TrumpRepubloFascism: Review and Update, Continued
"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August 2018)
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"How do you spell ICE in German? GESTAPO." (S. Jonas, July 2025)
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Tom Paine, December 23, 1776
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. . . . [I]t would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."
For a further understanding of TrumpRepubloFascism, consider the following:
Trump is a figurehead (even though he thinks that he is the leader). The fascist movement is led by a triumvirate: Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, who was the lead designer of P2025 and is now the director of the Office of Management and Budget --- through which agency he and his minions have, in one way or another, their fingers on every single operation of the Federal government, and Kevin Roberts, the head of The Heritage Foundation. It was he who, during the 2024 Presidential election campaign, said that the country was "in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."
And oh yes, Vought is a self-defined "Christian Nationalist." Ignoring the first clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" (that is, right along with so many of the other parts of the Constitution he and his allies ignore), he believes that there should be no separation of church and state [presumably, that is, if the integrated church is one of which he approves].) The writings produced by the Heritage Foundation made (and make) clear that what they have in mind is a federal government dominated by the Executive Branch. And of course, with the Trump Presidency undertaking actions, from the beginning, like the creation of DOGE without the benefit of legislation (as discussed in my previous column) they have illustrated clearly just what they have in mind.
Turning to Trump, as he has demonstrated over the course of his whole life, he is a highly insecure person. He takes everything personally (e.g., his press conferences), from (indeed) his personal affairs to how he runs, or attempts to run, the Federal government. Taking everything personally has worked up to now for keeping the nation marching down the road to fascism. However, it may not continue to work, especially, since Trump is literally falling apart before our very eyes: falling asleep, swollen ankles, apparently gaining weight, increasing bouts of inconsistency (which could, of course, simply be his use of the "Magic 'Distracting' Trick" No. 2: "Look, over there.") More outbursts, hiding nothing (as far as we know) about his money-making (he increasingly treats the Presidency of the United States as his business [literally], as if he were still at the Trump Company). With the new Attorney General, Todd Blanche, Trump finally has someone in that job who plays the role that his little accountant, Allen Weisselberg, played for so many years at the Trump Organization. For Trump, Blanche is "my guy." Reflecting a long-time habit (which for a long-time has been very successful for him, and he continues on the triple-play which got him to the presidency in the first place --- Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia), as the economy continues to slide downwards and his poll numbers continue to sink, he continues to boast about great everything is.
Typical of how he is violating the Constitution is his declaration of war (actually just going to war without a particular Declaration) on Iran. (It should also be noted that he launched the attack on Iran while negotiations were underway. How reminiscent was that of Dec. 7, 1941, a date, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt described it when asking for a Declaration of War on Japan from the Congress, as provided for by the Constitution, "that shall live in infamy").
Further on the Administration's violations of the Constitution are the plans --- of which they are making no secret --- to steal the elections. Primary among them are the plans to suppress mail-in balloting, on the assumption that mail-in balloting (except in the case of such leaders of the Administration like Trump himself and Secretary of State Rubio who both use it) aids the Democrats. It is very well-known that if the Democrats re-take the House, multiple investigations, and, possibly, Impeachment Proceedings, would begin immediately. Of course, were that to be the case Trump and his top Cabinet members and other aides would likely just ignore the subpoenas, if they didn't attempt to go directly to their Supreme Court in the attempt to get them invalidated. And of course, Pretty Boy Roberts would be leading the attack on those subpoenas.
A few other notes on what we are facing here (well-known of course to every even casual observer of the current U.S. poltical scene):
*There is the rise of Christian Nationalism.
*There is the rise of domestic fascism (and this is, to repeat, the definition --- there are many --- that I use): "There is a single, all-powerful executive branch of government, in service of an industrial/financial/sales-and-marketing/communications ruling class, that controls, for the most part, the functions of production, distribution, finance, and exchange. There is no separation of the principal governmental powers: executive, legislative, and judicial. They are all held by the Executive branch. There is no independent judiciary/civil/criminal/justice system. There are no independent media. There is a single national ideology, based on some combination of racism, misogyny, religious bigotry, authoritarianism, homophobia, and xenophobia. There is a political party supporting the movement. There is a state propaganda machine using the big and little lie techniques. There may be a full-blown dictatorship, a charismatic leader, engagement in foreign wars, and the use of the mob/private armies to enforce governmental control." For the U.S. version, of course I have used the term "TrumpRepubloFascism" for quite some time.
At a time when the outcomes of Global Warming are becoming ever more apparent (see, e.g., the massive, massively fatal, flooding on the Nepal-Tibet border) as is well-known, from policies ranging from attempting to increase the use of fossil fuels to reducing the protections for forests, TRF policies actually enhance Global Warming.
Democracies have died/been-taken-over-at-the-governmental-level-by-fascism in a variety of ways, e.g.: by a vote in their Parliament (Germany, it was rigged, but there was a vote); at the end of a civil war (Spain); by the appointment of a dictator by an outgoing monarch (Hungary, 1920); by the appointment of a dictator by a monarch who stayed on through the whole of the fascist period (Italy); by a military coup-d'etat (Japan). Clearly, it could happen here by a rigged vote in a general election. What is going on with the TrumpRepubloFascists is a change in tactics, not long-term strategy (Click Here).
At the cost of the two very tragic deaths in Minneapolis (for which none of the ICE miscreants will ever be brought to account, at least not anytime soon) a national movement is finally beginning to arise to confront TrumpRepubloFascism (click here). But they, the enemy of U.S. Constitutional Democracy, are very well-organized and very well-funded. With their immediate goal being to overturn the legitimate results of the 2026 elections, about which they are making no bones, the danger of their victory still looms over our nation.
BUT, and it is a big but, it's not over yet. The Democratic Party is pulling itself together in ways that it has not done previously. In my column next week, I will propose an electoral and then governmental, over-arching policy for the Democratic Party with which they have not previously engaged: "The United Front for the Restoration and Preservation of Constitutional Democracy in the United States." Were that to occur, it would in my view, provide for the future of the United States as a democratic republic. As Winston Churchill famously said, following the great British World War II victory at El Alamein in North Africa, Nov. 1942, over the Nazi Field Marshall Irwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox:" "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."