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Fellow Democrats:
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." That quote, widely, but incorrectly, attributed to novelist Sinclair Lewis, has been appearing in many social media memes with a picture of Donald Trump hugging a flag and holding up the so-called “Trump Bible”, sometimes with the misattributed quote somewhat altered, with the word “Bible” replacing the word “cross”. Although there is no real record of Lewis ever having said or written it either way, it’s pretty clear that he would’ve agreed with the sentiment.
In 1935, Lewis published his sixth, and most widely read, novel entitled It Can’t Happen Here. The story was written at the time when Hitler was coming to power in Germany while Mussolini and Franco were doing the same in Italy and Spain, respectively. Fascism was just starting to sweep across Europe, an event that was frightening some Americans, but most Americans were unaware of those European events, or if they were aware they believed that it couldn’t possibly happen in this country. Thus, the sentiment of “It can’t happen here” was more prevalent than the fear of it happening.
For those who misunderstand the meaning of fascism, there are four attributes to it that are almost always associated with it. It has nothing to do with socialism or communism, as conservatives often claim. It takes corporatism, extreme nationalism, religious dogma and authoritarianism and mixes them all together to support a totalitarian dictator. Of course, such a thing would be impossible in America, right?
Lewis’ novel, It Can’t Happen Here, is set in a fictional 1930s alternate America, where a pro-corporation con artist named Berzelius Windrip galvanizes a significant portion of the population behind his presidential campaign by ranting and railing against people of color, non-Christians, immigrants, welfare cheats, liberal judges and the liberal media, and convinces voters that ONLY HE can save the country from its self-destruction and return the country to its rightful greatness. Ultimately Windrip wins the Presidency. After he’s elected, he begins the suppression of all dissent, puts political opponents in concentration camps and becomes an absolute dictator. Of course, eventually Windrip is overthrown, but not before he completely destroys America.
So, let’s fast-forward 89 years to where the penultimate corporatist, Donald Trump, is campaigning on almost exactly the same platform as Windrip. He’s rallying fellow corporatists, religious zealots, and racists, largely using fake news outlets and supposedly Christian evangelists, both armed with “alternative facts”, in an attempt to return to power. He’s wrapped himself in the flag (in some photos, quite literally) and is now hawking special Bibles to raise money for his campaign and the plethora of legal defenses. The message of It Can’t Happen Here is that it really CAN happen here. More importantly, it’s becoming clear that it WILL happen here if we don’t act to stop it. The only way that it can be stopped is for people to VOTE in huge numbers to stop it.
Getting people to vote to stop the MAGA cult will take a LOT of work by a LOT of people! In Torrance County, that work starts this coming Saturday, at our monthly Second Saturday meeting. The meeting this month (details below) will be a working meeting, where we will map out our plans for the coming seven months. We need everyone to roll up their sleeves to counter the MAGA message of the modern incarnation of Berzelius Windrip and his followers. We start with planning, and follow that planning with working. We MUST get the message out to Democrats, independents and rational Republicans in Torrance County. We must NOT let it happen here!
Bill
DPTC Vice Chair
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