The Authoritarian Threat

An Introduction to My Argument

“Remember, Remember, the 5th of November, the gun-powder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun-powder treason should ever be forgot.”

The poem inspired by the attempted demolition of Britain’s parliament at the hands of Guy Fawkes in 1605 was featured in the 2005 comic-inspired film “V for Vendetta” about a terrorist revolutionary who conspires to create social upheaval so as to overthrow a tyrannical right-wing government in a dystopian future version of Great Britain.

Admittedly, this film created a bit of activist fervor in me when I watched it on DVD in 2006. At the time, the biggest threat to liberty that I perceived was the abuse of presidential power by George W. Bush in response to the 9/11 attacks. Within a couple of months, I was delivering hour-long written speeches to Newark City Council here in Newark, Ohio pleading with them to adopt a resolution demanding that Bush and Cheney be impeached and removed from office.

I did this for a couple of months in 2006 and then again in 2007. I even went so far as to assert that Bush and Cheney were actually fascists. This was for a number of reasons that I will get into later, but I felt that the danger posed to our liberty was real enough to plead for accountability and a restoration of our system of checks and balances. It’s possible that I was mistaken in labeling Bush and Cheney as fascists when it would have been more appropriate to say they were authoritarian-lite. Regardless, for reasons I will delve into later, Bush and Cheney played a crucial role in laying the foundation for what we are seeing now.

As you will soon see in this comprehensive breakdown of the dangers that I sincerely believe we face right now, I am of the belief that we are nearing a transition from a liberal democratic republic to a fascist dictatorship. Why do I say “fascist” and not simply “authoritarian”? Well, as the expression goes: the proof is in the pudding. Fascism and Authoritarianism belong to the same blood-stained cloth of tyranny, but fascism is actually far worse as a brand of tyranny. What you are going to see is me listing the reasons why I have concluded that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are fascists. In fact, I believe that the Republican Party has long abandoned democracy in favor of becoming a fascist political organization.

What on Earth makes me think that I am remotely qualified to make such an assessment? Well, outside of the fact that I can observe what is happening now and compare it with lessons from history; I have at least some credentials to back myself up. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Government with Minor Degrees in History and Public Administration, I have studied this issue both in college and beyond. It all started with my obsession with history and politics starting at the age of 10, and it has since led me to be very involved in local politics for the better part of the last 20 years (having been deeply involved for the last decade of my life).

To highlight my argument, we will be looking at the background of fascism. We will be assessing Trump in his own words. Afterwards, we will take a look at what Vance has said about his own views. Taking a look back, we will examine the most alarming aspects of Trump’s first term in the White House. This will be compared with what the Trump Campaign has actually said about their plans for a second term. Next, I will discuss what I call the “Napoleonic Approach” as well as the problematic expansion of presidential powers since the Civil War. Finally, as we head towards the conclusion, we will connect the dots to paint a clear picture as to why I sincerely believe that Donald J. Trump and his running-mate present a clear danger to the republic.

Let’s be clear before we proceed to talk about the definition and history of fascism: the task of defeating fascism has never been easy. Truth be told, taking fascism down has either required war on a massive scale or multiple generations for success. I am tragically of the opinion that thwarting the rise of fascism in America merely must begin with a sound rejection thereof at the ballot box on November 5th. Then, the real work begins.

Knowing that we don’t have the luxury of wasting anymore time, let’s get right to it.

What is Fascism?

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines fascism as “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime…that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition” (see reference number 1 below).

Britannica’s website describes the origins of fascism by noting how the infamous fascist leader of Italy leading up to and then during World War Two – Benito Mussolini – borrowed the term “from the Latin words fasces, which referred to a bundle of elm or birch rods…used as a symbol of penal authority in ancient Rome.” (see reference number 2) to establish his party which gave rise to the ideology. Moreover, Britannica goes on to explain that no two fascist parties were the same, but that they were bound by “many characteristics in common, including extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy, and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the rule of elites”.

It goes without saying that Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany were fascist. However, most people typically forget that fascism had actually spread beyond those borders and even survived long after World War Two ended. What is often forgotten – and tragically so – is that fascism had also taken hold in Spain after a bloody civil war which had actually seen a sort of World War Two preview (as Britannica again describes, as you will see by following reference number 3 below) with the Soviet Union and United States joining forces to fight on behalf of preserving the Spanish republic whilst fascists in Italy and Germany fought alongside the Spanish Nationalists. Tragically, Spain’s Nationalists came out on top of this struggle with General Francisco Franco (who was “deeply conservative”, per an article found via PBS as you will see via reference number 4) at the helm. Franco would then go on to lead Spain until the late-1970s. During his reign of terror, Franco actually had a policy of stealing children born in leftist households and adopting those children out to “properly Spanish” homes.

Another horrifying example of a fascist dictatorship – which actually rose to power with the help of our government (as we see in an archived article found on the George Washington University website as seen at reference 5) and financial backing from American billionaires such as the Koch Brothers (reference 6) – overthrew a democratically-elected government that happened to be socialist in 1973 and installed a General named Augusto Pinochet who proceeded to “disappear” and torture citizens while overhauling their constitution to privatize and otherwise weaken their social safety net.

Sadly, the citizens of Chile are even beginning to doubt the strengths of liberty as they tell pollsters that they miss the days of fascism, saying that a strong government is preferable to a concern for liberty (see reference 7). In Europe, fascism is growing in popularity once again as well, as driven by angst over the rise in undesirable immigration (reference 8). An all-too familiar theme, no doubt.

All in all, fascism’s similarities in every part of the world where it rears its ugly head gives us a clear instruction manual on how to point it out, and even how to stop it. This is where it is appropriate to remember the famous quote – often falsely attributed to Sinclair Lewis – which warns about the arrival of fascism in the United States: “when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross”.

Given the history of fascism all around the world since the 1920s, it isn’t a stretch at all to agree with this prediction. Now, let’s look to quotes that are not incorrectly attributed to explore this question of whether or not Donald Trump is a fascist. Since these words were offered by the former president, I feel there is no better subject to examine than the proverbial “Patient Zero” himself.

