Let's talk about the "F-Word." I am not thinking about the "F-Word" that rhymes with "Luck." I am thinking about the "F-Word" that more or less rhymes with "Desist."
The word "fascist" is being thrown around quite freely in our current political debates and discussions. In general, "Democrats," and "liberals," and "progressives" are being heard to complain that "Republicans," or "MAGA Republicans," or our current president and his political supporters, are "fascists."
Here, for instance, is a quote from a substack blog published by Lucian K. Truscott IV, with this particular posting titled, "Staying sane in a hurricane."
When Donald Trump appeared on a national television program and told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker that he does not know whether he is compelled as president to uphold the Constitution, America was hit with an unforeseen and unprecedented question: Just how far gone are we as a country?
The answer is, pretty far.
To be certain, it didn’t begin with this man who is at least willing to state out loud his utterly fascist leanings and it is not the first time we have been in this much trouble. We have been in the midst of a hurricane of lawlessness for more than 50 years, going back at least to the Watergate scandal, when another Republican president, Richard Nixon, attempted to steal an election by ordering the break in and bugging of the opposition party, the Democrats, who were in the midst of running a candidate, George McGovern, against him for the presidency (emphasis added).
Here is another example, this one from a blog published by Steve Schmidt, and titled, "When freedom meets fascism."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney landed at Joint Base Andrews last evening. He will meet with Trump later today.
The American fascist in the White House is surrounded by a team of incompetents, extremists, sycophants and degenerates that mark all fascist regimes. The American regime is no different.
The American economy is weakening every day. Soon the shock wave of the supply chain collapse will be fully felt.
The Great Recession of 2008-2009 and the Covid debacle will pale by comparison.
The same people who have vandalized the Canadian-American relationship are the same nihilists who are burning down the economy (emphasis added).
I would like to suggest that using the "F-Word," when we talk about and debate American politics today, is a practice to be avoided. Calling those with whom you disagree "fascists" is an argumentative technique that is properly denoted as "name calling." This is a kind of political argumentation that is not very persuasive to the "opponents" with whom you might think yourself to be arguing. It is, rather than an argument aimed at persuasion, an argument that seeks to consolidate one's own supporters, by putting opponents into a category that no reasonable person could ever accept. It is, thus, a way to "polarize," not "persuade."
If, in thinking about our politics, we admit that we are "all in this together," as I often claim (and as I think is indubitably true), then we should be attempting to persuade opponents to change their ideas, and their actions. Helping to solidify the opposition by villifying them is contraindicated.
The political actions taken by our current president and his supporters - and the policies they advance - are, in my estimation, massively misdirected, and are hugely destructive of our ability, as a nation, to meet the manifold challenges we must confront. They are, quite simply, wrong, in many, many cases.
Let's take on the wrong-headed policies of our president, and his supporters, both in and out of Congress, by attacking his actions and his policies on the merits, and not spend our time attacking as "fascists" the people who are professing the opinions and taking the actions with which we disagree.
This is my thought for the day (as I think about that "F-Word").
Image Credit:
Gary A. Patton personal image
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