Scylla and Charybdis

Perhaps somewhat strange for a political blog,  I want to tell you a little about Greek mythology, specifically Homer’s Odyssey. The Odyssey follows Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, on his journey home after the Trojan War. At one point, he is warned by the minor Goddess Circe that to get home he must sail past two monsters in the Strait of Messina. One hides in a “fog-bound cavern” halfway up a cliff-side: “Here Scylla bellows from the dire abodes; tremendous pest, abhorred by man and Gods!” She is described as having twelve feet and six heads; “Her jaws grin dreadful with three rows of teeth; jaggy they stand, the gaping den of death.” The other monster hides on the other side of the strait below a rock with a fig tree on top. Three times a day Charybdis sucks down (and vomits back up) the water, creating a whirlpool that devours any ships that get caught in it. Circe tells Odysseus that to survive he “must hug the Scylla side.” “’Tis better six to lose, than all to die,” and if caught in the whirlpool, “Poseidon himself could not save you.” Odysseus asks if there is no way to save his crew by fighting back: “Goddess divine, declare, is the foul fiend from human vengeance freed? Or, if I rise in arms, can Scylla bleed?” Circe replies, “Are new toils and war thy dire delight? Will martial flames for ever fire thy mind, and never be to heaven resigned? How vain thy efforts to avenge the wrong! Deathless the pest! Impenetrably strong! Furious and fell, tremendous to behold! Even with a look she withers all the bold! She mocks the weak attempts of human might; Oh fly [meaning “flee”] her rage! Thy conquest is thy flight. If but to seize thy arms thou make delay, again thy fury vindicates her pray.” Unable to avoid both creatures, Odysseus swiftly sails past Scylla’s cavern, she strikes just when everyone is looking at Charybdis’ whirlpool in the distance: “Charybdis fills the deep with storms. When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves, the rough rock roars, tumultuous boil the waves; they toss, they foam, a wild confusion raise, like waters bubbling over the fiery blaze. Eternal mists obscure the aerial plane, and high above the rock she spouts the main; when in her gulfs the rushing sea subsides, she drains the ocean with refluent tides; the rock re-bellows with a thundering sound; deep, wondrous deep, below appears the ground. “Struck with despair, with trembling hearts we viewed the yawning dungeon, and the trembling flood; when lo! Fierce Scylla stooped to seize her pray, stretched her dire jaws, and swept six men away. Chiefs of renown! Loud-echoing shrieks arise; I turn, and view them quivering in the skies; they call, and aid with outstretched arms implore; in vain they call! Those arms are stretched no more. […] In the wide dungeon she devours her food, and the flesh trembles while she churns the blood. Worn as I am with griefs, with care decayed, I never scene so dire surveyed! My shivering blood, congealed, forgot to flow; aghast I stood, a monument of woe! Now from the rocks the rapid vessel flies, and the hoarse din like distant thunder dies; to Sol’s bright isle our voyage we pursue, and now the glittering mountains rise to view.” Because of Homer’s Odyssey, “Trapped between Scylla and Charybdis” became a popular idiom—you can find it in English dictionaries. That brings us to our main topic: the 2024 presidential elections in the United States. I would like to put two things into perspective: Donald Trump is indeed, as his most severe critics claim, a dire threat to human life. And Kamala Harris, while the lesser  of two evils, remains a danger that we need to work to mitigate. Let’s begin with Donald Trump and the Republican Party. There has been a lot of debate among scholars on whether or not Donald Trump is a fascist. Experts on Nazism and fascism, like historian Richard Evans, point out clear differences between the type of authoritarianism of the present-day Republican Party and of the historic right-wing movements in Germany and Italy during the early 20th century. “Fascists put every citizen into uniform, drilled the people into uniformity and obedience in training camps, and subordinated private life, business companies, and institutions of all kinds to the state,” Evans said. “The classic fascist mass consisted of endless marching columns of identically uniformed men; today’s populist mass, as in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021, consist of thousands of informally and in some cases eccentrically attired individuals heaving about in a chaotic heap, violent and aggressive but not organized in any military way. The problem with calling today’s right populism ‘fascist’ is that it’s fighting today’s battles with the weapons of the 1920s and 1930s. Time has moved on since then.” This is a very insightful analysis (though I disagree on some points, I don’t believe Trump supporters are “opposed to militarism” for example, given that they fetishize the armed forces). Others, like Noam Chomsky or Isabel Hull, argue that Trump is “not principled enough to be a fascist,” as Hull put it. Chomsky said that Trump’s “only ideology is ‘Me.’” Other historians do think the label of fascism is appropriate. Professor Robert Paxton for instance, specializing in Nazi-occupied Europe, wrote after January 6th that the “label now seems not just acceptable but necessary.” It seemed appropriate to me, on election day, to explain why I use the fascist label for the Republican Party. While the experts I quoted above are correct, I believe the fascist label should serve a purpose: namely, to describe a very specific form of authoritarianism. I believe that the Republicans, though of course distinct in important ways from classical fascist regimes, nevertheless merit the word. To better understand the warning signs of fascism, Italian philosopher Umberto Eco—who grew up in Mussolini’s Italy—wrote an essay in 1995 in which he identified 14 universal characteristics of fascist ideology (that he called Ur-Fascism). On top of that, in 2003 an American author, Laurence Britt, studied several fascist regimes and also identified another 14 characteristics they all shared in common. Let’s go over them both, all 28 characteristics put together, starting with Umberto Eco, and see if they apply to Donald Trump’s Republican Party. One thing I’ll note, I’ll be interpreting these rather liberally to make a point: Republicans can be credibly called fascists colloquially. The academic definition remains up for discussion. 