Trump’s Own Words

First of all, let’s rip the band-aid off by just getting right to it. When asked in front of an audience by Sean Hannity to clarify his intentions regarding abusing power and seeking retribution, Trump responded that he wasn’t going to be a dictator “other than day one…After that, I’m not a dictator.” (reference 9) The fact that Trump even entertains the idea of being a dictator at all should give every person who loves freedom a moment of pause. Promising to give up dictatorial power is something that many authoritarians tend to promise as they rise to power. Well, we know how that works out for the society unfortunate enough to be under their thumbs, don’t we?

As if his toying with the idea of being an autocrat isn’t bad enough, Trump exhibits no respect for the rule of law even as it pertains to term limits. In the 2020 campaign, Trump once quipped “We are going to win four more years…And then after that we’ll go for another four years because they spied on my campaign. We should get a redo of four years.” (reference 10)

Just in case you thought he was joking and left that insanity four years in the past, he told a gathering of NRA members earlier this year the following: “FDR…he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?” (reference 11) It provides very little comfort that he told Time magazine that he opposed challenging the 22nd Amendment term limit on presidents. Again, he has never shown any signs of consistency before. Why should we trust him when he tries to comfort us here?

His fondness of authoritarians has been well documented. In 2023 alone, Politico compiled a list of 7 quotes wherein he praised his favorite dictators, including (reference 12):

“[Chinese] President Xi is a brilliant man.” Trump went on to convey that he feels no one in Hollywood could play Xi because of how unique he thinks the Chinese dictator is. “…there’s nobody like that: the look, the brain, the whole thing”.

That same day, he praised Russian Dictator Putin as “very smart” despite his “bad year”.

Trump said this about the authoritarian president of Turkey, Recep Erdogan, who won reelection: “Congratulations…on his big and well deserved victory…I know him well, he is a friend, and have learned firsthand how much he loves his Country”.

When describing another authoritarian (who he also mentioned at length at his debate with Vice President Harris as well as at his Convention Speech), the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump praised him as “one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world”.

Finally, regarding the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, Trump has said that he has “a good relationship with [Kim]. He’s a tough, smart guy.”

How is this not immediately disqualifying? Well, it is when you aren’t swooped up into the man’s cult of personality (which is itself a key component of fascism). Still, it’s not enough to highlight the man’s love of authoritarians. Though, I do think it is important to at least highlight one more time wherein he praised an authoritarian. In this last example, Trump raved about the violent drug crackdown in the Philippines by their authoritarian leader at the time, Rodrigo Duterte when he said that he had spoken with him: “He was quite sensitive also to our worry about drugs…he said that…we are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way”. (reference 13)

That last little nugget from the former president will prove especially important later on, but before we circle back to it, let’s explore what Trump thinks of nationalism; a vital part of fascism. Not shockingly, he is absolutely quick to admit where he stands as he has proclaimed “I’m a nationalist.” (reference 14) The longer version of the quote goes as follows: “You know, they have a word, it sort of became old-fashioned. It’s called a nationalist…And I say, ‘Really? We’re not supposed to use that word’…You know what I am? I’m a nationalist. OK? I’m a nationalist.”

In a brief break here, I want us to take a second to think about how easy it is to forget a lot of what someone has said over the course of time. Especially when much of what they say involves habitual lying. Of course, the media has been beaten into submission by his bullying tactics over the years to the point that they hesitate before fact-checking his campaign now. How did we get to this point? Let’s look at some of what Trump has said about the media:

When Trump was president, he railed against the negative coverage of his administration. During one of his infamous Twitter rants, he said the following: “The press is doing everything within their power to fight the magnificence of the phrase, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!...They can’t stand the fact that this Administration has done more than virtually any other Administration in its first 2yrs…They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” (reference 15)

Enraged, Trump once commented that he felt it was “disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write” (reference 16). When discussing someone assaulting a reporter, he said “Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!” (reference 17)

In reference to his frustrations with people misusing the internet to get radicalized, Trump offered a radical proposal: “…we have to do something. …Maybe in certain areas closing that internet up in some way…Somebody will say, ‘oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech.’ These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people.” (reference 18)

Additionally, along the lines of shutting down faucets of the free exchange of information, Trump once remarked on Twitter that: “Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.” (reference 19)

Trump once jumped on board with a fellow authoritarian – the then-president of Poland with a hostile history with the press himself – by saying “We will fight the #FakeNews with you!” (reference 20)

There are a lot more quotes regarding his hatred for the media compiled by the ACLU (reference 21), and I recommend going through that list if you ever get the chance.

Just in case you thought he was only talking about targeting the media, a very blunt post on Truth Social has Trump threatening anyone who dares him: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” (reference 22) This is very much a continuation of his inability to handle dissent or criticism, going all the way back to him joining and encouraging the chants to “Lock [Hillary Clinton] Up!”

Angered by the flurry of indictments that he faces, Trump typed up another post on December 19th, 2023, saying: “So, now we have reached a point when a President of the United States has WEAPONIZED the Department of Justice as though we were a Third World Country. They don’t want to run against me, and never have. I am leading in the Polls, by a lot, and based on the results of the failed Biden Administration, this will continue. But “Justice” Weaponization is a very dirty game to play, and it can have repercussions far greater than anything that Biden or his Thugs could understand. They ought to withdraw all of their Fake, Political Indictments against their Republican Opponent, me, immediately. This is a Pandora’s Box, that works two ways, and it should be closed and tightly sealed RIGHT NOW. Withdraw your Political Indictments and Lawsuits, Joe, before it is too late!” (reference 23)

Two months prior, Trump’s willingness to weaponize the government against his adversaries was even clearer as he warned President Biden about the indictments: “You’re setting a BAD precedent for yourself, Joe. The same can happen to you.” (reference 24)

In July 2023, Trump shared a Newsmax article which quoted Trump threatening Biden saying “the Gloves Are Off”. (reference 25) This was about a month after Trump said “NOW THAT THE “SEAL” IS BROKEN, IN ADDITION TO CLOSING THE BORDER & REMOVING ALL OF THE “CRIMINAL” ELEMENTS THAT HAVE ILLEGALLY INVADED OUR COUNTRY, MAKING AMERICA ENERGY INDEPENDENT, & EVEN DOMINANT AGAIN, & IMMEDIATELY ENDING THE WAR BETWEEN RUSSIA & UKRAINE, I WILL APPOINT A REAL SPECIAL “PROSECUTOR” TO GO AFTER THE MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE USA, JOE BIDEN, THE ENTIRE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY, & ALL OTHERS INVOLVED WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR ELECTIONS, BORDERS, & COUNTRY ITSELF!” (reference 26)

In sharing a post by Conservative pundit, Charlie Kirk, which called for Democrats to be indicted, Trump replied “BILL BARR WAS WEAK & INEFFECTIVE. WE WON’T LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!!!” (reference 27) This obviously signaled that Trump has every intention of going after all of his enemies. More examples include his call for Senate Democrats to have their houses raided (reference 28), pleaded for the jailing of the District Attorney who successfully prosecuted him (reference 29), insisted on a “citizen’s arrest” of a Judge and DA (reference 30), and re-shared a Truth Social post which insisted on arresting Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and “throw[ing] away the key!” (reference 31) His threats have only continued, now aimed at Vice President Harris (reference 41).

