Here’s a controversial thought to begin with: What is Fascism? It seems Trump and his followers were accused of it daily. It became a buzz word, and the foundation behind Antifa (which was supposed to be against Fascism, but their tactics proved different as they beat and suppressed others). When I hear Fascist labels and overtones, I immediately think back to Nazi Germany and Hitler, and I’m sickened. I believe that’s the emotion those labeling others as Fascist are going for. So, here’s a definition, from Wikipedia (find your own if you prefer), to explore a bit further:
“Fascism: Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy, which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.”
So, it seems people like to cherry-pick what they like out of that, so allow me to do something similar for this conversation. Let’s, for a moment, take out the “far-right” label, and look at the rest of this, against the backdrop of the current set of policies and events happening in America and primarily, Washington.
Did you know that the DOJ had a Virginia man arrested, who attended the Trump rally in D.C. on January 6th, for being the “leader” of the alleged insurrection? He and his wife went to the rally. But they never entered the capitol. They never rioted. The FBI then uncovered zero evidence of him “ring-leading” anything. No calls. No emails. No violence-laden videos. Nothing. But they still locked him up for 49 .. yes FORTY NINE … days in solitary confinement. He’s since been released, but financially he’s almost destroyed and they are close to losing their family farm. What would you call that form of government action?
Did you know that US Marine Lt. Colonel Scheller spoke out against the upper chain of command for the horrible handling of the Afghan exit? He was told to stay off social media, but he didn’t – freedom of speech being something to recognize – so the upper brass (often now showing a great deal of woke actions, and I can cite PLENTY of recent hearings where this is on full display) had him stripped of his command, arrested and thrown in the brig – uncharged even today – and he is apparently now being released after his story (via his parents) made it to Fox, and the congress lit up over it. What would you call that type of action in the government?
Did you know that the current $3.5T “Human Infrastructure” Build Back Better bill has (among the MANY things packed into it I am still examining) a provision to put another $79B into the IRS for more “compliance” agents and processes? This includes … wait for it … a requirement that banks allow the IRS to monitor ANY bank accounts with an over $600 balance? Not $6,000. Not $6,000,000. Just $600. What would you label that activity by the government?
A lot of you voted for this. It’s going to take a while to undo this damage.
Did you know that deep within this bill is a “methane polluter” so-called fee? Guess what that will do to agriculture? Along those lines are provisions for a milage fee pilot program. To account for, and to bill you, me, everyone, for miles driven in a gas-powered car? It’s there in current form. Go look it up. What would you call that oversite?
Wait wait wait… the hits keep coming: Universal pre-K is in the bill, but the Feds are only going to pay for half of it, and the states are REQUIRED to pick up the other 50%. So … where are states getting that money from? And by the way, the bill also requires a raise to childcare workers’ minimum wages (and possible unionization) to $15/hr. In some geos that will be devastating.
And not to be outdone, the bill also has free 2-year Community College, and the Feds are going to cover 75% of that. And again, the states get the other 25%.
So maybe we should blend a little Socialism into the Fascism conversation at this point? Hum. The hybrid approach?
But this part really cracks me up: You’ve heard me go on about the continuing border crisis (I would strongly suggest you watch the interview Brett Baier just did with the recently ousted/retired head of the Border Patrol…VERY enlightening and frightening) Here’s a link, although the video is also in there somewhere:
The bill has a provision for “smart and effective” border security. By ALL involved party accounts, we actually had that before Biden slashed it all. Did you know we have millions of pounds of wall materials sitting on the ground not being put in place, right now, on the border? Alongside those materials are hundred of miles of fiber optic cables, sitting on the ground as part of the wall system high-tech pieces many of us didn’t know about (no, it wasn’t ever “just a wall” – it was a whole system). But the saddest part: We are paying up to $5 million dollars daily to contractors to not build the wall. The contracts are there. They are committed. But Joe said no, stop building, but we have all the materials and all the contractors, all being paid for. Nice move.
Oh – let’s also not forget that while police stood helpless in Chicago this week as street racers did doughnuts in front of their station and danced on the roofs of their police cruisers and lit off fireworks (because their woke DA won’t prosecute) and a man in Jersey was released after beating his wife (again, DA won’t keep him in jail without bond) and he immediately went and killed his wife; the National School Board Association has asked Biden and Garland, the AG, to investigate these protesting parents (against Critical Race Theory) under the Patriot Act (and several other acts that were cited), as possible Domestic Terrorists. That investigation is now started.
This is what a lot of you voted for. I’ll discuss later how close our ratios are in debt to GDP to where Greece was when it had to claim bankruptcy. It’s a lot closer than most of us realize – and Joe wants to tack on trillions more. And don’t forget – China holds some of that debt, but our own Social Security Administration, the DoD, and some other government agencies hold notes on most of our debt. That is very, very bad.
But I’ll ask again (a bit rhetorically) – what does our government’s action look like these days to you? Put Trump in there with these same actions now, and what does it look like?
