(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . MAGA Supporters and our Centuries Long History of Race Based Fascism [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2022-09-19 Fascism may be close at hand. But it's not too late. Jake Angeli in his mountain man costume on January 6th. I’m not arguing that all MAGA have the same exact mind-set or pathology, but if you look at our own history, who's a prime scapegoat for all our ills? The poor of course, and more specifically the non-white sector of the poor, immigrants and Native Americans. Racial fear and hatred of the underclass of color and non-white immigrants and Native Peoples has to be a chief MAGA motivator and scapegoat for their perceived ills. Along with a false perception that these scapegoats are championed by the “Democrat liberals” and federal government. If you trace the time white working and lower middle-class whites started to defect in large numbers from the Democrats after WWII, it was when LBJ signed the Civil Rights and Voter Rights bill. The Republicans quickly discovered that they could benefit from racial politics without having to do anything at all for their voters. The Democrats seemed to throw in the towel in many Southern area after that. Which way America? Of course, there are other factors which lead to American fascism, but racism has to be a major factor given our long sordid history in this area. Indeed, African Americans and other groups such as Native Americans have always lived under fascist conditions. While Trump has sent coded racial messages of all sorts to his followers, he is careful to divert their racial fears and angers in the direction of Democrats, liberals, progressives and the federal government. His speeches are obviously designed with a good operational understanding of fascist propaganda and its psychology, which confirms my suspicions that Trump is fed most of his material, which he repeats on a daily basis in every speech. That goes for what other Republic fascists use as their talking points. Authoritarianism and Misogyny Also Enter the Picture The authoritarian tendencies in many Americans or any society for that matter that is patriarchal, are a close second in fascist recruitment portfolios. In America, it can be accelerated by attaching a racial aspect to the recruiting, giving the MAGA leaning crowd an illusionary sense of political power. Misogyny and its links to patriarchy also are something that fascism tries to incorporate into its messaging. These factors should be understood for the role they play in spawning fascism if we hope to have any chance of undermining it in America. It is vitally important to understand this relationship between vulnerability to fascist recruiting and racism/white supremacy/misogyny. Fascism has not yet reached critical mass. While they are dangerously close, the Republicans have not yet succeeded. Successful Politics Must Always be Linked to Mass Struggle The next candidate for fascist MAGA leader. And I’m not making the argument that there is a ready-made possibility of converting most MAGA enthusiasts. Isolating, exposing and demoralizing them is possible, however. Hopefully and not too late, it seems that the Democrats have moved in a more militant direction. What is not being considered yet, is how far to go and the importance of having a parallel mass struggle like which surfaced in 2020 in which black and white rank and file joined in anti-Trump and anti-racism/police violence Black Life Matters protests by the thousands all over America. That wave has receded, but protests against the repeal of abortion rights are taking off and that also has a dimension to it as it effects African American and poor whites disproportionally as the mid-term approaches. I fear however, that even if the Democrats do well, the Republicans are planning on pulling a Trump on recognizing the results. I hope that Biden and the Justice Department are ready for it. Biden’s failure to response adequately and consistently to Trump’s big lie in 2020 was a mistake of epic proportions. When you Have the Power Use it!! Senate and House leaders Schumer and Pelosi. If the Democratic leadership was guilty of anything following Biden’s important victory in 2020, it was not wielding the power they had to anywhere the degree it was necessary. As said, chief among them was the failure to respond to Trump’s big lie that he won the election. And to many other misdeeds of the Republicans. With help from a Republican leaning national media, the Republicans drowned them out and the national media savaged Biden whenever it had the opportunity. I can’t tell you exactly why the Democratic leadership failed to respond at the level that the situation required. And they will never tell us. I have my suspicions, however. And I think this may have been some notion of not throwing fuel on the fires started by the Republicans, followed in many cases to a fault. 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