Trump even agreed with a now-deleted meme which called for arresting poll workers saying: “START ARRESTING THE POLL WORKERS AND WATCH HOW FAST THEY TELL YOU WHO TOLD THEM TO CHEAT” (reference 32) and posted a threat to prosecute “any radical left charity, non-profit, or so called aid organizations supporting these caravans and illegal aliens”(reference 33). Overall, his perception of his political adversaries as subhuman, even calling them “vermin” is very similar to how fascists of the past have referred to their adversaries. (reference 34) Bear in mind, that he once told the audience at CPAC “I am your justice…I am your retribution.” (reference 35)

In a more recent speech, Trump told an audience about a vision for a day wherein the police can just use violence (from The Guardian, reference 36):

“You see these guys walking out with air conditioners with refrigerators on their back, the craziest thing…And the police aren’t allowed to do their job. They’re told, if you do anything, you’re gonna lose your pension. …They’re not allowed to do it because the liberal left won’t let them do it. The liberal left wants to destroy them, and they want to destroy our country. …If you had one day, like one real rough, nasty day …”

Shifting gears, though, to focus on the many times that Trump has sought to undermine faith in our elections, we have to look back first at Trump’s Twitter rants following former President Obama’s reelection in 2012, wherein he called the election a “sham” and called for citizens to “march on Washington and stop this travesty”. (reference 37) He repeatedly asserted that the 2016 election would be “rigged at the polling places” as well as by the media (reference 38). By now, it should be well-known that Trump has been claiming ever since election night in 2020 that Biden’s election was rigged (reference 39): “We won, we won, we did win. It was a rigged election, it was a rigged election.”. Now, he is telling the people – like he did in the previous two campaigns – that the election is being rigged once more (reference 40): “They cheat. That's all they want to do is cheat. And when you see this, it's the only way they're gonna win”.

With the walls closing in on him, Trump has left the door open for social upheaval in the event that he is defeated at the ballot box. In discussing the possibility of political violence after this coming election, Trump told Time Magazine that he doesn’t think there’ll be violence, but when he was asked to reiterate that with certainty, he said “I think we're gonna have a big victory. And I think there will be no violence.” (reference 42) Back in 2020, he was not afraid to suggest that him losing the election could lead to violence such as when he tweeted: “The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one. It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!” (reference 43)

Now, in the wake of the attempt on his life back in July, Trump has decided to cast blame on his political adversaries, including everyone who opposes him as his assailants. Returning to the site where the attempt happened, Trump told his rally-goers that his opponents “maybe even tried to k*ll me”. (reference 44) This is in line with his attempts ever since the incident to blame his opponents for creating the conditions for it. (reference 45)

Heading into this coming election, Trump has – on more than one occasion – suggested that this may be the last time we have to vote. Back in the summer, Trump told a group gathered at a conservative function that if he wins “you won’t have to vote anymore” (reference 46) and then doubled-down on it (reference 47). In fact, he has even developed an odd habit of telling his supporters “we don’t need votes…We got more votes than anybody’s ever had” (reference 48). Why would he say these things…repeatedly?

In fact, ask yourself why he says ANY of this. Don’t worry, though, we will circle back around to this later. For now, we are going to explore what makes Trump’s running-mate, Ohio’s Junior Senator, JD Vance, tick.

Vance’s Inspiration

Senator Vance has come under increased scrutiny since he was named as Trump’s running-mate for this year’s election. Back in the 2022 campaign, Vance was running for the Senate in Ohio, and there were a flurry of articles covering some of his most controversial views. Weirdly enough, one major odd set of views held by the Vice Presidential hopeful involves his lack of faith in the current political order here in the United States. Let’s delve more into what he believes.

Recently, an interview that Vance participated in with a conservative podcast host gained a bit of national attention; especially this part wherein Vance said (reference 50):

“Our leader right now is so corrupt and so vile, that if you assimilate into their culture, you're assimilating into like, garbage liberal elite culture. You're not assimilating into traditional American culture," the congressman says. "So this is a tough, tough pickle for me. I don't even know what the right answer is here because you can't just teach these things. You can't teach that we live in a great country if the leaders are actively aligned against it. So step one in the process is to totally replace — like rip out like a tumor — the current American leadership class, and then reinstall some sense of American political religion.”

When pressed to clarify what he meant by “rip out like a tumor”, Vance pointed to his inspiration for the way he thinks about how our system functions, pointing to the views of a friend of his, a conservative thinker named Curtis Yarvin. About Yarvin, Vance said “There's this guy Curtis Yarvin who's written about some of these things” (reference 50).

Back in 2012, Yarvin was giving a speech about how to address our political system. In that speech, Yarvin said the following (reference 50):

“A government is just a corporation that owns the country…And there's a very simple way to replace that, which is what we do with all corporations that have failed. We simply delete them, because it's stale…If Americans want to change their government, they're going to have to get over their dictator phobia”

What you find when you watch the clip is that Curtis Yarvin supports “deleting” our current framework and replacing it with a sort of national corporate structure, complete with what he calls a “C.E.O.”, and as he puts it, a “national C.E.O.” is the same thing as a dictator. This is where he believes we need to “get over [our] dictator phobia”. Do I have your attention yet? Have the alarm bells started going off yet? No? Let’s continue.

Vance has also gone on record – back during his Senate campaign – as expressing his belief (reference 51) that we “are in a late republican period” and stated that “If we’re going to push back against it, we’re going to have to get pretty wild, and pretty far out there, and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with.”

JD Vance is not saying “late republican” as a reference to the end of the Republican Party. No, he is saying “late republican” in the same way that historians refer to the end of the Roman Republic. In other words, he believes that the Republic is nearing its end and needs to be replaced. Do you see the influence of his dictatorship-loving friend yet?

