Stating The Obvious

From my perspective, it is clear that America has become a fascist country. Those who deny that reality are either extreme partisans (I refuse to use the term patriots, the word fascists favour) or living in a world of massive denial. 

The militarization of American cities, an essential precondition of fascism, has been going on for some time. Just look at the tanks and the army paraphernalia many police forces now sport - certainly a reflection of their relationship with their citizens. What is striking, however, is how quickly and unabashedly the Trump regime is moving in establishing a siege mentality, another precondition for fascist rule. There has been the stationing of military presences in Los Angeles, D.C., Memphis, and Portland, with deployment plans for other Democratic cities as well. There is the constant denigration of Democrats as "far-left radicals' and antifa acolytes. Additionally, Trump, in his recent address to the military in Quantico, referred to "the enemy within." In other words, American citizens have become the enemy, and he went further and suggested the Pentagon use American cities as “training grounds” for its troops.  

For those with the audacity to still think independently, the irony of the entire situation cannot be lost. Masquerading as the law and order regime pursuing the 'enemy', another favourite fascist ploy, Trump and his jackboots are in fact violating a myriad of laws. Justin Ling writes:

Off the coast of Venezuela, the enemy was four unarmed fishing boats. The White House declared them cartel members and terrorists — for which they supplied no evidence — and ordered drone strikes to kill everyone onboard. 

This extrajudicial killing could constitute a war crime. 

Pete Hegseth, the former Fox personality and now Secretary of War, 

says there will be “no more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.”

Those rules of engagement are designed to comply with international law — to avoid the murder of civilians, to prevent torture, to forbid the use of weapons of mass destruction. More importantly, the rules of engagement are part of strong set of internal rules that allow officers and soldiers alike to refuse illegal orders. 

Those rules are being flagrantly violated.

Those rules of engagement, and the U.S. constitution, forbid the military from policing the streets of America in peacetime. And yet active-duty personnel have been deployed to American cities, with more occupations to come. Trump says he’ll authorize “full force” to quell the enemy at home. The U.S. military, arguably the nation’s most fiercely independent institution, looks set to obey. 

In the new fascist Amerika, enemies are ubiquitous.

Trump has classified antifa — the mere concept of anti-fascist activism, not an actual group — a terror organization. He has ordered the Department of Justice to go after former FBI Director James Comey and Congressman Adam Schiff.

Given the ongoing threats against Venezuela and Greenland, Ling believes it is past time for Canada to take the fascist threat seriously through careful preparation.

It means revising agreements and cancelling memoranda of understanding. It means not sending our Canadian Armed Forces to train with units who no longer feel bound to the Geneva Convention and marking intelligence ‘for Canadian eyes only’ because it could be used to commit war crimes. It will mean creating systems within NATO that operate separately from Hegseth’s new warrior corps. This will invoke Trump’s ire, no doubt, but history teaches us that appeasing despots rarely works out.

But more is needed. 

[T]here will come a point where we need to make our objections clear, and where we will need to rally our allies into speaking up as well. Trump’s adventurism in South America will be a direct security challenge to Canada. His new affinity for committing war crimes will implicate the Canadian Armed Forces, who serve shoulder-to-shoulder with the U.S. military on many fronts. His comfort to fellow autocrats and despots will be a direct threat to the countries still pursuing democracy.

The greatest advantage Trump and his lieutenants currently hold is people's stubborn belief that fascism is impossible in the U.S.A. It has already arrived, and the sooner that fact is widely acknowledged, the better the chances of excising that malignancy from the body politic.