The F Word

It's Fascism. Just Say It.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross,“ is often attributed to Sinclair Lewis, but it seems to be a misattribution. The line cannot be found in his published writings.

But it is nonetheless true.

And it has come.

It is time we used the word rather than quibble and back away in fastidious fear of our emerging reality.

Granted, the Trump Regime - even in its aspirations - is not exactly like Mussolini’s fascist regime in Italy. Nor is it - even in its aspirations - necessarily the same as Hitler’s Nazi regime in Germany. Same for Franco in Spain.

I have endured countless scholars and pundits pointing out that the Trump Regime is not precisely fascist. At least not yet. Or perhaps not ever. They usually pick out some feature of Mussolini’s Italy or Hitler’s Germany that is not manifest in MAGA - or at least not yet. They describe how the U.S. system of government retains some capacity to resist evolution toward fascism - though less than they used to believe. And they also base their presentation on a bizarre calculation - that using the F word, which is highly pejorative, will make it harder to heal the political divide in America in some future Kumbaya moment. In other words, they temper their analysis with political advice. They think they are players.

They will often accept words like “personalized” or “oligarchic” or “kleptocratic”. Trump’s regime is like the caudillos in Latin America, or perhaps like Viktor Orban’s in Hungary. It is “electoral authoritarianism” with a “white supremacist” agenda. Just please don’t use the F word - that is not sufficiently precise and/or might cost us politically. Somehow.

How about this? Instead of saying what elements of classic fascism are not present - or at least not yet - we note the key elements of fascism that the Trump Regime does present - already.

• Nationalist ideology steeped in racism. Look no further than this week’s National Security Strategy of the United States to find the latest in a long line of … let’s say “fascistic” presentations of the paramountcy of nationalist and racist ideology in the Trump Regime. It’s actually official now - not dog whistles, not insinuations or racial slurs. The whole thing.

• Use of violence as a political tool to intimidate opponents. Masked ICE and CBP thugs pack people into unmarked vans based on skin color, language, and - I suspect - their attitude. In many cases, they are “disappeared” for weeks, even months. The National Guard patrols American cities in a show of force. And on his first day back in office, Trump pardoned all the violent mob who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

• Disregard for the rule of law. From defying court orders on deportation or firing workers to murdering guys on boats off the coast of South America, the Trump Regime makes a mockery of the rule of law. Sadly, the U.S. Supreme Court generally lends a hand.

• Weaponization of the law against political rivals. The Department of Justice (DoJ) under Pam Bondi and the FBI under Kash Patel are just the tip of the spear as Trump pushes legal persecution of his political “enemies” and efforts to destroy recalcitrant organizations, including law firms, with threatened law suits and denials of access.

• Control of the media. At this point, it is not complete, but the Trump Regime has utilized all its powers - through the DoJ, the Federal Communications Commission, and the courts - to bring major broadcasters and print outlets under its control. Slowly but surely, the media are aligning with the Regime.

• Crushing the institutions of civil society. The Trump Regime’s first target has been universities, especially elite schools that might mount significant resistance to his political program, but it also includes media organizations, NGOs and many other organized forms of popular mobilization.

• Suppression of dissent. Sure, I am still able to write a Substack critical of the Regime, as are many more popular writers. Some major media - including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal - have fought back against threats of law suits and other legal challenges by the Trump Regime. But beginning with outrageous and baseless charges of antisemitism and spreading through threats to punish “seditious” behavior, the Regime is actively seeking to stifle dissent.

• Economic corporatism. The media have been slow to recognize this key feature of fascist rule and raise the alarm among the public. The pattern is clear and began in Trump’s first administration. Trump seeks to align key American economic actors with his political and economic agenda. Like other fascist leaders, he fosters a symbiotic relationship in which the state - Trump in this case - is dominant but business gets a cut. The golden share in Intel, the profit sharing arrangement with Nvidia export sales, the personal disposal of TikTok - this is classic fascism at work.

• Glorification of cruelty. The messaging of the Trump Regime - both Trump’s Truth Social account and the official outlets of the U.S. Government - exult in cruelty. Pain. Death. Killing guys in boats. Shaming immigrants. Insulting women. In sum, degrading, harming and even obliterating White Christian America’s chosen “others”.

• Cult of personality. In all it says, the Regime centers Trump’s leadership, Trump’s decisions, and even Trump’s image. His huge face hangs on federal government buildings in Washington, DC. The Treasury wants to put his head on both sides of a commemorative silver dollar, breaking tradition to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Trump wants his name plastered on everything, from airports to stadiums to the U.S. Institute of Peace. Media reporting - whether favorable or critical - always elevates Trump’s personal role in everything. Ukraine. Gaza. Tariffs. We have already begun to forget that the U.S. is not supposed to be a despotism, a kingdom.

This is fascism in progress, and I wonder what those picky observers who reject the term really expect. Is it not yet fascist enough for them to use the word? Have they decided that a few more obstacles to dictatorship need to fall before we should employ the F-word, and in the meantime we should draw back in sufficient, properly modulated horror from symptoms of “electoral authoritarianism”? Do they really think Trump’s supporters are listening and we need to protect their feelings to welcome them into a future coalition of resistance? Do they have some restoration in mind, perhaps in 2029, and are working quietly toward that end? Do they think no Italians who supported Mussolini, no Germans who supported Hitler were decent people in their private lives? That they didn’t love their kids, pet their dogs and pay their taxes? What exactly do they expect? What are they afraid of? What about the F-word scares them?

I don’t have tremendous regard for the academic discipline of Political Science. I have seen enough dissertations and thesis proposals to know that Political Science is just about the least scientific of the social sciences. You can compile stats and do regression analysis on just about anything, but it is mainly busy work that earns a Ph.D. degree but not an audience. Nor am I a great fan of mainstream pundits and punditry. They seem to expect to wield far more influence than they do or possibly can.

I have been fighting this fight since the beginning of the first Trump Administration and even before. Trump is full-on corrupt, full-on racist, full-on authoritarian in his aspirations, and a full-on destroyer of institutions. I used to take flak for not clinging to faith in NATO, or the U.S. courts, or the Constitution’s checks and balances, or, or, or. Why didn’t I realize everything was gonna be all right? I was accused of demonstrating Godwin’s law, of being alarmist and pessimistic and serving no purpose.

I am not saying this is about me. Or that anything would have been different if people had listened to me. I am a retired diplomat who teaches international relations part-time, and I do not want to jump back into the middle of things. Retirement suits me.

But I have been right before, and I think I am right on this.

Let’s use the F-word. For effect. To draw a brighter red line. It will help, not hinder, our resistance efforts. Lord knows the other F-word has been completely unleashed. Judging by our present public discourse, it seems America is dominated by inarticulate potty-mouths. Everyone is a shock jock. One video of a grade-schooler using the F-word is sorta funny. But that video came a decade or more ago, and now that F-word really has worn out its shock effect. Most the time it just sounds crude and offensive.

But this new F-word needs to be used more, more openly, and more incessantly. I don’t think it is even close to overuse. Fascism is a work in progress here, and calling it by its name is right, honest, and perhaps a clarion call. It might even help.

American FASCISM. Say its name.