During an interview back in February (reference 51), Vance said this regarding what he would have done on January 6th, 2021 if he had been the Vice President instead of Mike Pence: “If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there”.

In other words, JD would have participated willfully in former President Trump’s attempt to overthrow the government in favor of installing Trump as our president against the will of the people. It is not unreasonable to think that this interview was crucial in leading Trump to pick Senator Vance.

Additionally, Senator Vance has conveyed (reference 52) that he believes that Trump should replace everyone in our federal bureaucracy with Trump loyalists and that Trump should openly defy the Supreme Court if they try to stop him: “stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did, and say, 'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.’”

Vance has also explicitly called for “attack[ing] the universities” (reference 53) and has said that “professors are the enemy” (reference 54). He conveys this message for adult education while promoting a radical vision which would somehow enhance the voting power of citizens with children over citizens without children (reference 55). His disdain for the childless is expressed when he said: “Let's face the consequences and the reality: If you don't have as much of an investment in the future of this country, maybe you shouldn't get nearly the same voice.”

Don’t worry; we will absolutely circle back to Vance and his radical views later on. Before we do, I think it is crucial to look back at what Trump’s first term as president portends about what we can expect with a second term.

Trump’s First Term

It may seem like ancient history right now given the popularity of ridiculing the current president, Joe Biden, but the four years that found Donald Trump in the White House were arguably the most tumultuous for our country since the Civil War. Instead of scoffing and condescending you all with a “you really want THAT again?” I will take it upon myself to remind you of what Trump’s first term tells us about the dangers posed by a second term for him.

At the beginning of Trump’s political career, when he was set to win the 2016 presidential primaries, Trump announced his intentions for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” (reference 56). By the time he became president, he instituted this ban, but it was targeted at seven select majority-Muslim nations, and it banned Syrian refugees indefinitely; though, he would be compelled as a result of lawsuits and court intervention to exempt those whom were already in the country with visas and green cards (reference 57). His ban was eventually modified once again to lower the number of Muslim countries to six while including North Korea and specific officials from Venezuela; this version was upheld by the Supreme Court (reference 57). Thankfully, President Biden later removed the ban, but Trump has promised to bring it back if he wins in November; only now Trump is also aiming to include Gaza refugees (reference 58).

Continuing with his theme of targeting people who come into the United States, Trump’s immigration policies did a great deal of harm when he was last in the White House. How can anyone forget the controversy over separating children from their parents? During Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” immigration policy, the separation of migrant children from their families was weaponized to discourage illegal immigration. All told, over 5,500 children were separated from their families by the Trump Administration (reference 59) with almost 1,000 of those children STILL not reunited with their families almost four years after he left office (references 60 and 61); thanks to the shoddy record-keeping by his administration!

The separation of children from their parents and the Muslim Ban are just two examples of things that Trump actually succeeded in doing as president. But what about the things he tried to do within the Administrative State? More specifically, let’s look back at how he tried to mold the government to fit his vision as it pertains to civil servants who are apolitical.

Let’s start with what you’ve likely seen talked about in the news recently. Trump, as president (reference 62) – per former members of his administration -, refused to provide federal aid to states – like California and Washington – which voted against him in 2016. In the case of California, it took the counsel of reasonable people within his administration convincing him to send the aid. How did they do so? By pointing out that many of those affected by wildfires in the area had actually voted for him (reference 63). He even reportedly wanted to remove the navy from Hawaii out of the same selfish desire for political vengeance (reference 62).

As president, Trump forced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to retract a tweet which contradicted misinformation that he spread about Hurricane Dorian’s path (reference 64). Is it any surprise that Project 2025 – which involves many people with ties to Trump – calls for the dismantling of NOAA (reference 65)? Don’t worry, we will talk a little more about Project 2025 later.

Most alarmingly, though, is how Trump sought to make the FBI serve his ends, first by firing James Comey for daring to investigate the Russian election interference case. Then, Trump continued to wreak havoc on the Bureau by appointing officials and then turning on them when they took a stance which contradicted his own (reference 66). His desire, going at least as far back as his first year in the White House, has long been to use the FBI against his political adversaries (reference 67).

While Trump’s attempts to force the apolitical parts of our government extend throughout the federal bureaucracy, this last one that I will focus on here is his attempt to systematically dismantle the United States Postal Service – for the purpose of privatization (reference 69) – and starve the agency of funds so as to prevent the dissemination of mail-in ballots; which Trump admittedly (reference 68) did so that he could reduce the probability that he could lose the 2020 election. Do you see why this is problematic?

When you consider the mayhem that we found under a petty narcissist like Trump with so much instability, can you really say that the historic turnover rate (reference 70) in that administration is surprising?

What also isn’t surprising is the contentious relationship between Trump and the media. He has long called them the “enemy of the people”, and – as president – he both avoided a press briefing for an extended period of time (reference 71) as well as banned several major media outlets from participating in the briefings that he did permit (reference 72).

Now, I need to look at the moment that made me decide to vote for Biden in 2020. Following the 2020 Democratic Primary, I was very frustrated with the Democratic Party and found myself seriously considering voting for a third party candidate. All of that changed on June 1st, 2020. I will never forget the images that anyone watching news coverage that day saw as peaceful protesters – supporting Black Lives Matter and protesting near the White House – were subjected to violent suppression as the National Guard and U.S. Park Police on horseback were used to disperse the crowd and clear a path for an eerie visual of Trump walking to a nearby church to take a picture with the Bible (reference 73).

Trump’s vicious attitude towards people protesting the conditions of society extended to him telling his advisers, which included military officials, that the police should just “shoot” protesters and “beat the fuck out of them” (reference 74). The former president would elaborate (reference 74) that brutality is “how you’re supposed to handle these people. Crack their skulls!” Worse yet, after Trump sent the military to break up a peaceful protest, he issued a threat to deploy the military against protesters all over the nation; warning that a failure to suppress the riots would result in such (reference 75).