1. The cult of tradition. “There can be no advancement of learning. Truth has been already spelled out once and for all, and we can only keep interpreting its obscure message. One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers.” Today’s Republican Party is obsessed with “traditional family values,” which is to say pro-patriarchy and anti-gay. The Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement is dominated by a narrow interpretation of the Bible. (the slogan itself, Make America Great Again, captures a yearning for a return to tradition.) You can’t utter the phrase happy holidays without Fox News frantically condemning the “war on Christmas,” claiming that liberals are trying to “cancel” Christmas. A recent Kamala Harris campaign ad reminded women that they can vote for Harris without telling their husbands. Conservatives have been furious that Democrats are encouraging women to be disobedient to their husbands (naturally they do not consider the husbands to be betraying their wives by voting for an anti-abortion candidate). One Fox News anchor likened the idea of his wife voting for Kamala Harris to her having an extramarital affair. Also, Republican candidates who employ anti-transgender rhetoric usually lose their elections—the issue has no political salience, and most Americans think being “woke” is a positive thing—yet Republicans still run on an anti-trans message, because they can’t accept an upset in traditional gender roles. I could go on but I think this suffices to check the box. 2. Rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity.” The Enlightenment championed reason as the primary method for progress—and notions such as the separation between church and state, or the idea that the government should derive its legitimacy from the consent of the governed rather than from God, came from the Age of Reason. Republicans are blatantly against this, one Republican representative claimed that “The church is supposed to direct the government.” About the MAGA movement, the New York Times observed: “Many dismiss the historic American principle of the separation between church and state. They say they do not advocate a theocracy, but argue for a foundational role for their faith in government. Their rise coincides with significant backing among like-minded grass-roots supporters, especially as some voters and politicians blend their Christian faith with election fraud conspiracy theories, Qanon ideology, gun rights and lingering anger over Covid-related restrictions. Their presence reveals a fringe pushing into the mainstream.” Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barret, once told a graduating class of law students, “Keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end … that end is building the kingdom of God.” The Supreme Court has already weakened the separation between church and state in several cases. After one such case, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissenting opinion: “This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state.” The Republicans also broadly deny climate science. One Republican lawmaker once said that climate change can’t be real because God told Noah there wouldn’t be another flood. 3. The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.” What’s that? Immigrants are coming here? Let’s build a wall to keep them out! Uh, Donald? What? Immigrants are mainly coming here through regular ports of entry, meaning they enter through the airport and just overstay their visas. BUILD THE WALL! BUILD THE WALL! Are you listening to me? Immigrants are bringing in fentanyl! Those bastards! Actually, well over ninety percent of fentanyl is smuggled into the country by US citizens since they won’t be searched at the border, and only 0.02 percent is smuggled in by immigrants. EVERYBODY! IMMIGRANTS ARE SMUGGLING IN FENTANYL! WE MUST DEPORT THEM! 4. Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge. For Ur-Fascism, disagreement is treason.” Republicans that don’t sing the Party’s Hosanna are dismissed as “RINOs.” Meaning “Republican In Name Only.” When Liz Cheney, an arch-conservative and Trump loyalist, refused to say that the election was stolen, she was ousted from the party. When Trump publicly blamed Mike Pence for not contesting the election results, the January 6th mob started chanting “Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!” 5. Rejection of diversity. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.” Do I even need to cite examples? Republicans have been using “DEI” (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) as a slur. When a Boeing airplane crashed, prominent conservatives and Republicans claimed the plane was built by “DEI hires”—a not-so-subtle way of saying the plane crashed because it was built by Black people. Republicans are staunchly anti- immigration—even holding up placards during the Republican National Convention saying “MASS DEPORTATION NOW!” And they are also anti-gay and anti-trans. Their hatred is so deeply entrenched that hating specific people has almost become their core identity—that which links them together. 6. Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.” There has been a class war waged against the poor. That much is true. But to disguise this war, people must be convinced to punch down instead of up. Rather than blaming the rich, the people who choose to pay you poverty wages, people are convinced that immigrants are coming for your jobs! In Nazi Germany, the Jews were blamed, instead of the industrialists. The panic around DEI is also a feature of this. There is also a lot of fear-mongering in right-wing circles about white people being “replaced.” Many argue that “they” are doing it on purpose—“they” are bringing in Muslim, African, and Hispanic immigrants to undermine “Western culture” and destroy the United States. This is called “the great replacement theory.” Trump recently talked about the birthrate among Hispanic immigrants and warned that they will take over the country. 7. Obsession with a plot. “The only ones who can provide an identity to the nation are its enemies. Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia. But the plot must also come from the inside.” They stole the election! They are replacing us with immigrants! Climate change is a hoax! Trump’s felony convictions are a “fake indictment” plot orchestrated by the Democrats. Trump recently called high-ranking Democrats, such as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, “the enemy within.” Everybody is constantly out to get them. 8. The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.” This one is obvious to observe. The “radical left lunatics,” as Trump calls us, are both engaged in a wickedly clever plot to undermine traditional Western values and destroy democracy and are also, according to Trump, “Low IQ individuals” who are laughably and dangerously incompetent—especially compared to the awe-inspiring genius of Donald Trump. “Trust me, I’m like a smart person,” he once so eloquently assured us. Very impressive that a bunch of overly sensitive “snowflakes” managed to concoct such a devious plot of domestic subversion that even Donald Trump, the “very stable genius,” couldn’t foil it. 9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “Life is permanent warfare. This, however, brings about an Armageddon complex. Since enemies have to be defeated, there must be a final battle, after which the movement will have control of the world. But such a ‘final solution’ implies a further era of peace, a Golden Age, which contradicts the principle of permanent war. No fascist leader has ever succeeded in solving this predicament.” While Trump is not contemplating a “final solution” in the Nazi sense (thankfully), the embattled sentiment has been overtly stated numerous times. “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said. The final battle has also been hinted at multiple times. The most recent goal is this election: “Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore—four more years, you know what, it’ll be fixed it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians,” Trump told a crowd of Republicans last July. In 2018, while Trump was president, after learning that Chinese President Xi Jinping became president for life, Trump said, “He’s now president for life. … I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.” 10. Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology, … force is based upon the weakness of the masses; they are so weak as to need and deserve a ruler. … This reinforces the sense of mass elitism.” This has been a feature of Republican politics since at least the ‘80s. Demonizing the poor, the homeless, those people who need help and end up “leeching” off the state. Ann Coulter, a Fox News host, once said that “welfare [programs] will create generations of utterly irresponsible animals.” Another Republican once said about poor people on government assistance, “They’re [like] raccoons. They’re not stupid, they’re gonna take—they’re gonna do the easy way if we make it easy for them. Just like welfare recipients all across America.” The Republican Party is also where the phrase “the makers and the takers” comes from (to describe rich business owners and the poor workers they exploit). One Republican Senator argued against helping the poor by saying, “I have a rough time wanting to spend billions and billions and trillions of dollars to help people who won’t help themselves.” 11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In every mythology, the hero is an exceptional being, but in Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm.” Trump’s campaign rhetoric is often couched in the language of resistance: “I’m bypassing the lying FAKE NEWS media and delivering a message directly to THE PEOPLE,” read one campaign e-mail from earlier this year, after Trump had appeared in court. “I’m DONE with the election interference, Joe Biden & the LIARS in the media can spread LIES LIES LIES—all while I’m stuck in court.” Just by being part of the Trump movement (or perhaps Qanon), you become a warrior fighting for the cause. 12. Machismo. “Since both permanent war and heroism are difficult games to play, the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters. This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons—doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.” The disdain for women permeates the GOP. Not only is Trump a raging misogynist himself (do I need to remind you of the “grab them by the pussy” comment?), the anti-abortion legislation coming from Republican states is also a testament to chauvinism. At its core, there is a distrust of women. Abortions in the third trimester never happen unless medically necessary—and yet, Republicans argue that some women might decide on a whim to get an abortion eight months into their pregnancy. Republicans do not trust women to be in charge of their bodies. Nor do they want their wives to be “disobedient,” as I mentioned above. The Republican base is also rife with what are called “incels” (short for “involuntary celibate”), men, usually young men, who blame feminism for their lack of intimate partner. This is also nothing new: the conservative Republican radio host Rush Limbaugh popularized the term “feminazi” to describe women that didn’t adhere to traditional family values. As mentioned several times already, the severe levels of trans- and queer-phobia in the Republican Party are also downright pathological. Finally, the bravado endemic to the right-wing gun culture in the United States is also pervasive. Private gun manufacturers even advertise their products by appealing to masculinity; Remington, for example, advertised their Bushmaster rifle with a poster that said, “Consider your man card reissued.” “What is a man card?” the ad said, “In a world of rapidly depleting testosterone, the Bushmaster Man Card declares and confirms that you are a Man’s Man, the last of a dying breed, with all the rights and privileges duly afforded. You carry it in your wallet, ready to show at a moment’s notice, instantly ending the discussion for any who would doubt you.” Purchasers of the rifle did receive their “man card,” which read, “The bearer of this card has averted complete humiliation. But just barely. Today, he is a man. Fully entitled to all the rights and privileges duly afforded. To belch without apology. To leave the seat up without shame. And yet, the world is watching. If he doesn’t fully man-up and fast, this card and this man-status will go the way of the Metrosexual and surrender to the latte. The way is before you. Bushmaster.” Some other ads, like those from Sig Sauer (their tagline is “when it counts”) stress a military theme: “Trusted by elite military personnel. Upgraded for you.” Another Remington ad features a poster reading: “Attention Politicians. Over 5,000,000 sold. The world’s largest army ain’t in China.” Another ad reads, “A violent criminal is breaking down your front door. Can you afford to be UNARMED?” Ads also use sexual allure to sell guns. One ad features a sexy bounty hunter with the text “wanted for fun,” above the gun’s details. Another shows a scantily clad woman with an unbuttoned shirt and loose American-flag-colored tie—moved to one side so we can view her full cleavage—holding a gun. “Want to see my… m88?” the ad says. The United States is the only country on earth where elected representatives pose with their entire families in front of a Christmas tree, wearing colorful Christmas sweaters, and holding big military assault weapons for the family photo. 13. Selective Populism. “The People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter.” Trump does this, I think almost out of habit. The Republicans represent the will of the people, whereas the Democrats are “the enemy within,” to use Trump’s phrase. While the majority of Americans are opposed to Trump’s policies—such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Trump claims, nevertheless, that it was the will of the people. Even though those people are in the minority. It reminds me of everyone’s favorite line from Animal Farm: “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.” 14. Fascists use uneducated language. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.” One example of this from Nazi Germany is the word Gestapo, which is a reduction of Geheime Staatspolizei (literal translation: Secret State-police). Despite Trump’s claim that “I know words, I have the best words,” his vocabulary is childlike. “Little Rocket Man,” “Failing New York Times,” “RonDesanctimonious,” and “Crooked Hillary,” all suffice as examples here. But even more important is Trump’s habit of reducing political issues to slogans; “Lock her up!” “Build the wall!” “Stop the steal!” Furthermore, in the spirit of limiting “the instruments for complex and critical reasoning,” I will always remember Trump’s remark, “I love the poorly educated.” 15. Powerful and continuing displays of nationalism. “From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign.” Trump is an admitted nationalist. “You know, they have a word, it sort of became old fashioned, it’s called a nationalist. And I say, ‘Really, we’re not supposed to use that word?’ You know what, I am—I’m a nationalist, okay. I’m a nationalist,” Trump said in 2018. The American flag is always omnipresent at Trump rallies (he sometimes even hugs it). During his inaugural address, Trump proclaimed, “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first.” Add in anti-immigrant hate-mongering and we can check this box. 16. Disdain for the importance of human rights. “The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted.” Think of separating families at the southern border, as a way to deter asylum seekers. Think of kids in cages. Or think of Trump saying, “The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.” Or think of Trump advocating for torture, saying “We have to fight fire with fire.” 17. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. “The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people’s attention from other problems, to shift blame for failures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice—relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite ‘spontaneous’ acts against the targeted scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and ‘terrorists.’” Think of the Black Lives Matter protests, and how Trump responded by ordering the National Guard to “dominate the streets.” Trying to intimidate protesters by having unidentifiable men in fatigues take away peaceful demonstrators in unmarked vehicles (before later releasing them since they had committed no crime). Trump tweeted, “The Radical Left Democrats … will destroy our country as we know it.” He tweeted again: “ANTIFA is a fascist terror-group committed to bringing fascism to the United States.” He tweeted again: “The terrorists burn and pillage our cities, and they think it is just wonderful.” He tweeted again: “These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!” He tweeted again: “These are not acts of peaceful protests. These are acts of domestic terror.” He tweeted again: “the problem is the arsonists, looters, criminals, and anarchists, wanting to destroy … our country.” He tweeted again: “Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats.” And on and on it goes. I could do this for a week straight. Even beyond this, Trump’s campaigns have always been fueled by hate and aggrievement. Identification of enemies is absolutely a unifying cause for the modern GOP. Immigrants, Muslims, gay and trans people, leftists, and even a migrant caravan used to distract people during the midterms. 18. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. “Ruling elites always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources was allocated to the military, even when domestic needs were acute. The military was seen as an expression of nationalism, and was used whenever possible to assert national goals, intimidate other nations, and increase the power and prestige of the ruling elite.” Trump loved to brag about “his” generals. His supporters also fetishize the armed forces. On January 6th, for example, take a look at the clothes many of them are wearing or the gear they’re carrying, it’s green combat fatigues with patches, like the military. The most popular types of guns they like to buy are those used by the military—and those guns are advertised accordingly. Much of Trump’s rhetoric is about other countries no longer respecting us. They don’t respect Biden, Trump claims, because he’s weak. But they respect Donald Trump because they fear him, or so the story goes. Putin, likewise, “never would have invaded Ukraine if I were president,” Trump has frequently claimed. Trump’s stated reason is that Putin feared and respected him. 19. Rampant sexism. “Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second- class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also homophobic. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses.” When Trump was at his most presentable, he talked about wanting to “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.” And of course, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the first time in US history that a right previously enjoyed by its population was overturned, has been the culmination of decades of hard work by the Republican Party. The Grand Old Party is very much a boys’ club. 20. A controlled mass media. “Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regime’s excesses.” Many people might not tick this box. The United States has, after all, a relatively free press (let’s forget about the institutional problems with said press for now). But, I would argue that the Republicans have their own tightly controlled state media. Fox News is the flagship. Last year, due to a lawsuit, a lot of internal Fox News e-mails and text messages were released to the public; it provided insight into what the network’s employees (including well-known anchors) really thought about the coverage they put on. Tucker Carlson, for instance, texted to a fellow employee: “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights.” “I truly can’t wait,” he added. “I want nothing more,” the still-anonymous Fox News employee replied. “I hate him passionately,” Tucker said. “I can’t handle much more of this.” Later he added, “He was pushing voting fraud stuff. … At this point, Trump and Lin and Powell have so discredited their own case, and the rest of us to some extent, that it’s infuriating. Absolutely enrages me.” After Sydney Powell appeared on Fox News to talk about voter fraud—claims that no one at Fox challenged—Tucker privately wrote, “Sidney Powell is lying. Fucking bitch.” Prominent Fox News host Laura Ingraham also complained about Sidney Powell to Tucker Carlson: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy [Giuliani].” “It’s unbelievably offensive to me,” Carlson responded, “Our viewers are good people and they believe it.” Ingraham told Carlson, “No serious lawyer could believe what they were saying.” Carlson later texted Powell directly: “You keep telling our viewers that millions of votes were changed by the software. I hope you will prove that very soon. You’ve convinced them that Trump will win. If you don’t have conclusive evidence of fraud at that scale, it’s a cruel and reckless thing to keep saying.” Two Fox News executives, Ron Mitchell and Tommy Firth, also texted each other: “This dominion shit is going to give me a fucking aneurysm—as many times as I’ve told Laura it’s bs, she sees shit posters and trump [sic] tweeting about it.” The other executive agreed the claims were “BS,” writing, “This is the Bill Gates/microchip angle to voter fraud.” The network’s Vice President, Bill Sammon, wrote to Chris Stirewalt, an on-air reporter: “More than 20 minutes into our flagship evening news broadcast and we’re still focused solely on supposed election fraud—a month after the election. It’s remarkable how weak ratings makes [sic] good journalists do bad things.” Stirewalt agreed: “It’s a real mess.” He added, “What I see us doing is losing the silent majority of viewers as we chase the nuts off a cliff.” Throughout the period that these messages were written, Fox News kept publicly insisting that the election was doubtlessly stolen. While there are more e-mails, I think I made my point sufficiently. Fox News was designed from the beginning, by Roger Ailes, a Republican media consultant for presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, after being frustrated by critical media, as a broadcasting counter-weight that would not be critical of established right-wing power. Ailes’ plan was “riling up the crazies” in society. Journalist Gabriel Sherman, who wrote a book about Ailes and Fox News, explained that “The viewers Ailes was trying to attract did not want television to tell them what happened in the world. They wanted television to tell them how to think about what happened in the world—the news itself would be secondary.” One more thing I’ll mention about Donald Trump specifically, after calling the press the “enemy of the people,” the White House press office banned outlets like the Guardian, the New York Times, Politico, CNN, BuzzFeed, the BBC, and others from attending a press briefing. The only outlets allowed were right-wing; Fox News, Breitbart News, the One America News Network, and the Washington Times. Breitbart reporters also frequently received special treatment. This network of tightly controlled, demonstrably dishonest, and propagandistic, right-wing “news” outlets, constitute, in my opinion, a controlled mass media—albeit within a political system of relative media freedom. The right-wing echo chambers have the same effect as state-controlled media in fascist regimes. 