This all used to be a plot in a book, a work of fiction. It used to be part of some historical record, from some dusty tome that marked the rise of hate and genocide that long ago overtook the heart and minds of many, of those whose manifestos, whose Mein Kampfs’ bled from a twisted mind, once upon a time.
Used to be these ideas, these twisted minds, they were all in the past, all of it, we were better – remember when that was so? No so long ago.
Look how quickly it happened, how mindlessly the masses jumped aboard, how quickly it spread, once the right character appeared stage right-wing.
Tonight I just finished watching a piece on Maddow, about this twisted Handmaids Tale brought to life, of this Steve Lloyd tracking, actually tracking menstrual cycles of young girls who have reported being pregnant, young women, some as young as 12 years old, being held in U.S. custody, immigrant girls, and this anti-abortion zealot is the Trump appointed head, the office director of HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.
There are 28 pages of details about, oh, things like whether it was consensual sex or not, how far along they are in the pregnancy, their age, and this is what the U.S. Federal government is up to now? Tracking young girls’ pregnancy? Why? Oh, well, that is because he’s imprisoning these women in their shelters so that they can not go seek an abortion. AND, he is still tracking them as of June of last year, fully 3 months after the courts told him to stop.
I swear, I’m not making this up.
The only reason we know anything about it is because one of those young women had the kahunas to force them to allow her access to an abortion… she had been raped.
And another right-wing zealot murders 49 in a mosque on the other side of the world, way off in the peaceful land of New Zealand, a place that has single digit murders, one of these new right-wing radicalized terrorist, citing that lunatic down yonder, and other terrorist of his ilk’s manifestos, and streaming it all live on Facebook. One after the other of these mass murders takes place in these places of worship by right-wing terrorists, and there is no problem?
Massacred in mosques, in synagogues, in black baptist churches, and this cancer is spreading, and the POTUS sees no problem? Well, that’s convenient.
And surprise, surprise, some right-wing Australian senator blames “immigration” for the death of 49 individuals peacefully praying in their place of worship?
The Australian suspect who claimed responsibility for the New Zealand shootings that killed at least 49 people in two mosques wrote a 70-page anti-immigrant manifesto calling himself a racist, ethno-nationalist and fascist. He also called President Trump a symbol of “renewed white identity.” Trump has condemned the attack.
USA TODAY | New Zealand shows America’s mass shootings have global consequences | Alia E. Dastagir – March 15, 2019
A POTUS who bragged merely 24 hours or so before to Breitbart on all the tough guys that will do his bidding, and lo and behold, another right-wing zealot follower from the otherside of the world appears.
If you are wondering what tyranny feels like, look around, a posse in the U.S. of government lackys afraid to stand against this greed induced tyrant, of aides that tell him what he wants to hear for fear of his ire, of a man who refuses to denounce these white supremacists, who says ‘ they are fine people, there are two sides ‘.
As we see in the president’s reactions to American rightwing terrorism, he will always claim victimhood for himself and shift blame to the actual victims. As we see in the motivations of the terrorists themselves, and in the long history of fascism, this maneuver can lead to murder.
The Guardian | Donald Trump borrows from the old tricks of fascism
The Nazis claimed a monopoly on victimhood. Mein Kampf includes a lengthy pout about how Jews and other non-Germans made Hitler’s life as a young man in the Habsburg monarchy difficult. After stormtroopers attacked others in Germany in the early 1930s, they made a great fuss if one of their own was injured. The Horst Wessel Song, recalling a single Nazi who was killed, was on the lips of Germans who killed millions of people. The second world war was for the Nazis’ self-defense against “global Jewry”.
Timothy Snyder | Tue 30 Oct 2018
Is anyone still wondering what fascism will look like when it rises? Look no farther than the White House.
See, fascism needs an enemy to point its finger at, so if you are not the right colour, or not of this particular religion, or belief, bingo, you’re the enemy – it needs an enemy. Fascism never takes responsibility, it always shifts the blame, that’s why it became so attractive, that is the reality these men utilize, that sense of desperation, of anger at seeing newcomers to their shores, legal immigrants, profiting while they struggle, and now they have a boogeyman to blame.
FASCISM…a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
www.dictionary.com
Regimenting women’s reproductive rights? Regimenting the freedoms of the press, of institutions that provide justice, environmental protection, food safety, policing, the courts, all of these are fair game to the dictator.
Today a dictator needn’t lift a finger, need not give one cent of their own cash or time, need make no directive to their minions, no, all they have to do is tweet out some derisive blather, and thy commands from the commander of chaos’ will be done.
Some get caught up in the trap of whether the POTUS is a white supremacist himself, but the man does not care, has no interest in the colour of your skin, your religion, or your views since his only care is in whether you can be useful, do his bidding, that is all, no more. Fascism is not about a colour, or a religion, or ideology, instead it is only about power, holding it, wielding it, and using it to further their own gains, strengthening their own power base and for some that strong man character of the dictator is very attractive.
So that was a taste of the horrible things that transpired, the things that stood out, the aspects of the last 24 hours that triggered something, and from poetry to politics I spiraled, again.
As much as there is a part of me that so much would love to turn away from all this and somehow find some hidey-hole up north to shield myself from it all, I can’t.
It has arrived. Fascism has seeped out of those tomes of history, rose up from its unsettled half-sleep, and found its way to American shores wrapped in Democracy.
“Hitler lied shamelessly about himself and about his enemies. He convinced millions of men and women that he cared for them deeply when, in fact, he would have willingly sacrificed them all. His murderous ambition, avowed racism, and utter immorality were given the thinnest mask, and yet millions of Germans were drawn to Hitler precisely because he seemed authentic. They screamed, “Sieg Heil” with happiness in their hearts, because they thought they were creating a better world.”
Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning
by PaulaB 