If you happen to think that this misuse of the military was restricted to his reaction to the protests and riots in the summer of 2020, consider that Trump recently told Fox News the following (reference 76):

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within…We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

This brings us to the final part of this section reviewing the worst of what we saw from Trump’s four years as president: the birth of the “Big Lie”. For starters, why is it called “the Big Lie”? Where does this come from? Well, it comes from Hitler himself as he wrote (reference 77):

“…in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation…”

While that horrendous human being was using this assertion to accuse Jewish people of trying to discredit the Germans in World War One (reference 77), it is clear to those of us with the privilege of 20-20 hindsight that Hitler was projecting. By claiming that Jewish people were creating a “big lie”, he was – in fact – creating one at that very moment. He was literally telling the German people exactly how he was prepared to manipulate them in his quest for power and world domination. Fascists often tell on themselves like this, especially as they get closer to acquiring the power they seek.

So, what does this have to do with Donald Trump? Well, Trump started referencing the “Big Lie” when talking about the 2020 Election (reference 78). As Trump puts it, the election outcome is “the Big Lie”, as it was supposedly a grand conspiracy to steal the presidency from him. Before we proceed, though, let’s be clear: Trump absolutely lost the 2020 election, and even he admitted such, saying that he lost “by a whisker” (reference 79).

Even so, knowing all along that he lost, Trump still used his remaining days in office leading the charge to remain in office despite the will of the people. Kicking off the so-called “Stop the Steal” movement to combat what he would later call his version of “the Big Lie”, Trump addressed the White House and the nation after two in the morning following Election Night and said the following (reference 80): “Frankly, we did win this election. This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country.”

Dragging the nation through a pointless legal struggle to try and reverse the election result, Trump also managed to lead Rudy Giuliani – the man formerly known as “America’s Mayor” – to getting disbarred for Rudy’s role in the unlawful scheme (reference 81). In fact, the effort to convince crucial swing states to change the results of the election, as inspired by a slew of lies, led a significant number of other lawyers beyond Rudy to get disbarred and/or face charges (reference 82).

When you look at the transcript of Trump’s conversation with the Republican Secretary of State – Brad Raffensperger – back in late-2020 (reference 83), you see Trump threaten him with possible criminal liability if he doesn’t change the outcome of the vote in Georgia, and you also see Secretary Raffensperger try to talk Trump off of the conspiracy theory ledge. Trump was questioning the facts, citing carefully edited videos which his loyalists had claimed showed evidence of election theft. Raffensperger pointed out that the videos and posts from social media were a problem, since they could “say anything” as if it was fact, but Trump retorted:

“No. Ah, no this isn’t social media. This is Trump media. It’s not social media. It’s it’s really not. It’s not social media. I don’t care about social. I couldn’t care less. Social media is big tech. Big tech is on your side. You know, I don’t even know why you have a side because you should want to have an accurate election. And you’re a Republican.”

As you can see, Trump wanted Raffensperger to put party loyalty above loyalty to the country and the Constitution. He and his loyalists did the same thing to top Republicans in Arizona (reference 84). As his so-called legal team was busy trying to overturn the election in the states and the courts, Trump was riling up his base, encouraging people to attend a rally on the day that Congress was set to certify the election…on January 6th. With a tweet inviting the soon-to-be insurrectionists, Trump said (reference 85): “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th…Be there, will be wild!”

All of this culminated in Trump’s address to the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6th, 2021, which immediately preceded the attempted insurrection, when he said (reference 80): “We fight like hell, and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.”

The day of, Trump spent the day leading up to the rally tweeting about his “Big Lie” (reference 86). One such tweet was in response to conservative pundit Tomi Lahren wherein Trump asserted “The steal is in the making in Georgia. Wait for it.” His lying about the supposed movement of Biden-won states in his favor preceded one of his most damning tweets that day: “If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!”

As the insurrectionists stormed the Capitol Building, Trump settled into the White House and safely watched the footage on his screens. From there, he tweeted (reference 86): “Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” He would send a handful of tweets saying “stay peaceful” and asking the insurrectionists to support law enforcement, but he didn’t ask them to leave until over 3 hours into the insurrection, saying (reference 87) that he understood the “pain” of his insurrectionist loyalists, and reaffirming that “We had an election that was stolen from us.”

In concluding this section of my argument about Trump’s fascist nature, I want to highlight one more aspect pertinent to the whole “Big Lie”. One of Trump’s Campaign operatives had urged (reference 88) a compatriot to sew chaos in the streets of Detroit as the Democratic-stronghold was counting the votes in 2020. The intent was to “make them riot” so as to stop the count and assist Trump in winning Michigan’s electoral votes. My point in bringing this up is to highlight that the former president is far from the only fascist; he’s merely their leader. What’s clear, though, is that Trump citing Hitler is no mistake. His “Big Lie” is a veiled confession in much the same way that fascists of the past have so often foreshadowed their own intentions.

The birth of Trump’s “Big Lie” was his parting gift as president, and an attempt to leave the door cracked open enough for him to slide back into power. Don’t worry, we’ll come back to this later.

What They’re Planning to Do

Transitioning to a discussion on what Trump and his allies are hoping to achieve this year and beyond, let’s first examine the plan for the 2024 election. Having learned some lessons from 2020, Trump’s loyalists have made it a point to infiltrate election boards in key parts of the country in the hopes that they can refuse to certify the upcoming election (reference 89). While legal experts insist (reference 90) that the scheme has no legal leg to stand on, this is a worrisome concern as it should make one think about how Trump said (quoted above) that he didn’t need votes. It is worth noting – as well as disturbing – that Trump made it a point at a Georgia rally to call out a number of Georgian State Election Board members by name, saying they “are doing a great job” (reference 91).

Now, let’s briefly talk about Project 2025 and what we know for sure that Trump supports from the policy proposals found within. The central issue of Project 2025 – outside of the fact that it is a Christian Nationalist list of aspirations – is that the goals listed in the policy proposal is largely dependent on Trump reinstating what’s called “Schedule F”; which politicizes a significant portion of the federal bureaucracy (reference 93) so as to make it easier for presidents to remove federal employees who stand in the way of their agenda. Trump issued an executive order in October 2020 to undo much of the meritocracy in our federal government to make sure it worked according to his will. His goal (reference 94) is to bring it back should he win this November, and his running-mate, JD Vance, absolutely agrees and has even said that we need to remove “every civil servant…replace them with our people” (reference 95).

In talking about federal employees, Trump said (reference 92) “They’re destroying this country. They’re crooked people, they’re dishonest people. They’re going to be held accountable.” The origins of the massive change to the bureaucracy trace back to Trump’s frustrations with civil servants, especially those who were investigating him (reference 96). Anyone who doesn’t know American History very well should take a look back at the so-called “Spoils System” which was ushered in by Trump’s “hero” (reference 97), Andrew Jackson.