21. Obsession with national security. “Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. … questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous.” Americans are, in general, obsessed with national security. The United States is one of the most paranoid and frightened countries on earth. But to focus on Donald Trump: I already mentioned Trump’s deployment of the National Guard against peaceful demonstrators—and even beyond that, Trump’s Muslim ban also qualifies as an expression of his national security obsession. Fear of the other was a persistent feature of the Trump presidency. 22. Religion and ruling elite tied together. “Most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the ‘godless.’ A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.” Most Republicans are Christian fundamentalists and have been for years. During the 1980s, conservative Christians became worried about the influence of rock music, believing rock and roll to be a recruiting tool for Satan—part of the larger “Satanic Panic” that swept across right-wing circles. Republicans tried to ban rock music (among other things). Even the Beach Boys were briefly banned. All this led the musician Frank Zappa—after being asked “What is their goal, do you think?” by Larry King on CNN—to say, “Their goal is to take over the United States the same way the Ayatollah took over Iran.” Something else happened during the Reagan years that I’ll let the great comedian George Carlin explain: “The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, decided all by itself that radio and television were the only two parts of American life not protected by the free speech provisions of the First Amendment to the Constitution. I’d like to repeat that because it sounds vaguely important! The FCC—an appointed body, not elected, answerable only to the president—decided on its own that radio and television were the only two parts of American life not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Why did they decide that? Because they got a letter from a minister from Mississippi! A Reverend Donald Wildman in Mississippi heard something on the radio that he didn’t like. Well, Reverend, did anyone ever tell you there are two KNOBS on the radio? Two. Knobs. On the radio. Of course, I’m sure the reverend isn’t that comfortable with anything that has two knobs on it. … One of them turns the radio off, and the other one [slaps his head] changes the station! Imagine that reverend, you can actually change the station! It’s called freedom of choice, and it’s one of the principles this country was founded upon. Maybe look it up in the library, reverend, if you have any of them left when you’ve finished burning all the books.” The modern Republican party is still deeply entrenched in Christian fundamentalism. The Republican speaker of the house, for example, is a self-avowed Christian fundamentalist. He once explained that he and his son both have an app installed on their phone that takes a screenshot whenever the app suspects the user might be looking at something… tempting. The app then sends those pictures to the other linked user, and so, father and son check on each other to make sure neither is looking at pornography. Furthermore, one of Trump’s favorite Republicans in Congress, who is frequently invited to speak at Trump rallies, Marjorie Taylor Greene, said in 2022: “We need to be the party of nationalism and I’m a Christian, and I say it proudly, we should be Christian nationalists.” She later doubled down: “I have no problem saying I’m a Christian nationalist, and I think that’s an identity that we should embrace.” She repeated that several more times. “I also call myself a Christian nationalist—and that’s not a bad word,” she reiterated. And Mike Pence’s favorite line is, “I’m a Christian, a conservatice, and a Republican, in that order.” 23. Power and corporations are protected. “The ability of large corporations to operate in relative freedom was not compromised. … Members of the economic elite were often pampered by the political elite to ensure a continued mutuality of interests.” For the record, most experts on fascism would clarify that fascism not so much “protects,” but blends corporate and political power. The reason for this is that corporations have authoritarian power structures—you take orders from above and maybe give them to those below you. If government functions are privatized, it further solidifies the ruling class’ control over these institutions. Think of a private prison industry or a private military contractor. The United States certainly has this problem. And while the Republicans are the driving force behind this, the Democrats (as with many points on this list) are not much better. Beyond the privatization, Trump also gave the richest people in the country extraordinary tax breaks (that the Democrats have kept in place). 24. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. “Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it was inevitably crushed or made powerless. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt. Under some regimes, being poor was considered akin to a vice.” It would take too long to chronicle the history of violent labor suppression in the United States, but it’s a sordid history. I’ve mentioned the decades-long demonization of the poor. I’ll mention some Trump-specific examples: two agencies in the United States deal with unions—one scrutinizes unions, the other scrutinizes the companies that have unions to make sure these companies are not undermining the unions—the agency that scrutinizes unions had their budget increased, the one that scrutinizes companies had their budget slashed. Also, earlier this year on the campaign trail, Trump had a conversation with Elon Musk, during which they laughed about firing workers who go on strike—something that is illegal. “You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I look at what you do. … They go on strike and you say, ‘That’s okay. You’re all gone.’” “Yeah,” replied Musk while laughing. Furthermore, not a single Republican voted for the recent 2021 PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize), which would have expanded workers’ rights and further protected unions—while it passed the Democrat-controlled House, it is stuck in the Republican-controlled Senate. It is stuck in filibuster hell. In Republican purgatory. In Senate limbo. Blocked by Republicans. 25. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. “Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. … To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist.” Again, we don’t have time to go over the entire history of the Republican assault on education, but it’s been happening. Even after natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, conservatives like Milton Friedman saw an opportunity: “Most New Orleans schools are in ruins,” he said. “As are the homes of the children who have to attend them. … This is a tragedy. It is also an opportunity.” Conservatives ensured that public schools in New Orleans would not be rebuilt, instead, the government would give “vouchers” to hurricane victims so that their children could attend private schools. Schools that taught from private curricula, exulting the wonderfulness of free markets and capitalism. There has also been a consorted Republican effort to ban schools from teaching climate change in multiple states. Not all have been successful, thankfully. Republican lawmakers have tried to ban climate science from classrooms in Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Utah. In Ohio, Republicans proposed a bill that would teach “both sides” of climate science. Then there was the panic over critical race theory. Republicans asserted, falsely, that critical race theory was being taught everywhere, including in kindergartens. Trump called it a “Marxist doctrine,” even though he wouldn’t know Marxism if it bit him in the ass. Critical race theory is only taught in higher education by civil- rights scholars, to examine the legal and cultural mechanisms of institutional racism. Florida passed legislation banning the teaching of critical race theory—by making it illegal to make white students feel “discomfort” or “guilt.” 