MAGA Republican actions fit 'definition of fascism,' White House says
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I look forward to dozens of online trolls explaining why Fascism is really Socialism. /not
The fact that republicans think ANTIFA (meaning anyone who is anti-fascist) are the ENEMY kinda proves that they’re fascist doesn’t it?
No, because they just pronounce it ann-tee-fah and pretend that it means something else.
“I thought it meant anti-First Amendment .” - actual thing someone said.
I thot they just hate vietnamese soup
My conservative ex pronounced it that way.
He did not like when I pointed out that the United States Army in WW2 was the OG Anti-fascist movement.
The OG anti-fascist movement was actually the German Antifa, who fought against fascists and Nazis in the Weimar Republic. That's where the name and the symbol comes from.
Woops! LMAO...
And they will come and kick fascist butt again if needed...
The "OG antifa" was actually a German movement in the late 1920s/early 1930's, for obvious reasons.
An army that had Mel Brooks in it? Yeah, that’s antifa
well, the British and French were. The US didn't join the movement until 1942
Is it pronounced differently? Like I agree it means anti-fascist, but I thought it was pronounced that way.
It’s the over-emphasis on the Tee: an TEE fa, rather than anti-fa.
Ante - fah.
They've got ACA, not that Obamacare
I heard someone pronounce it in all seriousness as “Aunt-Tifa” one time, like it was their progressive radical Aunt. I don’t think many of them even know what it is beyond a boogeyman.
Just like how they’ll never say or type out Black Lives Matter, it’s always BLM (bee-el-em)
A few years ago I heard a radio story about this. Antifa as a concept started in France, where it is correctly pronounced an-TEE-fah. Problem is, in America saying it that way just increases the xenophobia for those who want to feel that way already.
American fascists always retell the story in a way where it seems like they're not fascists...
Wikipedia is great for clearing these types of things up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(United_States)
Same thing with Evangelical Protestant Christians pretending that Hitler wasn't a member of their church.
The Mormons do something similar where they pretend that the American Indians that they mass murdered where really the aggressors.
I hear it in my head as the lyric to Tequila by the Champs.
Yes but only if you count reason and rationality and reality as convincing elements. Keeping with fascist principles, they avoid these at all costs.
It’s a pretty brilliant stroke of propaganda. Real-life doublespeak where the sounds carry more meaning to them than the words themselves. They identified early on in Trump’s propaganda that anything drawing attention to fascism had to be negated, suggesting there was a conscious recognition that they were in fact pursuing the establishment of a fascist party/government.
This brought back memories of the anti-antifa shirt. 😂
The fact that Republicans think ANTIFA is actually a formal group of any sort also shows they're fuckin' idiots. Anonymous is more of an actual group than ANTIFA.
On the other hand, we do have many very real whacky libertarian nutjob "patriot" groups.
They claim the libertarian label, but are generally fascist in fact. The want both government out of everything and a Christian Nationalist set of lawsb('Christ didn't collect taxes'/s.
You mean Profa. Or just Fa.
Well to be fair many groups and movements have dishonest names so it's not a hard narrative to latch onto.
Yeah, like National Socialist German Workers' Party. Or Republican Party, for that matter.
I had a libertarian tell me that they were communists. I lol'ed. Dude was obviously homeschooled.
“many groups and movements have dishonest names”
True, though pretty much exclusively on the right side of the political spectre. In my country there are two parties I’d consider fascist.
One is Geert Wilders’ party, who openly advocates the deportation of people from Moroccan descend. They call themselves the Party of Freedom.
The other is being lead by Thierry Baudet, a very vocal supporter of Putin’s politics and his invasion of Ukraine. Their name? Forum for Democracy.
10 years ago I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but compared to Forum the PVV is tolerant. All the fucking leaked anti semitism from them coupled with the regular anti Muslim shit those parties advocate is wild. Fuck them all.
As a leftist, the left has the same problem "The People's..." anything.
HOWEVER. It's real easy to make your decision if you just look at their actions. Where does Antifa show up? Where rights are being infringed upon and fighting the people infringing.
I'd say extremists and authoritarians on both sides do it. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is not democratic or a republic, and it doesn't belong to the people. But you're correct that we see it more on the right these days because the right has gotten so extreme lately.
Right, it’s always people with a bad cause claiming to be good, not people with a good cause claiming to represent something else
Only if you are sane.
Yes.
Exactly. Just like how North Korea is a Democratic People’s Republic.
A twitter user the other day said to me “if you want to see fascism look at Antifa”
I have pointed this out to numerous MAGA supporters….they don’t want to get it. They have been told a buzz word and they are going to use it even if they don’t have a clue what it means.
I can confirm that Republicans are my enemy.
Precisely because they're fascist.
It's that simple.
Such a simple explanation, yet so many of us have missed this point. Makes sense.
I don’t think that Antifa is at all fascist. However this is a bad argument to make. Saying that Antifa is not fascist because of the name is like saying that the Nazis were socialists because of their full name (National socialists).
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A lot of the conservative character is rooted in authoritarianism. Most of the "FREEDOM!" is really just veneer. They are drawn too authoritarian strong men. That's why MAGA supports fascist. Even moderate Republicans are easily swayed, as evidenced by their fascy radar not picking up on how utterly dangerous to democracy Ron DeSantis is.
It's what Republicans want and most Democrats already know. It's a known known at this point. I once told my mom, who's an unabashed, racist Trump supporter who lives in Florida, that I felt like Trump could be the worst president who ever lived but that it wouldn't matter because all his supporters care about is "owning the libs," and she was like, "Yeah!"
I mean...when I expressed my concern of how fascist the republican party was seeming to my republican parent, they said, "No, it's the Democrats who are fascist!"
okay. whatever.
Send them this:
Fourteen Points of Fascism
Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of \u201cneed.\u201d The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.
6. Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes the media are directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media are indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free _expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Aye, I'm aware of that. I've been trying to think of a "bite sized" way to present that. Beau of the Fifth Column has done it best, so far, but I think I'd either have to force them to watch that with me, or memorize it/go over it with them in my own voice.
This is the bite-sized presentation.
Basically a handy checklist—I can make you an infographic if you'd like
Here is another good (and recent one):
https://youtu.be/CU01J9sGoT4
Watch this:
THE STORY OF FASCISM by Rick Steves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1IVW6uqM0
It's terrific.
Beau is great. I’d send his videos to some of my old pals if I thought there was any hope for them.
So they've been fascists for at least 22 years
No, send them this. It might have more of an effect.