President Jackson’s approach to government included filling important civil servant jobs with his loyalists as a reward for their support. This led to massive corruption and contributed to the assassination of President Garfield. In the aftermath of Garfield’s untimely death, his successor, President Arthur helped spearhead the signing of the Pendleton Act of 1883, which reformed the bureaucracy to make it merit-based as opposed to partisan-based. Trump’s “Schedule F” will largely undo the progress which has been made in the 141 years since that law was passed.

Reinstating “Schedule F” will be crucial for Trump’s plans for massive deportation. Reportedly, he is planning to invoke the 1798 Alien Enemies Act which was signed into law by President Adams and has only been invoked three times: the War of 1812, and in both World Wars. The purpose of the law is to empower the federal government to pursue immigrants in times of war for detention/deportation (reference 98). Trump himself has said that he plans to “start with the bad ones” (reference 98), which may indicate that the undocumented aren’t the only ones he will target; and his pledge to deport Haitian migrants who are here legally provides further evidence of the broad nature of his goals (reference 99).

When you take a deeper dive into his deportation dreams, you see (reference 100) that his proposal will create detention camps and suspend the right of due process as he deputizes local officers and orders federal agents to join them and the National Guard in mass raids. While a xenophobic or racist person may find the thought of this to be quite appealing it will trigger incredible human rights abuses and inflict pain both on the people and our economy (reference 101).

While Trump is overseeing a monstrous deportation he will be seeking to create what he calls the “American Academy”. Paid for by “taxing the large endowments of private universities” which he says are “plagued by antisemitism” (reference 102). You can extrapolate from this what you want, but I have to look at what Hitler did with his reeducation policies. Especially since Trump’s website on this specifically targets for exclusion “wokeness” (reference 102).

Additionally, near the top of his to-do list appears to be his plan to pardon the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021 (reference 103). He reportedly regards the insurrectionists as “warriors”, “victims”, and “hostages” who have been treated “horrifically” (reference 104). Considering that they stormed the Capitol and called for hanging the former Vice President Pence for not acquiescing to Trump’s demands to overturn the election (reference 105), this should be disqualifying ALONE, but that’s not what happens when people are trapped in the cult of personality.

Do you remember earlier when I mentioned that Trump said “I am your justice…I am your retribution” (reference 35)? Well, he is dead-set on that goal (reference 106). He told his pal Sean Hannity (reference 107): “Look, when this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them, and it would be easy because it’s Joe Biden.” When Dr. Phil tried to advise him that vengeance would become problematic for Trump’s agenda, Trump told him (reference 107): “Well, revenge does take time. I will say that…And sometimes revenge can be justified, Phil, I have to be honest. You know, sometimes it can.”

As we get ready to head into this next section, I want you to consider the ramifications of empowering a man who feels that he can and must seek vengeance on those who disagree with him. Tragically, there is more where this came from. As with everything else, we will circle back around to include what we have seen in this section in our concluding assessment.

The Napoleonic Approach

In becoming a master at waging war, the former dictator of France and much of Europe in the early-nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte, championed the concept of “divide and conquer”. The basic tenet of this strategic vision is that you turn the populace against itself to prime it for conquest. It worked wonders for Napoleon’s dream of a French Empire of his own making, and it has served fascists well ever since.

Hitler’s “Big Lie” vision is a useful tool for fanning the flames of division. I’ve long regarded fascists as “false Populists” due to their reliance on dividing the people instead of using popular frustration to unite the people for the purpose of addressing systemic problems. Fascism does not prevail in an atmosphere of unity unless that unity is driven by pure anger. True populism begins with anger, but it seeks to create a unified front to address the root cause of what ails ALL of the people. For this reason, fascism is also incompatible with democracy and liberty (which can easily be seen by noting how every fascist government has either watered-down or dispensed with both) while true populism both depends on and strengthens both democracy and liberty.

In other words, fascists need us to hate and fear one another in order to keep us from uniting and seeing them for what they are: aspiring dictators. Hitler didn’t just arrive on the scene in Germany and declare that he wanted to be their unquestioned leader. Rather, he fanned the flames of resentment and pointed the finger at an historical target within the culture. It’s a tried and true trope of fascism and Donald Trump is no different in his exploitation of public angst about a failing economic system.

What do I mean about that last part? While the economy has technically been doing well, the American people by and large have not felt such. This was also the case back in 2016. Though the economy was still strong in the waning years of Obama’s time as president, the people felt frustrated with their wages barely moving as the cost of living continued to rise. For decades, blaming undocumented immigrants for “taking our jobs” has been a popular claim by people on the right wing of our politics.

Enter Donald Trump with his opening speech announcing his initial bid for president back in the summer of 2015 (reference 108):

“When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Even now, nine years later, Trump insists that there has been a boost in crime, as led by this supposed surge in undocumented immigrants. However, as numerous reports have shared, there is no “migrant crime wave”. In fact, undocumented immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than others (references 109, 110, 111, 112). Though, instead of trying to get the facts, Trump doubles-down and chooses to dehumanize the undocumented (reference 113): “The Democrats say, 'Please don't call them animals. They're humans.' I said, 'No, they're not humans, they're not humans, they're animals”.

This year at the 2024 Republican National Convention, Trump rambled for over 90 minutes, but the theme he repeatedly returned to throughout was about the undocumented immigrants. One line in particular caught my attention when he said (reference 114):

“The greatest invasion in history is taking place right here in our country. They are coming in from every corner of the earth not just from South America, but from Africa, Asia, the Middle East. They're coming from everywhere. They're coming at levels that we've never seen before. It is an invasion indeed, and this administration does absolutely nothing to stop them. They're coming from prisons. They're coming from jails, they're coming from mental institutions and insane asylums.”

Take notice of the fact that EVERY part of the world that he cites as invading the United States has one thing in common: they are predominantly NON-WHITE. He didn’t cite any European nations, and while some may argue that his inclusion of Asia would encompass Russia, that’s absolutely not what he meant when he highlighted that part of the world.

