America Has Become a Fascist Country

 Alas that these evil days should be mine.

Theoden, King of Rohan, Lord of the Rings

Let's start with a definition of fascism:

Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.

Now let's consider a few things about Donald Trump:

• According to NPR, he has threatened to prosecute, imprison, or otherwise retaliate against his political enemies at least 100 times.
• He has called the press the enemy of the people and threatened them with losing their licenses or with prosecution or imprisonment.
• He has called his detractors "the enemy within" and suggested that the national guard or the military can be used against them.
• He has on many occasions suggested that his followers should use violence for political purposes, for example against people who protest at his rallies.
• He has promised to deport millions of people, including using camps to hold them. He has promised to deport people who are here legally and even US citizens.
• He has, more than once, said that he should get more than two terms as president, despite the constitution.
• He has lied incessantly about our elections, claiming that they are fraudulent, without any evidence, whenever they do not provide the results he wants. He has claimed many times that the only legitimate result is if he wins.
• He is, as one observer noted, the most famous liar in the world. He is the most well-documented liar in all of history.

Does all of this actually make him a fascist, according to the definition? I am no expert, and I don't really know. I do know though, that he is a monster, a man who should never be considered for any office and will never be considered for any office by even one sane, decent voter. Whether we can accurately apply the f-word label to him or not does not really matter. He is what he is, and that is a nightmare.

If Kamala Harris wins the election, if Trump is defeated one last time and never runs again, are we still a fascist country? The problem is, we are about to choose between fascism (or not-quite-fascism-but-disturbingly-close) and democracy, and we are not sure which will win. Our fellow Americans, our community members, our neighbors, our friends, our family members will choose a man who could not possibly be more clearly unfit for the presidency and who is openly fascist (or near-fascist) rather than choose a qualified alternative. Whether Donald Trump wins or loses a close election, we are a nation of millions of fascists. We have become the shithole country that Donald Trump spoke of, because we are a nation of too many truly despicable people.

When I was younger, I did not think it could happen here. It has happened here.

The only recovery I can see for us as a nation is if there is an enormous backlash against the MAGA party, if we come to a significant majority consensus that support for the current version of the Republican Party is a stain on our history, if we recognize that way too many Americans lost their way, abandoned any principles, set aside any sense of right and wrong, and need to acknowledge now that they followed a very wrong path.

It could happen. The model I always think of is the Jim Crow south, with black people segregated, kept from voting, sent to sub-standard schools, and openly discriminated against in myriad ways. In time, we dismantled that system, and it became generally accepted that we will not do that anymore. But until we accept that the current very close split between the crazies and the rest of us is a national disgrace, we are a nation of fascists, as hard to believe as that is.