Fascism

I'm still breathing, if anyone is curious... Since my self-imposed exile for mental wellness and physical conditioning I have dropped about ten pounds that I could spare, bad part is, I am bulking up. Managed to get off the soda (pop) mostly. And well, I am starting to get my wits about me again. As of now I am starting to find myself back on Facebook, and arguing, as always, politics. I have some bad news for you all, fascism has arrived in our land, and its looking pretty grim.

Wait you ask, “Trump is a proto-fascist that we must stop.” I hear you all saying. Indeed, we must stop Trump, however, I ask you in return at what cost? Nope, still not a Trumpet, I really wish the guy would just go away already. But what I am seeing in many of my peers is equally as disturbing as what I have seen out of Trump and his ilk.

I see people who are willingly going to allow fascism to take root in our land. I see people resorting to bullying, insulting, shaming, and even threatening people who do not support their pet candidate. In much the same way that Trump is trying to paint a picture of Clinton being the boogieman, Clinton's supporters are doing the same, while telling others that they need to grow up, they need to be adults, constantly telling us how Trump is a fascist, he is this, or that. Yet, in their state, they have not seen what they are becoming, and what has been done.

Several years ago I say a meme that read, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying the bible.” That was fairly true, but while everyone is off trying to prevent that from happening, it came anyway. Instead of carrying a bible, it was chanting USA! USA! USA!. Rather than coming in guns blazing like an old western, it slipped from the shadows, and is hiding in plain sight, pointing the other direction saying, that is a fascist if ever I saw one.

Fascism by its very nature uses threats, it uses shame, it bullies people, it threatens them to act against it. Its a hell of a scheme if you think about it. It comes along and tells you, whispers in your ear, “The other guy is worse, just look at him, listen to him, do you really want to risk it?” And we nod our heads, because its sane, its reasonable, it makes sense. But it has drawn our attention away from the knife it is getting ready to stab us with.

If whispering in your ear doesn't work, you are threatened, belittled, cornered, or outright ostracized. Let me ask anyone reading this who is a Stein or Johnson supporter, how many relationships have been strained or outright ruined since this cycle began? How many since the USA lovefest known as the Democratic National Convention? How many of you have watched as others have been told to grow up, be an adult, asked if you want a fascist as president, or otherwise have been told that Trump will land us in a nuclear firestorm of biblical proportions...

See when you don't listen to the whisper in your ear, fascism turns to fear. It uses that fear to rope you into choosing it. Yes, Trump would be very bad, but being told you have to stop him at any cost, even if it means the possibility of less regulations on those who crippled our economy, that continued severe damage to our environment is alright, because we have to stop Trump, that my friends is the endgame, the ultimate end of fascism. It makes you feel you have no choice, but to accept a choice you might find atrocious.

As I have said.. Fascism uses fear and intimidation to worm its way in, but this is one of those two for one deals I have going. We are no longer a representative republic. We are a full blown oligarchy, a plutocracy. This presidential election is nothing more than the tried and try “Good Cop, Bad Cop” routine you see on Law and Order. The fact is, Trump is the bad cop, Clinton is the good cop, at least depending on your political ideology, or how you see things going for you and those around you. The truth of the matter is, they are both bad cops. Let me ask you all this, how many times was the environment brought up, what about police brutality, how about health care, social security, abortions, etc., even mentioned during the debate? All told Clinton and Trump spent what, six to ten hours on a debate stage, and how much did they really get into? Remember the debates are nothing more than job interviews.

Okay, so they have had their debates, we are supposed to know what they are all about at this stage of the election. Yet, with everything being piled on, from the Wikileaks releases, to the scandals, and god knows whatever else has been going on in the last month, people are becoming more insane about their stances. You have Senator John McCain saying that congress will not appoint a SCotUS justice when Clinton nominates, you have Trump screaming he will appoint a special prosecutor to look into Clinton's emails and doings while she was a government employee, and all the while we have tuned it all out. More and more of the insanity and dysfunction in Washington DC is spilling over, and we are numb to it. We don't want to see that Clinton and Trump are more similar than different, with Trump's comments about bought and sold politicians, and Clinton taking in boatloads of money from foreign countries and some of her leaked remarks to Wall Street banks, the same ones that dropped a nuclear warhead on our economy. They are both part of the powers that be, they are both part of the establishment so many are railing again. Yet here we are, ready to elect one of them to the highest, allegedly most powerful, yet politically impotent positions in the world.

You know, at this point, I am guilty of it as well. My mind is made up, I am going to do what I am going to do, and however it pans out, I am going to have to live with it. But I am not alone in this, whatever you do in that booth on November 8, 2016, you are going to have to live with. If Trump manages to pull a miracle out of his backside, should he do the nearly impossible to win, it is not the fault of those who voted third party. It is just the way the oligarchs wanted, people like us to pick the poison pills we swallow. To damn ourselves, while they laugh and do what they want, make more profit off our backs.