Trump’s appeal to racism as well as xenophobia evolved leading up to and at the debate between him and Vice President Harris when he asserted that Haitian migrants were eating the pets in Springfield. While it is certainly true that there has been a major influx of Haitian migrants in the town of Springfield, Ohio, the migrants are here legally (reference 116) and there is no evidence whatsoever that these migrants are eating cats and dogs (reference 117). In fact, the woman who started the rumors online now says she regrets doing so and that she had no firsthand knowledge of the claims that she made up (reference 115).

Regardless of the facts, though, Trump and Vance both insist on continuing to spread the lies about the Haitian migrants. Worse yet, Senator Vance freely admitted that he is willing to “create stories” in order to get the media to pay attention (reference 118): “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.”

Trump went even further and warned that he will revoke the Temporary Protected Status which permits Haitians to be here (reference 119). Let’s not forget that Haitians are predominantly black; which makes sense as to why he wants us to be afraid of them. Moreover, Trump has suggested that the undocumented are “poisoning the blood of our country” (reference 120) and recently continued this line of thinking when he said (reference 121):

“When you look at the things that [Vice President Harris] proposes, they’re so far off she has no clue. How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers…Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States…You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now. They left, they had 425,000 people come into our country that shouldn’t be here, that are criminals.”

He is absolutely painting the undocumented with a broad brush here. He’s not just talking about the people who specifically commit violent crimes, but rather he is saying that the undocumented are somehow naturally predisposed to commit violent crimes, because it is “in their genes”. You may or may not want to see it this way, but Trump has called the undocumented “animals” (even calling them “vermin”, per reference 49), has said that they have “bad genes”, and has asserted that they are “poisoning the blood of our country”. This is precisely what Adolf Hitler accused Jewish people of doing. He dehumanized them, claimed they were poisoning the blood of the nation, and asserted that Jewish people couldn’t help but be criminals. Open your eyes to the fascism which is so obviously in your face!

To close this portion of the argument that Trump and Vance are fascists, it is incumbent upon me to also cite that Trump (reference 123) and Vance (reference 124) are asserting that FEMA is diverting funds from disaster relief to help the undocumented. This is false (reference 122), of course, but that hasn’t stopped them from lying about it to continue peddling fear about the “other”. Remember that the objective is to divide us in order to conquer us. Napoleon and Hitler would be very proud of their ideological descendant.

The Growing Powers of the Presidency and Autocracy

Interestingly, the revolutions in France which eventually gave rise to Napoleon were a key part of the reason that the Founding Fathers limited the powers of the presidency when they were writing and debating the Constitution. To help explain why we find ourselves in a dangerous situation at this time in our history, I feel it is crucial to tell a brief story of how we got to the point of being primed for the rise of authoritarianism. With a handful of exceptions – such as the tumultuous presidency of Andrew Jackson – the balance of power remained largely intact.

Then came the Civil War and the decision by President Lincoln to suspend Habeas Corpus to wage the conflict to save the Union. The aftermath of the war forever changed the presidency as Lincoln’s actions – as necessary as they may have been – had the outsized effect of expanding presidential power beyond what had been expected leading up to that point in our history.

Following Lincoln, the presidency expanded in its power at least once a generation between President Lincoln, President Theodore Roosevelt, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt himself saw the presidency as a tool for advocating transformative action, calling the unique position of the office the “bully pulpit” from which an effective president could utilize the office to force Congress to take action on behalf of the people.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded the powers of the president and the federal government even further than the Founding Fathers ever desired. Taking office following a wave election in reaction to the Great Depression and then leading the nation through World War Two, FDR became the most effective leader since President Lincoln, and the office he left behind led one of the two superpowers in the world at the time.

The expansion of presidential power seemed to hit a proverbial wall, though, when President Nixon abused the powers of the office to target his political enemies. Due to his paranoia, the Watergate scandal took him down as Congress acted to hold him accountable, forcing him to resign lest he face removal. Congress followed up by passing a series of important laws meant to keep the presidency in check – including the War Powers Act -, but in the wake of Nixon’s fall and pardon by President Ford, a number of Nixon’s embittered underlings conceived of a philosophy pertinent to presidential power: which they called the “Unitary Executive Theory”, which holds (reference 125) that the “President has sole control over the executive branch of government”, without any right of Congress or the Courts to interfere. This becomes very important a little later.

The next transformative event came with the election of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan’s election happened with the help of the creation of the so-called “Moral Majority” complete with religious leaders like Jerry Falwell – frustrated with the end of segregation, not Roe v. Wade (reference 126) – came together under the leadership of a man named Paul Weyrich (who helped found the Heritage Foundation, per reference 128) to help give rise to a “Christian Nationalist” country (reference 127), and Mr. Weyrich had come to see that democracy was a liability for their cause.

In 1980, Weyrich said to a group of evangelical leaders the following (reference 129):

“Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome―good government. They want everybody to vote. I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

Fast forward to the aftermath of the 2000 election. The Supreme Court handed the presidency to George W. Bush after ordering that the statewide recount in Florida be stopped immediately. Nine months later, terrorists dispatched by Osama Bin Laden launched a horrific attack which claimed roughly 3,000 lives on September 11th. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Bush promoted the passage of the “USA PATRIOT Act” which astronomically expanded (reference 132) the surveillance abilities of the federal government.

What followed was an intense debate (reference 131) about the government’s ability to encroach on the civil liberties of Americans. Bush claimed that those detained as part of the “Global War on Terror” were “enemy combatants” who were somehow exempt from the Geneva Convention’s protections. The solution conceived by Bush and Cheney was to send the detained to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba wherein the detainees were held indefinitely and subjected to torture (which Bush and his team called “enhanced interrogation techniques”).

In reaction to the uproar about detainees being held without any right of habeas corpus either by the Constitution or the Geneva Convention, the Bush team spearheaded an effort to see the passage of the Military Commissions Act (reference 133) which empowered the military to try the detained with limited rights available to the people. Additionally, in 2007, Bush pushed for passage of the Protect America Act (reference 130) which increased the government’s ability to spy on our phone records without a warrant.

All of this involves massive expansion of presidential and federal power, but the worst part was the lack of accountability for abuse of power. In addition to launching a war of aggression against a nation that did not attack us, Bush created – inspired by the guiding philosophy of the “unitary executive” – the creative use of what’s called “signing statements”. When signing laws passed by the Democratic Congress starting in 2007, Bush used his statements to declare that he intended to ignore parts of the law with which he disagreed (reference 134).