26. Obsession with crime and punishment. “Most of these regimes maintained Draconian systems of criminal justice with huge prison populations. The police were often glorified and had almost unchecked power, leading to rampant abuse. … Fear, and hatred, of criminals of ‘traitors’ was often promoted among the population as an excuse for more police power.” I think this one mostly speaks for itself. The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Republicans are also very pro-police. You can find “thin blue line” merchandise at virtually any Trump rally. Trump also once said that police shouldn’t put their hands above a handcuffed suspect’s head when putting them inside a car and that cops should feel free to just bang a suspect’s head against a car roof intentionally. Additionally, Trump is also very pro-death penalty. And while crime statistics prove that crime is declining, Trump continues to peddle fear about a nonexistent migrant crime wave—something he dubbed “Bigrant crime” (a portmanteau of Biden and migrant). 27. Rampant cronyism and corruption. “Those in business circles and close to the power elite often used their position to enrich themselves. This corruption worked both ways; the power elite would receive financial gifts and property from the economic elite, who in turn would gain the benefit of government favoritism.” To prevent this conflict of interest, US presidents usually sever business ties—Jimmy Carter even had to sell his small peanut farm. Although this isn’t foolproof, Dick Cheney for instance, profited from the revolving door between government and business. While Secretary of Defense, Cheney got companies like Halliburton lucrative defense contracts. Later, Cheney became Halliburton’s CEO and profited from those contracts. And later still, Cheney became George Bush’s Vice President, giving more contracts to Halliburton, while still profiting from the company’s “deferred compensation” package offered to former executives. Trump, meanwhile, continued to openly profit from his hotels. He forced the Secret Service to pay for rooms in his hotels while staying there. Saudi Arabia even bought an entire floor worth of rooms, that ultimately nobody stayed in—a textbook case of corruption. Furthermore, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, who became an official government employee as her father’s “advisor,” had her fashion company’s trademark applications fast-tracked in China and Japan—even though Trump started a trade war with China. Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, also a presidential “advisor,” was put in charge of “fixing the Middle East.” During which he met multiple times with the Saudi Royal Family. After Trump left office, the Saudis paid Jared Kushner two billion dollars, for seemingly no reason. 28. Fraudulent elections. “Common methods included maintaining control of the election machinery, intimidating and disenfranchising opposition voters, destroying or disallowing legal votes, and, as a last resort, turning to a judiciary beholden to the power elite.” One might think that before Donald Trump and January 6th, this box was unchecked by the Republican Party. One would be wrong. George W. Bush came into office by stealing the 2000 election. I don’t have time to run through the details but there is a good documentary about the topic called 537 Votes. George Carlin once said, “I call him Governor Bush because that’s the only political office he’s ever held legally in this country.” Donald Trump, meanwhile, tried several methods for stealing the 2020 election. One method was pressuring local lawmakers not to certify the election results (something that is usually routine and largely ceremonial). The Washington Post  wrote: “The full scope of Trump’s efforts to lean on local Republicans is still not fully known, but members of the canvassing board in Wayne Country, Mich., said they received phone calls from Trump urging them not to certify Biden’s win in Detroit. So, too, did members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, responsible for certifying Biden’s win in Arizona’s largest county. Trump waged public and private campaigns to persuade Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, all Republicans, to reject or undo statewide certification. After key states certified Biden’s win and the electoral college met, it was clear Trump would not win by preventing the election’s certification in swing states.” Another method was replacing the Electoral College electors. In the US, whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a state gets that state’s Electoral College votes—those Electoral College votes are what elect a president. The Electoral College electors are typically required to vote according to the state-wide popular vote. The Trump team tried to pressure their lawmakers to recognize a group of handpicked Trump supporters as alternate electors, if they refused to vote for Biden, Congress could declare the election as disputed—which triggers a legal process in which the (then Republican-controlled) House of Representatives would vote for president. While many Republicans agreed to the plan, Liz Cheney and Mike Pence didn’t. The Trump team also began alleging widespread voter fraud, leading to election workers getting sent death threats by Trump supporters. Trump also pressured his Attorney General, William Barr, to cast aspersions on the election, which Barr refused to do (though he is still supporting Trump). Another method was described by the Washington Post: “The most radical strategy proposed by Trump’s allies during the weeks after the election was a proposal to use the military to seize ballots or voting machines in an effort to prove fraud and then conduct a do-over of the election. The proposal was included in several planning documents that reached Trump or members of his inner circle. For instance, Trump was briefed on a version of the idea by Powell, Flynn and businessman Patrick Byrne in an Oval Office meeting on Dec. 18. Drafts of never-signed executive orders that would have implemented the strategy have been found in White House records and turned over to the congressional committee investigation the Jan. 6 attacks. A version was also outlined in a PowerPoint presentation that was emailed to Meadows on Jan. 5. Even after the violence of Jan. 6, Lindell was photographed on Jan. 15 after a meeting with Trump in the White House carrying papers that referenced martial law. Another memo circulated among Trump allies advocated using National Security Agency communications data to try to prove foreign interference in the election. Trump apparently did not embrace the extreme proposal of a military coup. But it is still not fully known how seriously he might have considered it.” During this election, Trump has already been crying fraud. Already, just a few days ago, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania—a very important swing state—falsely alleging that Trump supporters were