(1779 words, part 4 of 7)

As I mentioned before, we should define fascism broadly. Maybe you aren’t telling people to be intolerant toward certain groups, or, like the Biden-Harris administration did as well as Trump, telling people to disbelieve that which we can see with our own eyes. But maybe you’re hampering real-world solutions to fascism with some odd beliefs about how the political world should work. Beliefs that enjoy wide popularity today thanks to a closely-controlled opposition party (in this case the Democrats) defining what is civil and/or acceptable, and what creates change versus doesn’t create change.

Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt once gloated that you can dismantle a democracy in front of a liberal’s face piece by piece, and all they’ll do is convene breakout sessions and committee meetings ‘til the boots are in the halls. Basically, the Nazis figured out a way to short-circuit those who would thwart you: act. Act while others waste time debating whether you’re technically following the rules. Act while others waste time debating your intentions. Act while others speak publicly about you not following the rules, and debate among themselves what level of action is both appropriate and within the rules.

All the while, the fascists act.

Those who oppose fascists need to start acting, whether or not action is within “the rules” (or norms). Because otherwise, fascism will not be stopped.

This scenario also plays out between the working class and the dictatorial capital class, maintained and accelerated under both ruling parties of the duopoly. We—the working class—are the ones endlessly debating. The dictators of capital are acting.

(Remember, Friends: Capitalism does not solve poverty. Capitalism creates poverty and then criminalizes it.)

The solution is clear. We should beware of substituting action with political machinations; beware of debates about rules and civility; and beware of condemning those who *do* act against fascism and/or the police state. Even if the only thing you’re doing is rhetoric that muddies the waters for opposition that has an effect, *you’re still helping fascism.*

In South Korea recently, when the corrupt administration declared martial law, members of the legislative body scaled the walls of the presidential palace and ultimately deposed the president, who now faces prosecution. The first one to scale the walls was later elected the new president, because he understood the dire need in that moment. Compare this to our members of Congress, who refused to push aside a single Trump staffer blocking the door to a vital agency, which they had the legal right to inspect. Our legislators are, with the potential exception of Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, not meeting the need of this moment.

Trump’s April 28 Executive Order went into effect July 28. I encourage you to read it in its entirety, but in short, it describes how Trump believes he has the right, and intends, to install military and/or other “national security” personnel in our local police departments. It also alludes to legal consequences for state and city leaders who resist this dramatic and unprecedented step. Everyone who believes themself a leader needs to think about what they are willing to face to protect those around them. And if relatively little, they should step down.

The reason we haven’t dismantled fascism is because it serves capital in capital’s time of need. Fascism is a tool of those with political power, and in the U.S., capital owns both major parties. Voters technically have the chance to stop this, but not if we keep pretending fascistic things are okay when the Democrats do them. That’s the main reason I try to point out when Democrats embrace fascism.

There is a likelihood (some historians would say 100% likelihood) that capital won’t allow voters/voting to strip it of power. I’m sure you’ve seen a bunch of ways voters can be thwarted; there are more still. For what it’s worth, the only action that historians say has never failed to secure the change it seeks is a general strike of at least 3.5% of a national population. See generalstrikeus.com for more info.

A wise social media post this year said, “If you treat fascist collaborators like allies, you’ll never beat fascism.” Did you know that when Barack Obama was president, he turned ICE from a small contingent (as it was under George W. Bush), into a massive deportation machine? Did you know that Hitler’s Plan A was not death camps; it was mass deportation. Anne Frank died of simple poor health conditions, not in a death camp, but in what was essentially a deportation waypoint facility. The death camps were only the “final solution.” Folks: we never left any of this behind.

ICE’s current director was appointed by Barack Obama. That director, Tom Homan, recently commented, about Trump’s April 28 Executive Order, that he may arrest mayors and governors who stand in the way of these plans. “Wait to see what’s coming,” he said ominously.

Homan’s ICE recently deported a Marine veteran who served in Iraq to El Salvador. Segovia Benitez received multiple awards during his service, according to military records. His rib cage is tattooed with a large Statue of Liberty and he has “USMC” tattooed across one arm. This year ICE specifically targeted workers involved in a landmark labor rights case. “They actually had a list,” The Intercept reported an insider said about the incident.

