One of the more popular fantasies making the rounds these days is that America narrowly dodged a fascist takeover on Jan 6.
Allow me to share my thoughts on what I've been watching with bemusement and dread over the past four years.
America elected a president in 2016, a guy who was born rich and parlayed that into general media adulation. That's not unexpected in a society that worships wealth. It was the media who made him a household name.
Once he became president, the same media turned on him. They suddenly discovered his xenophobia and his homophobia and his racism and nativism and transphobia... indeed, after a good four decade run of glorifying Trump, mainstream media suddenly came to the realization that he'd been an obnoxious a-hole all along.
That's because Donald had strayed from his lane. Politics is for politicians. Washington is full of them. They have immense power. They decide who sinks and who swims. Donald was a silver-spoon wanker who loved media attention.
He was not a politician.
By the time President Trump's raucous tenure came to an end, it was beyond obvious that the office of the most powerful man in the world didn't mean diddly anymore. Anonymous fact-checkers at Facebook and Twitter showed the world they had the power to silence the most powerful man in the world.
And America cheered.
I've argued for a long time that America has become a fascistic oligarchy. President Eisenhower gave us the blueprint in that famous speech on leaving office. Albert Speer, in his voluminous Spandau memoirs, speculated what the Nazis could have achieved had they been able to access television technology for their propaganda efforts.
Nevermind TV; Speer, in his wildest and wettest dreams, could never have imagined the power of Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the 800 ton tech gorillas.
I think full spectrum fascism is right here right now.
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