For the next 15 days Trump is the concern because he has the power of the Presidency behind him and willing sycophants around him ready to say Yes to anything he suggests. After that, his power gone, he will remain a threat to the country because of the loyalty of his supporters who have, person by person, accepted the transformation of their hearts and become fascists.
Let me define the term. I do not mean Nazis. We are a country in the midst of a cold civil war, not a place like Germany in 1935 or ‘36 where the vast majority of the population were ardent supporters of Hitler, where mass arrests, concentration camps, torture, the demonization of Jews and the destruction of civil liberties had already been set in motion. We are not Third Reich Germany. Trump is not Hitler. His supporters are not Nazis (mostly).
First, fascist is a political term. It must be understood in a political and historical context.
By fascist I mean an individual who has decided that a large proportion of his or her countrymen are enemies, that they should be shut out of power by any means — gerrymandering, intimidation, voter suppression, the fixing of elections (“So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.”*) and if need be, violence.
By fascist I mean an individual who has chosen to give up independent thought in exchange for a profane faith, a faith that is inherently tyrannical. In political terms this can be framed by this equation: If we win, it is legitimate and lawful, but our losses are a result of theft, fraud and conspiracies. Our losses are violations of the law.
By fascist I mean an individual who believes he or she has been victimized repeatedly by the powerful or by groups of people unlike himself or herself, who believes in the enemies he is told are his enemies, and who therefore thirsts for vengeance which he confuses with justice.
By fascist I mean an individual who believes in the idea of “an Other”, the one labeled a threat, a demon, a less than human creature. For Trumpists in America that would include most black and brown people, most Chinese and Muslims, Democrats, anti-Trump Republicans, honest public officials, honest journalists, etc.
I used the metaphor of a ‘heart’ to describe this belief system. We are an emotional species. For example, if most of us see someone abuse a dog, we will react with immediate disgust and anger. There is no thought process, no lengthy analysis. One feels it first.
For most, a fascist heart is not a result of a careful reading of trends, a summation of facts, a parsing of gains and losses on a personal and public level. It is an embrace of a feeling, maybe a tribal feeling, an us against the world kind of thing, a reaction that is almost always xenophobic, nationalistic, given to spectacle, eager for conflict. Fascism must always have an enemy. It makes zero sense as a stand-alone political philosophy. If need be, it will invent enemies. With enemies, anything is possible, any defense may be permitted, any illegality, any atrocity justified. Fascism always has an existential point-of-view, an either/or dynamic: ‘either we win or we die’.
When the State passes oppressive laws or operates extra legally without fear of being checked, when it sets up the apparatus for mass arrests, for concentration camps, for the elimination of free elections, when it begins to ‘disappear’ dissidents or members of the opposition, then fascism has reached its full blossoming. We aren’t there … yet, but we are edging closer, especially now with the attempt by many Republicans in aid of Trump to throw out a free and fair election which he lost.
I do not know what makes someone become a fascist, give up independent thought, embrace policies of purposeful cruelty, deny evidence, embrace frauds as saviors. I don’t know how the transformation happens, how the poison is initially accepted, why some choose to drink the cup and others are repelled by it. I have seen it happen to friends and neighbors. The process by which it occurs remains incomprehensible to me, but I do know that seventy four million Americans chose it.
Unless something even crazier occurs, Trump will be gone in 15 days. Something crazier …. Maybe he directs US Marshals to arrest Biden. Maybe he simply declares the election null, its results voided. Maybe, as in Becket, he says to his minions, “Who will rid me of this troublesome politician?” I’m no longer sure what qualifies as paranoia as opposed to a reasonable caution. Whatever occurs, those 74 million will be with us, the ones who said with their vote, “Yes, I embrace a fascist heart, but I’ll just call it American”.
*Trump in his phone call to Raffensperger
