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FIGHTING THE FASCIST PUTSCH



By Jessie Seigel


If former President Donald Trump is kept from winning the presidency in 2024, “it is going to be the last American election that will be decided by ballots rather than bullets.”


That fascistic threat was spouted by right-wing minister and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on his TBN show in early September.


According to the Huffington Post, Huckabee equated the various criminal cases in which Donald Trump faces a total of 91 felony counts with the kind of show trials that occur in “banana republics and communist regimes” where political opponents are imprisoned for “made-up crimes.”


Huckabee’s charge is the ultimate in Trumpian projection of one’s own actions and intentions onto one’s opposition. It is Donald Trump and his right-wing adherents who are working to create a banana republic.


With the bludgeon-like grace of an Al Capone, Trump has been continuously fomenting violent threats against judges, prosecutors, and potential jurors involved in his countless indictments and imminent prosecutions. His goal: to intimidate them and hamper—if not negate—the rule of law.


As early as last March, Trump told a right-wing CPAC audience, “I am your retribution.” According to the New York Times, Trump was presenting the 2024 election as “the final battle,” after which he will—if he captures the presidency—use his power to wreak political vengeance.


Trump’s minions are not waiting for the election.


In August, right-wing House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent Fulton County, Georgia’s District Attorney Fani Willis a list of demands for documents and information about her investigation and indictment of Trump for criminal efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Willis refused Jordan’s demand, responding: “Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution.”


On September 12, in an effort to stave off removal by his right-wing colleagues, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the opening of an impeachment investigation into President Biden. According to the Times, McCarthy did so despite the fact that “after months of digging” the Republicans had failed to find any evidence of corruption by the president.


Last week, Jordan and his Republican cohorts on the House Judiciary Committee attempted to use the Hunter Biden case to smear Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice (DOJ). They argued, without any evidence, that Garland had meddled in the case to get Hunter a plea deal.


Committee member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) exposed Jordan’s real purpose, commenting: “Mr. Jordan hopes to camouflage his assault on the rule of law by falsely claiming that Donald Trump is the victim of unequal justice and Hunter Biden its beneficiary.” Schiff added, “It is a claim as transparently political as it is devoid of any factual basis.”


At the state level, the Republican-controlled legislature in Georgia has threatened to impeach or defund District Attorney Willis so as to gut her prosecution of Trump. (So far, Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has refused to call the special session required to permit the legislature’s proposed action.)


In addition, across the nation, Republicans continue to limit who can vote as well as gerrymandering to nullify the power of those who do vote.


The Republican-controlled legislature in Wisconsin threatened to impeach the newly elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz before she could even take her seat or weigh in on any cases. Protasiewicz, a liberal, had won her election in a landslide and her win flipped the court’s ideological balance. Apparently, the conservatives could not permit the will of the people to stand.


Alabama has gone so far as to defy a U.S. Supreme Court decision, issued last June, ordering the state to redraw its racially gerrymandered congressional map. The Court required Alabama to include a second district where Black voters could have some chance of electing a representative of their choice. In response, Alabama drew a new map--one just like the old map the Court had struck down--that still includes only one single district containing a Black majority.


Add to these many anti-democratic maneuvers the decimation of women’s and transgender rights and the book banning popping up across the nation. Add also, Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville jeopardizing military readiness with his one-man blockade of military promotions, and the compromised ethics of ultra-conservative Supreme Court members.


The work of combatting the ever-burgeoning schemes of all these varied anti-democratic actors can feel overwhelming. But there are some small reasons for hope.


On September 19, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced the institution of automatic voter registration in his battleground state. And Pennsylvania-born Taylor Swift posted an Instagram story with a link to vote.org that helped to register more than 35,000 new voters--a 23 percent jump since last year.

Furthermore, at a September 22 New York fundraiser, President Biden seemed, finally, to have more fully joined the fight. At that appearance, he declared: “Let there be no question, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy. And I will always defend, protect and fight for our democracy.” Biden added, “I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down but I won’t.”


There are also two bipartisan organizations dedicating themselves to making the public understand that, in the coming election, there is nothing short of democracy’s survival at stake. And that survival must take precedence over any policy differences between political parties.


Operation Saving Democracy is a veteran-led, pro-democracy political action committee. Its website states “In the age of Trump, extremism within that party has become a huge national security risk.”


It further explains: "The extreme far-right authoritarian ideology that has taken hold in the current GOP attacks democracy itself, alienates our global allies, weakens our standing on the world stage and our security at home, fosters disinformation and conspiracy theories, and normalizes violence against progressive agendas and liberal culture."


This organization is harnessing the voices of credible leaders in the defense community to persuade what it considers a critical group of voters in swing states--"traditionally Independent and Republican voters who care deeply about democracy and national security issues."


It has applied the combined efforts of the National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A) and the Democratic Majority Action PAC (DMA) to affect races around the country. NSL4A has a membership of more than 1,000 retired admirals, generals, ambassadors and other national security leaders. NSL4A and DMA are led by Amy McGrath, a marine corps veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Their watchwords: country over party.


Mission Democracy's goal is to educate Americans—especially in battleground states—about the dangers MAGA fascism and its extremist adherents (like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and Paul Gosar) pose. Mission Democracy also targets these zealots by funding those who challenge them.


Former President Trump has spoken the truth about one thing. If he captures the presidency in 2024, this election season will have been “the final battle.” Fascism will have won. His intent is not to govern but to rule. It appears that a plain-spoken, full-throated defense of democracy is now finally underway. All democracy-loving citizens must join in the work to make sure that this defense is not a matter of too little too late but, rather, a case of better late than never.


NOTE: This is the inaugural issue of the bi-weekly My Washington Whispers column. My beat is democracy. And while my articles may largely address very current events, I also intend to travel down side streets and alleyways to shine a light on anti-democratic groups, methods, and actions that are not necessarily highlighted in the week’s mainstream headlines. The adventure begins… (My column was formerly published as Washington Whispers in the now discontinued publication The Insider. Past articles can be found there.)




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6 Comments


Guest
Oct 06, 2023

Good on you for throwing yourself wholeheartedly into this fight! I'll be particularly interested to see what you find when you go looking "down side streets and alleyways" in the occupied territories of the lunatic right.

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allegras7
Oct 15, 2023
Replying to

Thank you so much for your encouraging message! jas

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Guest
Oct 02, 2023

Well-written.

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allegras7
Oct 15, 2023
Replying to

Thank you!

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blochouse
Sep 27, 2023

Extremely well thought out and presented. A frightening prospect if the fascists win.

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allegras7
Sep 27, 2023
Replying to

Thank you for the compliment. And yes--a frightening prospect! Jessie

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