On National Voter Registration Day, Recognize Growing Fascism
Today is National Voter Registration Day. It has never been more important for people to register and then actually vote. You can do so here.
I’ve often heard people say something to the effect of “I can’t understand how people would allow the Holocaust to happen.” Well, today, I can believe it. And not because fewer than half of Americans even know about the Holocaust (two-thirds of Americans under 40 don’t know about it, and about 10% believe it was a myth). But because we’re watching fascism unfold right before our eyes.
Once the free press is demonized, dismissed, and controlled;
Once the government can simply grab people off the street in a car and detain them for no reason;
Once the ability to peacefully protest is removed;
Once the government can spy on your social media and other things without a warrant or any reason and flag you for being against the administration;
Once votes are allowed to be openly suppressed and voting can be made impossible;
Once we have one set of rules for the ruling party and another set for everyone else who adheres to statesmanship and putting country and democracy before politics;
Once we decide as a nation that ripping children from their parents’ arms and putting them in concentration camps;
Once we start implementing forced hysterectomies without consent (or sometimes knowledge) on people in detention;
Once we stack and weaponize the third branch of government with extremists with archaic ideals (and for the record, after McConnell successfully blocked nearly every appointment throughout Obama’s second term, Trump has filled about a quarter of the entire federal judiciary — mostly with white men — setting us back a century and halting any progress for at least a generation);
Once we divert funds from emergencies and the social contract to fund allies and isolationist projects;
Once we’ve militarized our law enforcement agencies and privatized our detention facilities;
Once we’ve demonized and dismissed labor and workforce protections and rights;
Once we’ve accepted as normal a leader lying, misleading, or falsifying most of what comes out of his mouth more than 70 percent of the time (as of July 2020, he’s made more than 20,000 false or misleading claims);
Once we’ve done all that and so much more, it’s hard to NOT see how fascism is unfolding before our eyes. I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to state that the ONLY way to save democracy, the future of the country, and comprehensive rights for everyone is to get out and vote and make sure you get everyone you know to get out and vote. There’s no room whatsoever for ideological purity tests or bitter non-votes to protest anything.