Now, after having inherited and expanded the reach of the presidency himself before he was ousted by we the people in 2020, Trump and every other president is empowered by the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution” as it pertains to their “official acts” (reference 135). The ruling is so broad that the definition of what consists of a president’s “official act” is up to that president to interpret; no matter how heinous the act.

Connecting the Dots

As I prepare to conclude this rather lengthy argument, allow us to recall what history teaches us about the conditions under which fascism takes hold. Despite the fact that the people are statistically better off than we were four years ago, a significant chunk of the populace doesn’t feel as though such is the case, and that is thanks to the rise in the cost of living. As I have long contended: perception is reality, especially in politics.

The fact that the people perceive that life is a mess right now, it doesn’t matter what can be measured scientifically. People care about how life impacts them, personally, not how it is affecting their neighbors. Is that overly blunt to say? I wish it was, but that’s just how human nature works. While we thrive as a collective, we are individualistic in our primal inclinations.

The angst – borne out of our misguided perception or not – leaves us vulnerable to populism. Populism has two faces – as I noted back in 2015 when I unfortunately predicted Trump’s then-impending victory (references 136, 137, 138) -: false populism and real populism. In my assessment, real populism brings people together, capitalizing on public anger to change the conditions so as to meet the collective’s needs. On the other hand, I believe that false populism is the same thing as fascism, as it seeks to divide and conquer the people. In summary, populism strengthens democracy while fascism destroys it.

When you examine what Trump has said and done, I sincerely believe it is unreasonable to conclude that he is anything but a fascist. Simply put, he openly calls himself a “nationalist”, refers to his political adversaries as “the enemy within”, he demonizes migrants – his version of “the other” – and aspires to keep his base perpetually petrified of the consequences of doing nothing about that outside group. Moreover, he has openly called for using the military to crackdown on his perceived enemies as well as migrants and has called for the police to have a day when they can use violence without fear of repercussion. In fact, he literally – on national television – sent the National Guard to disperse a peaceful protest to clear the way for him to take a photo.

And I haven’t even touched on his use of the “big lie”. He publicly asserts that he actually won the 2020 election, and that it was rigged against him. In fact, he has been laying the groundwork for us to distrust election results since Obama won reelection in 2012. If the election isn’t too his liking, it’s “rigged”. Finally, when it all didn’t work out for him, he tried to lead an insurrection to overthrow our government and now he promises retribution against those trying to hold him accountable.

Just in case you feel that we are only in danger if Trump is president, but that we will be safe under Vance, the facts say otherwise. Senator JD Vance has demonstrated that he is more than happy to carry on the fascist legacy of Donald Trump from backing up Trump’s attacks and lies on migrants to refusing to disagree with Trump about the 2020 election. Furthermore, Vance has expressed his own contempt for the Republic and democracy as a whole, citing his philosophical influence by a friend of his who has stated that we need to get over our “dictator phobia”, and calling for Trump to clean house in the Administrative state regardless of what the Courts say.

Overall, the presidency is far more powerful today than what the Founding Fathers had ever intended. While it was absolutely essential to undo some of the limitations on presidential power so that we could have a leader who could lead the country through a civil war, a depression, a global war, and ensure that the people’s needs are met, there are other areas where presidential power has expanded to the point that American autocracy is a mere authoritarian’s election away from becoming reality.

Electing Donald Trump and JD Vance this November will not only be divisive and harmful for millions, but it will – with all things considered - ensure the death of our Republic as we know it. This is because former President Donald J. Trump and Senator JD Vance are both fascists and should be kept far away from the reins of power. They MUST be defeated.

In Conclusion

As I mentioned at the outset of this extensive entry, I am a big fan of the film “V for Vendetta”. Ironically, many fans of Trump are as well, and they often share memes which reference the film and others like it as an example of Trump somehow being the “good guy” fighting back against an authoritarian system. The gravest irony here, though, is that the movie itself consists of a rightwing fascist regime seizing control over Great Britain following its own version of the “Big Lie”. In the case of “V for Vendetta” (which was released 10 years before Trump ran for office), the “Big Lie” involved the secretive release of a manufactured deadly virus that was blamed on terrorists as an excuse to crack down on the populace.

The film takes place about a decade or so into the reign of the fascist regime and begins with a scene wherein a young woman (played by Natalie Portman) is accosted by a couple of corrupt officers taking advantage of her being alone at night past curfew. She is saved by “V” (played by Hugo Weaving), who then leads her to a safe place to witness his demolition of a building while playing “Overture 1812”. This leads to the regime getting paranoid, but they cover up the explosion by claiming it was a celebratory planned demolition. It’s obvious that the people aren’t buying it, but then “V” resurfaces, and he does so by taking over the airways to permeate the propaganda in order to share a revolutionary thought with the people (which they most definitely found inspiring as the rest of the story would show): “there is something very wrong with this country”.

Well, my friends, I am here to tell you the same thing: THERE IS SOMETHING VERY WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY.

Just as the old poem about Guy Fawkes says: “Remember, remember, the 5th of November”, because this November 5th is undoubtedly the most important election in the history of this country, and your lack of participation could help spell the death of liberty.

Am I being hyperbolic? No. Look at the evidence. Consider the lessons of history. Get engaged, and VOTE!

There is a serious danger that if Trump loses in a close election, his brand of fascism will live on to fight another day as the corruption of the Republican Party – which is now a fascist political organization (and that may even predate the arrival of Trump, honestly, but that’s another discussion to be had) – will not suddenly go away. So, that means that we must do everything possible to ensure that Trump loses in a humiliating landslide so as to demolish any ambition to keep fascism alive in America. It’s the only way to stave off a revival of this very same election scenario four years from now.

Our job from this point, through Election Day, and beyond (and that last part is important to remember, because democracy doesn’t stop with voting) is to educate, be educated, and remain vigilant against the tools of fascism.

Spread the word, my friends, and remember one thing: this truly does impact ALL of us, regardless of our identity or interests in politics. Just because Trump, Vance, and their fascist horde are targeting migrants, the media, and leftists today doesn’t mean that you will forever be exempt from being on their menu. Bear in mind that the people in Germany made the same mistake of thinking they were safe, which is what inspired the poem with which I will close, by Pastor Martin Niemoller (reference 139):

“First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me”

Don’t wait to speak out. Don’t wait to vote. Don’t wait to make your stand against fascism. I love you all, let’s get this done.

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