ICE is now reviewing social media posts by anyone seeking immigration status, with the stated intention of denying status for pro-Palestine remarks. This spring, NYU decided to withhold their valedictorian’s diploma for recognizing Palestinian suffering on stage. The student didn’t even say the word “Israel.”

That this began with Obama’s appointing of a fascist official should tell you something. That Biden didn’t relieve this official after the first Trump term should tell you more. That Biden didn’t relieve Louis DeJoy, Trump appointee to the USPS, who has bragged about dismantling mail-sorting infrastructure to ensure mail-in ballots get lost or delayed, should tell you everything you need to know.

When Biden was in power, he refused to alter the filibuster rules to pass the voting rights act or his wide-ranging climate legislation. Biden refused to replicate one good thing Reagan did: calling up Israel’s leader and telling them to stop their genocidal attacks. (This places him solidly to the right of Reagan on this issue.) Biden didn’t even work to codify the right to an abortion, nor give DC citizens a real vote in Congress, let alone try to address Citizens United, the shit SCOTUS ruling that allows infinite opaque money in politics.

Compare these two situations. Why is it that the more overtly-fascist (Republican) presidents maximally use their power, while Democratic presidents pretend like they have no power? The only real explanation is because they aren’t real opposition: more like faux opposition or even controlled opposition (by capital), redirecting your rage into something useless. Don’t fall for it.

How are Democrats on the genocide in Gaza? Earlier this summer, a FOIA’ed document was released showing snipers on the roofs above protests at Ohio State University, where I once took classes. In early May, Columbia University had suspended four student journalists for showing how the security forces abused student protesters, some of whom left the scene on stretchers. If you went to a Palestine protest any time in the last 18 months, Democrats have taken more meaningful action against you than they have against the entire Trump administration. This is objective truth. The question is, What does it mean?

The Democrats are demonstrably *not* opposition to the holocaust happening right now in Palestine. Eighty three Senators, including thirty Democrats, refused to end weapons shipments to Israel, as Israel starves Gaza. (Sending weapons to a humanitarian-violating state is illegal under U.S. and international law.) By the day of the vote, Israel had been blocking all food trucks from Gaza for more than a month. It’s now accurate to say that actively starving children is bipartisan U.S. policy.

“Being able to recognize a genocide ten years after it happens is useless,” said one social post. “You need the f***ing spine to take an unpopular position while there’s still time for it to matter, or else you’re a danger to the world.”

The reason the Democrats abandoned rhetoric of “resistance” for this Trump term is that the morality and logic of resistance would be applied to Palestine. As Chuck Schumer said in so many words, the party wants this genocide more than they want rights and laws domestically. 

“Reform the Dems from the inside” could not be more laughable given this and the recent ouster of David Hogg, a moderate, from Democratic Party leadership. We now have clear evidence that this party will be undemocratic whenever doing so serves the billionaire class, and that they’ll support a genocide for personal wealth and power.

Are there good national politicians working in the major parties today? Don’t be so sure. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Jill Stein “predatory” during the lead-up to the last election, despite research showing that a vote for Stein was more likely to take a vote from Trump than from Harris. AOC also voted to break the railroad strike when all they were doing was seeking two paid sick days, up from zero. Let’s not forget the Democratic Party thwarted its presidential primary process three elections in a row. I no longer have any doubt that they don’t want voters to pick their candidate. Bernie, for his part, has been repeating the claim that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Do you remember how the border wall Harris denigrated as a VP candidate became a central element of her Presidential campaign? That’s the Overton Window at work. But also, it must be said, an embrace of fascism.

Don’t forget it was the Biden-Harris administration that gave us the legal opinion that presidents are fully immune from actions in office, destroying “the rule of law.” That administration also increased our beds (or capacity rather; often there are no beds) in our concentration camps at the southern border, a decision so obvious it will be studied in history books. And lest we forget, Biden-Harris funded and provided political cover for the Holocaust of our times.

As Malcolm X said, a so-called “well-meaning liberal” is more dangerous and damaging to the cause of racial justice than a KKK member, because the KKK member says precisely what they’re there to do. The other person does things similar to what the KKK does (or prevents change, which has a similar outcome), but they do it under a disguise of civility and secular morality. It’s a trick. Don’t fall for it.

Brandon Smith has been an elected town official and the youngest winner of the only award for independent journalism. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and In These Times.