told only Democrats were allowed to vote. This is a pattern for Trump: when the Apprentice lost an Emmy to the Amazing Race in 2012, Trump tweeted, “’Amazing Race’ winning an Emmy again is a total joke. The Emmys have no credibility.” “The Emmys are all politics, that’s why … The Apprentice never won.” When he endorsed Mitt Romney for president that same year, and Romney lost, Trump tweeted: “This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy!” And he tweeted again: “More reports of voting machines switching Romney votes to Obama.” And he tweeted again: “Let’s fight like hell and stop this great and disgusting injustice!” And he tweeted again: “We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington.” During the first Republican primary campaign in Iowa, Ted Cruz defeated Donald Trump. Trump tweeted: “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it.” “Everything about it was disgraceful,” Trump said in an interview. “It was a fraud as far as I was concerned.” And he tweeted again: “The State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz from the most recent election on the basis that he cheated—a total fraud!” “Actually, I came in, probably first if you think about it,” Trump said. When he believed he was going to lose to Hillary Clinton, Trump started claiming the election was “rigged.” And that the Democrats were cheating. This, in my opinion, checks box 28. That means that, in my judgment, the contemporary Republican Party is fascist. They tick every single warning sign listed by these two authors. Trump has, furthermore, repeatedly called immigrants “animals,” and said they are “poisoning the blood of our country” (a direct quote). This language is nearly identical to Hitler’s Mein Kampf: “The poison which has invaded the national body, … the open frontiers of our native country, the association with non-German foreign elements in the territories that lie all along those frontiers, and especially the strong influx of foreign blood into the interior of the Reich itself,” Hitler wrote. Hitler made several more mentions of “poison” and “blood”: “All-pervading poisonous fluid had been injected by some mysterious hand into the bloodstream of this once heroic body.” And, “In the north and south the poison of foreign races was eating into the body of our people, and Vienna was steadily becoming more and more a non-German city.” When Trump was accused of using language virtually identical to Hitler’s, rather than be horrified, Trump wanted to assure everyone he didn’t plagiarise Mein Kampf.  “I never knew that Hitler said it,” Trump said. “I know nothing about Hitler.” Don’t you find it a great comfort to know those words came out of his own twisted head? Finally, before moving on to Kamala Harris, I’ll leave this with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” Next let’s turn to Kamala Harris, who is, incredibly, the lesser evil. Although, let me tell you, the sheer jubilant enthusiasm her campaign generated has made me want to pull my freaking hair out. Given what I just described about Donald Trump, this campaign should not be remotely close. Above all, I want Donald Trump to lose. That is more important. But, it may seem like a minor semantic distinction to you, I don’t want Kamala Harris to win—I just want Trump to lose more. This is an important distinction for me. Yes, Harris is better than Trump on any issue I can think of. But if that is our measure of success, we are fucked. Kamala Harris’ campaign has left me very worried. I wrote down a lot of my fears and criticisms during this year’s DNC. But the most ominous developments occurred after the Chicago conference. During her acceptance speech, Harris set the tone for her presidency in extremely hawkish and militaristic terms: “I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world!” she said. In a sane world, that alone would have been disqualifying. It is downright terrifying that she didn’t receive a lot of criticism for that comment—worse, the audience roared with applause. That sentence should be unacceptable for any politician to say out loud. Especially for a country that has been wreaking havoc on the world on the scale that the United States has. She used that exact line again during her debate with Donald Trump; “I believe in what we can do together that is about sustaining America’s standing in the world and ensuring we have the respect that we so rightfully deserve including respecting our military and ensuring we have the most lethal fighting force in the world.” This type of “might is right” attitude, the idea that America deserves respect because of its military, is repellent to any person with even a shred of humanity. Harris frequently rails against Iran and North Korea in her speeches. During her 60 Minutes interview, for example, she said, “Iran has American blood on their hands, okay. This attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles. What we need to do to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power, that is one of my highest priorities.” Evidently, the Democratic Party is picking up where Bush left off—with Iraq smashed to pieces, the two remaining “axis of evil” members are next. This might sound like I’m overreacting, but Harris has frequently boasted that she’s endorsed by Dick Cheney, and has done campaign rallies with his daughter, Liz Cheney. Dick Cheney is evil incarnate (mostly because he is American foreign policy incarnate)—he was nicknamed “Darth Vader,” which he considered to be a compliment, but George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, thought it was too kind, and likened him to Emperor Palpatine instead. Whenever she is asked about the genocide in Gaza, the very first sentence out of her mouth is “On October 7th…” Two days from now, this genocide will have lasted one year and one month. Every single day is an October 7th for Palestinians. And yet, when Harris talks about October 7th, she uses words like “brutal,” “attack,” and speaks of “a terrorist organization called Hamas.” But when she talks about Gaza, she uses words like “heartbreaking” or “devastating.” When asked what she would do differently from Joe Biden, she said, “Nothing.” Biden’s campaign was significantly hampered by anti-genocide protesters, to the point where he could no longer appear in public and his campaign was driven underground. Harris was unfortunately not able or willing to escape much of the stench of the Biden administration. During the DNC, Palestinian groups asked that a Palestinian Democrat be allowed to speak at the convention—they proposed Ruwa Romman, a Democratic representative from Georgia, and had planned a speech themed around unity in which she would endorse Harris. It would have helped the campaign enormously since Muslim Americans felt understandably unwelcome. The Harris campaign refused to let any Palestinian American speak at the DNC. Indeed, the Harris campaign has gone to great lengths to ensure that Harris never shares a stage with any Muslim Americans or Democrats. Just like Joe Biden will never escape the nickname “Genocide Joe,” I fear Harris will cement herself as “Holocaust Harris.” Beyond her atrocious foreign policy rhetoric, Harris has signaled that the Democratic Party will not be an opposition party to the Republicans. Considering the fascist tendencies of the Republican Party, that is frightening. She has said she wants to appoint Republicans to cabinet positions. She has also joined in with Republicans on anti-immigrant fear-mongering. She frequently brings up the “crisis” of immigration and has pledged to enact a bill, drafted