ruin of democracy as the court sends the issue back to the people of the United States to actually vote on the issue. ( Women’s reproductive freedom be damned, ALL must follow MY religion.) All the while, I would take firmly existing rights that the constitution clearly states are rights of all Americans and restrict them to my own benefit.  Freedom of speech would be curtailed if it was offensive and be branded as hate speech. (Death threats should be legal, or it’s “fascism”?)  Owning any firearm greater than a musket would be curtailed as a tool of violent extremists, (Straw man again. Modern assault weapons for racists, teenagers and untrained idiots is the issue.) while ignoring the actual violent extremists who burn down our neighborhoods in mostly peaceful protests. (BLM and Floyd protests were largely peaceful, data confirms. In CCC data collected from May 2020 to June 2021, 94% of protests involved no participant arrests, 97.9% involved no participant injuries, 98.6% involved no injuries to police, and 96.7% involved no property damage.) I’d defund the police too, but ensure that a social worker shows up to handle any hostile but misunderstood ne’er do well. (Um. Fascism is by nature a police state.) Religious liberties would continue to be ignored and restricted. (Because the Constitution demands everyone must conform to a conservative’s religion?)

I would ensure that laws were enforced and evidence fabricated against my enemies while turning a blind eye to the law breaking by those whom agree with my fascism. (Trump’s coup was “legitimate political discourse, NOT a fascist Putsch?) I’d weaponize the FBI and make sure that those with the temerity to rise up against me would be brought low with the full might of the federal government. (Like firing the FBI director for investigating foreign interference in an election? Like hiring his replacement for condemning the investigation? Like telling the FBI to interfere with an election by lying, “Just say it was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican representatives”?)

While I understand that America is a fascist, racist, sexist, homo-phobic nation,(Meaning Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and anti-immigrant Trumpists?) I would still open the borders to those foolish enough to still want to come here. (Last I checked people are still being turned away, and record amounts of drugs seized.)  I wouldn’t ask about their vaccination status, let alone their criminal record as I welcome the drug traffickers, human smugglers, and terrorists into our nation with open arms. (Who does this? Another straw man.)  This does not excuse citizens from not being vaccinated as per my fascist mandates, mind you!  (Aha! I knew it! Vaccinations are the same as Hitler’s Final Solution!)

I would do all of this to unite this nation while pointing out that those that disagree with me are violent extremists bent on destroying our way of life. (From the guy who cannot blame Trump for sending an angry mob to overturn our election. He sees Trump as a “patriot” after he watched TV and waited for THREE hours, as his mob terrorized Congress  and beat cops. And only when he saw them fail to overturn the election, did he repeat his Big Lie and PRAISE his thugs with, “You’re very special. We love you”. Fascists love projection.)

Yep, if I were a fascist extremist this is the very formula I would use to take this country down a few notches as I sought to fundamentally transform it, so help me God. 

Oops… just and expression.  God has no place in this Amerika.  I’d continue to make sure of that too. (Again, Americans must obey only conservative religious beliefs, regardless that it is specifically proscribed in our Constitution and First Amendment.)

Euripides said, “Those whom the gods destroy, they first make mad.”  Well, I don’t know if Biden is mad or just in the final throes of dementia and terminal senility.  All of that said, if I am a semi-fascist according to him, one cannot help but wonder what that makes him. Complete destruction of our liberties in this great American experiment cannot come fast enough for the real fascists in our government evidently. (Darrell must ignore Trump and the violent mob he PRAISED for trying to overturn the election for him. Ignore his demonizing immigrants, Mexicans and Muslims. Ignore him saying “Like it or not, we are becoming a communist country. That’s what’s happening. The radical left democrat communist party.” Ignore Trump for saying, “Hitler did some good things.” Hitler banned abortion too. Ask the vast majority of American women if they agree with Trump, the Radical Right, and Hitler.)

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Yes indeed. The radical Right has always assumed authority to unilaterally define terms to suit their mood and agenda.

It appears “fascism” means exactly the same thing as “woke” to the radical Right. ANYTHING that annoys them, and EVERYTHING they disagree with, is “woke fascism”. And it’s the exact same thing as communism and democratic socialism.

By now it’s clear. There is only One Rule for the Right. It’s OK if they do it. They expanded their rule from Nixon’s adage, “It’s not illegal if the president does it.”

Now “It’s OK if you’re a Republican”, or IOKIYR.

Trump can do no wrong. He can only be wronged.  

If you’re against Trump, you’re a fascist. Or communist. Or whatever. This is how simplistic, hateful and willfully ignorant this Trump cult mentality has become.

Now if I were a fascist:

I would refuse to rent to Black people and demand the death penalty for exonerated Black men charged with murder for being in Central Park.

I would tell angry white people the Black President wasn’t born a real American, and was an illegitimate president. I would certainly demonize journalists, educators, Blacks, Mexicans, Muslims and immigrants.

I’d called for the imprisonment of my 2016 election opponent and lie about winning in 2020.

I would accuse any news media that didn't praise and support me as being "fake news" and the "enemy of the people".

I would summon an angry mob to Washington DC to obstruct Congress from their Constitutional duty to certify the election.

I would welcome an armed crowd, saying, “They’re not here to hurt me”. I would tell the mob I would march to the capitol with them and “fight like hell to stop the steal”.

I would then watch my mob terrorize Congress and beat cops, sending dozens to the hospital.

I would watch them for three hours on TV and do nothing to stop them until I knew they would fail to overturn the election.

I would then tell my thugs "We had an election that was stolen”, and PRAISE them by saying, “You're very special. We love you." 

I’d praise Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping.

I would idolize Putin, and praise him as a “genius” after he invaded Ukraine and slaughtered human beings to make Ukraine part of Russia.

I would also make sure I stole some national secrets to buy favors or to sell to interested parties.

There seems to be a pattern here.

But when Putsch comes to shove, what do I know about being a fascist?