#I live in a country where Fascist censorship laws are real and are being pushed under the guise of “protecting children”

[zenruption]

You Say Patriot. I Say Fascist. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it.

With Independence Day upon us, it might bear saying that democracy is now on the decline. What are we celebrating? Our willingness to give up the American experiment?

There isn’t a day that goes by where this author isn’t referred to as a “commie”. Despite degrees in political science and business, despite owning businesses and despite a lifelong dedication to the study of American political history, those of no world view find the delusion of a dead system invading their country and my mind, to be convenient. A business owner being called a “commie” by someone that works for a someone else seems comical at times.

For some reason, the Trumpians are now all political scientists, purveyors of morality, climate scientists, economists, proper capitalists and proper patriots. They have positively distorted political science into some silly beliefs that a republic isn’t the same as a constitutional democracy and that the political scale of left and right is incorrect (actually it is left and right but in a circular structure). They call Democrats both “commies” and fascists, despite the absolute polarity of the two. They assume to be less government while refusing to embrace proper tradeoffs and not realizing many of their policies are actually bigger government or implicit government endorsement of larger institutions. The federal government demanding voter records from states is ok despite advocating for privacy. The intent to re-impose federal regulation on marijuana is acceptable despite espousing state’s rights.

Well guess what? They are believers in authoritarianism despite their belief that they stand for democratic institutions and patriotism. Perversion of political history and definitions won’t change what you are and Trumpians are the enemies of democracy.

How do we know this? Well from the smart and educated scholars that the disciples of orange skin detest.

Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt has extensively studied fascist regimes from Mussolini to Franco, Hitler, Suharto and Pinochet. He has established the 14 identifying characteristics of fascism from these studies.

Please read and determine for yourself.

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism

Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Check. We have that in spades right now. A football player is more at risk to never play again for kneeling during the national anthem than a player that beats his wife.

America's men & women in uniform is the story of FREEDOM overcoming OPPRESSION, the STRONG protecting the WEAK, & GOOD defeating EVIL! USA🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Gu3f8DCO3o

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2017

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights

Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

Check. Travel ban. U.S. prisons are considered cruel and unusual punishment by Amnesty International.

3 Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause

The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

Check. Islam is feared and protested. The terms commie and socialist are thrown around with abandon. Black Lives Matter is called a terrorist organization and systemic racism is justified daily in right wing and alt-white news. Hate crimes have increased 80% this year. A huuuge wall is proposed. Obama was a communist who hated America, despite having policies to the right of Nixon.

4. Supremacy of the Military

Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

Check. We spend more than the next 12 nations combined, have a budget proposal that adds another $40 billion and domestic programs of true value are being cut. Oh… and we have 22 carrier groups. The next highest nation has a total of two.

5. Rampant Sexism

  I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

Check. Defunding Planned Parenthood is a priority. Our President is the embodiment of sexist pig. The evangelical base would gladly sacrifice the freedom of others to further an anti-gay agenda.

6. Controlled Mass Media

#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017

Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Check. Locking out certain reporters from White House press briefings. Tweets calling the press fake news and an enemy of the people. Calls for libel law changes in order to sue the press.

The failing @nytimes writes false story after false story about me. They don't even call to verify the facts of a story. A Fake News Joke!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2017

7. Obsession with National Security

Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

Check. No laptops on flights to the U.S. Proposals to track Muslims.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined

Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

Check. Evangelicals have heralded Trump as almost the Second Coming. Preachers of Prosperity Doctrine were at the Inauguration. Republican dominated statehouses are legislating morality as an exact opposite as their calls for smaller government. Hypocrisy is a non-issue.

9. Corporate Power is Protected

The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

Check. Banking deregulation, rollbacks of environmental protections, proposals to open up protected land and billionaire Cabinet members pushing pro-corporate agendas while telling the masses they will benefit from lower corporate tax rates and opposition to a living wage.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed

Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

Check. Labor unions under constantly attacked and have seen ever diminished membership rolls.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts

Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

Check. Funding of PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts are proposed to be eliminated despite being a fraction of government spending. Universities are under constant attack and suspect to conservative media. Iowa even introduced a bill requiring University Professors to reveal their political beliefs. Science denial is in charge with budgets being cut and climate change erased from the EPA website.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment

Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

Check. Militarization of the police and drug sentencing guidelines that are far stricter than the nature of the crime. Disproportionate sentencing times for African Americans and Latinos, than white Americans.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

Check. Ivanka and Jared Kushner in the White House. Three former Goldman Sachs executives and billionaire donors on the Cabinet.

14. Fraudulent Elections

Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

Check. Rampant Republican gerrymandering, voter ID laws targeted at minorities and a politicized media owned by corporate interests (Sinclair Broadcasting buying local stations).

 Holy shit! It wasn’t expected we’d have all 14!

You say Patriot. I say fascist and the end of democracy in America.

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