by Republicans, to build Trump’s border wall. Something she had previously called Trump’s “medieval vanity project.” After dodging the question on CNN, Anderson Cooper pressed her on her support for the border wall, and she said, “I’m not afraid of good ideas.” Whenever the subject of immigration comes up she always brings up the fentanyl crisis, and touts her experience as a prosecutor: “I prosecuted transnational criminal organizations.” I will repeat this until I’m blue in the face: 0.02% of fentanyl is smuggled in by immigrants or asylum seekers—well over 90 percent of fentanyl is smuggled in by US citizens. Blaming immigrants for the fentanyl crisis is a racist lie to demonize people fleeing poverty and conflict, it is promulgated by fascists—i.e. the Republicans—and now, also, the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris. Fuck me… Additionally disgusting is that the immigrants from Latin America are fleeing conditions created by the United States—by the exact kind of militaristic foreign policy that Kamala Harris espouses. I am currently working on a piece about this very topic, but it only requires a cursory glance at the South American continent to see the decades-long funding of death squads and military dictatorships by the United States. Then, there are her climate policies. Kamala Harris has pledged not to ban fracking—the method of extracting natural gas from shale rock formations—“I will not ban fracking. I have not banned fracking as Vice President of the United States. And, in fact, I was the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which opened new leases for fracking,” Harris said. She is not wrong, the Biden administration has auctioned off almost eighty million acres of federally owned water rights in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling. But Biden doesn’t go around bragging about it—at least he has some shame. Incidentally, it is also her most unpopular position according to polling, which is why it’s even more confounding why she keeps repeating it. Fracking, for the record, isn’t harmless. During the fracking process, methane is released into the atmosphere—which traps 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide—making fracking’s overall climate impact worse than coal. Fracking is turbo-charging climate change and hastening our destruction as a species. Fracking furthermore pollutes drinking water, further harming the environment, and is responsible for spreading various ugly health problems. It also causes earthquakes to intensify in frequency and severity. Fracking is one of the most harmful things in the world, and a fracking ban is desperately needed. Somehow though, Kamala Harris has been successful in portraying herself as a pro- climate candidate. Because, unlike Donald Trump, she does support the construction of clean-energy infrastructure. But, the problem with climate change is not the lack of solar panels and windmills. Building these things is merely part of the solution, but the lack of solar panels and windmills does not constitute the problem. The issue is the excessive amounts of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere. Without limiting those emissions, you can build solar panels until they cover every square inch of planet Earth, you have done nothing to mitigate the problem. We are running out of time to prevent catastrophe, and Kamala Harris should not be allowed to credibly present herself as a pro-climate president because her avowed policies are part of the problem. Finally, one of the best things Biden did was appoint Lina Khan as the head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Historically, laws known as “antitrust” were designed to prevent the occurrence of monopolization. For example, in the nineteenth century, Standard Oil Company grew to such a size that no one could compete with it, so it was broken up by an antitrust case in 1911 and split into three independent companies to keep the oil market competitive. But, during the neo- liberal era, starting roughly with Ronald Reagan, a new definition of antitrust emerged; instead of preventing monopolies, antitrust laws now only served the purpose of lowering prices for consumers. As a result, two of the companies that splintered from Standard Oil in 1911, Exxon and Mobil, re-merged in 1999 and became ExxonMobil. Ever since there has been a battle between antitrust traditionalists and neo-liberals. Lina Khan is an antitrust traditionalist, and she has taken the first steps to take on monopoly power—an uphill battle, to be sure. Several companies targeted by the FTC under Lena Khan are owned by Kamala Harris campaign donors. One of them, Reid Hoffman, went on CNN and urged Kamala Harris to fire Khan. One unnamed campaign donor told the New York Times that Harris “has expressed skepticism of Ms. Khan’s expansive view of anti- trust powers” to them. The Service Employees International Union also expressed alarm, saying in a statement: “LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman donated $7 million to the Harris campaign—then demanded she fire FTC Chair Lina Khan, who fights for workers and takes on corporate giants. Mr. Hoffman, that’s not how democracy works, sir.” Another wealthy Democratic donor, billionaire Barry Diller, expressed his displeasure with Khan on NBC: “She’s a dope.” Diller’s company, IAC, is the subject of multiple FTC investigations. “I believe [Khan] overreaches in disrupting sensible business combinations,” Diller said. Another business under FTC investigation for breaking antitrust laws is Visa. Recently, despite the investigation, Kamala Harris invited Visa’s CEO Ryan McInerney to her vice presidential residence. “Visa screws every small business in the country and is being sued by the Biden- Harris administration for monopolization,” Matt Stoller, an antitrust expert said. “Harris is sending the message [to voters], ‘I’m with the people who screw you over.’” In conclusion, I am very worried. I can’t think of a single damn thing to be optimistic about. I really hope I’m wrong. I would love to be converted into a Kamala fan, but sweet suffering Jesus… I haven’t seen even a small glimmer of hope. Even on something as simple as transgender issues, this year’s DNC was the first to not feature a transgender speaker since 2016. And protecting abortion sounds good, but are the Democrats willing to go toe-to-toe with the Supreme Court? We’ll see. I will not blame anybody for not voting in this election. Harris’ stand on Gaza has been so depraved that casting a ballot in her favor feels wrong. Contrary to popular belief, not voting is a form of voting. And at some point, when the lesser of two evils is still significantly evil, we reach a point where giving this system any legitimacy by participating in it feels like it degrades one’s humanity. On the other hand, it could ensure the re-emergence of Donald Trump. And that is a devastating scenario for the United States and the world. I have agreed in the past with Noam Chomsky’s assertion that the Republican Party is “the most dangerous organization in human history,” due to its position on climate change. Furthermore, Donald Trump will be far worse on any issue we care about. On Gaza for example, Trump has already promised one of his campaign donors that he will allow Israel to formally annex the West Bank into Israel proper. I’ll end with a quote from the famous election reporter David Broder: “Anybody that wants the presidency so much that he’ll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office.” Time to decide America: Will it be Scylla or Charybdis?