By Mike B, Red Phoenix correspondent, Ohio.

The dust has settled from the farcical election of Kevin McCarthy to the position of Speaker of the House. That left the current state of the American government more dysfunctional than ever. McCarthy’s Republican Party, cascading ever farther to the right, is now beholden to a small clique of overtly neo-fascist legislators. They are bent upon imposing socially conservative laws and penalties upon working and poor Americans, as well as instituting fiscal policies aimed at collecting and concentrating unimaginable quantities of wealth in the hands of the ruling class.

The United States Supreme Court, dominated by an ultra-right majority, is on a parallel course relative with Congress, overtly attacking civil liberties and explicitly expressing their intent to further tear away the legal precedents which protect some of the country’s most vulnerable people. These right-leaning “justices” of the country’s highest court have issued a de facto ban on abortion in the United States and appear poised to strike at the most fundamental rights of LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, the power of collective bargaining, and access to healthcare, benefits, and entitlements.

As the two above-noted branches of American government work in tandem, ideologues at local and state levels – from school boards to city councils and from city halls to state legislatures – are doggedly advancing the neo-fascist agenda through the tactics of exaggeration, fear-mongering, and outright dishonesty. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has particularly excelled at these practices, moving aggressively and with great fanfare to promote and enforce anti-gay and anti-trans policies and to promote sentiments and laws that assail the fundamentals of science and the credibility of common sense.

Donald Trump and the subsequent metastasis of his carefully cultivated cult of the individual have effectively unified neo-fascism in America into a cohesive political movement. This movement threatens to first exert influence and control on every facet of daily life, and to eventually rule by means of overt repression. It is bolstered and amplified by a confederation of media platforms and personalities – from mainstream outlets like Fox News and Elon Musk’s Twitter to the likes of Alex Jones and his ilk – who perpetuate Trumpian mythology, clouding the minds to poison the judgement of those who are susceptible to their messaging.

Even if Trump’s renewed run for control of the executive branch proves unsuccessful, history has shown that fascism – and its Trump-era ideological successor, neo-fascism – will not simply wither and fade away by themselves. Moreover, this destructive and barbarous movement cannot and will not concede defeat through losses at the ballot box. The persistence of these ideologues and their murderous aspirations threaten the lives and livelihoods of all who oppose them, and that is precisely why this matters.

Categories: Elections, Government, U.S. News