It’s not about freedom.
It’s about revenge, retribution, and red hats.
By Desi Cortez, Black Commentator —
Fascism has finally made its grand entrance into America – stomping in with jackboots like a villain in a 1957 B-movie, while also sashaying through Blue cities and old suburbia wrapped in Old Glory like a pageant queen from Hell. It’s not creeping through the shadows – it’s waving from the cul-de-sac, barbecue tongs in one hand, and a Bible-battered Constitution in the other.
And let’s be clear: ICE isn’t just immigration enforcement – it’s King Trump’s knockoff version of Hitler’s Gestapo. Less subtle, more Southern. Instead of rounding folks up in the dead of night in wool coats, they now sport Oakleys and tactical vests and call it “patriotism.” Same terror, new merchandise.
This new American fascism? It’s not goose-stepping – it’s tailgating. It’s not burning books in public squares – it’s banning them in school board meetings, all while clutching a pocket Bible in one hand and Mein Kampf in the other like it’s some twisted MAGA book club starter pack. If there’s a raffle, the prize is probably a signed copy of The Turner Diaries and a six-pack of Bud Light (irony-free, of course).
Let’s not kid ourselves – it’s not just make-believe, pretend authoritarianism. It’s the real square deal. This is authentic, USDA-certified, all-American racism, wrapped in a flag, baptized in gasoline, and wearing a “Don’t Tread on Me” tank-top two sizes too small. It masquerades as the “long arm of the law,n’ order,” as “Christian values,” as “concerned parents.” But really? It’s the same old white supremacy on a high-protein MAGA diet.
No jackboots required – just lawn signs, AR-15s, and a pocket Constitution.
And if you need a refresher – because we’re always told to “read a book” by the very folks banning them – the Gestapo, officially the Geheime Staatspolizei, was Nazi Germany’s secret police. Formed in 1933, its job was to crush dissent, enforce racial policy, and disappear anyone who didn’t salute hard enough. They didn’t need courts. They didn’t need warrants. They had “protective custody,” a phrase that makes even “Stand Your Ground” laws look quaint.
Sound familiar?
Trumpism isn’t new – it’s fascism with a Dollar store bought tan and evangelical glitter.
Now, let’s talk hardware. Strapped across this new American fascist’s chest? An AR-15, of course. Because apparently nothing says “land of the free” like the freedom to play Revolutionary cosplay while threatening librarians and drag queens. And nestled in their camo backpack, along with Slim Jims and a Confederate koozie? A tear-stained copy of The Turner Diaries – that racist bedtime story for domestic terrorists who think Timothy McVeigh was just a misunderstood patriot.
This isn’t your granddad’s fascism – it’s a red, white, and blue remix. It prays loudly in public, curses the poor in private, and scrolls Instagram for authoritarian memes while blaming immigrants for everything from gas prices to erectile dysfunction.
And the most horrifying part? It doesn’t wear a swastika. It wears khakis. It votes. It runs for school board. It hosts Facebook Lives in its Ford F-150 while ranting about Critical Race Theory and the tyranny of recycling. It smiles in your face, invites you to a cookout, then votes to criminalize your existence.
Fascism is mainstream white America now. Let that sink in. The people quietly endorsing or loudly cheering this slow-motion societal collapse are not hiding in bunkers. They’re your neighbors. Your in-laws. Your child’s second-grade teacher. They are the cops, lawyers, butchers, bakers, and computer chip makers who build our systems while quietly rooting for them to stay broken – for you.
These aren’t rogue actors. These are willing participants. Accomplices with Amazon Prime.
Need a definition? Fine. Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultranationalist ideology rooted in dictatorship, enforced cultural purity, and militarized control. It rejects democracy, despises liberalism, and curb-stomps socialism. It exalts the state over the individual, values conformity over thought, and sees human rights as one-inch speed bumps.
Sound familiar? Damn, Mr. Webster seems to be describing Trump’s MAGA circus to the T. Let’s be honest – Trumpism is fascism, dipped in orange bronzer, sprinkled with evangelical glitter, and spray-painted in tacky gold like some bankrupt Atlantic City casino.
And let us not forget their latest pet project: Devil’s Islands, 2.0 – custom-built, open-air gulags honestly and ultimately being constructed for you and me. For Democrats. Liberals. Progressives. Independents. Black folks. Queer folks. The 74-year-old hipless hippie still clinging to his “Make Love Not War” patch. Basically anyone who’s ever shown up to a protest not wearing an American flag as a cape.
From the old Alcatraz to the new Alligator Alcatraz, they’re not just building prisons – they’re cold-bloodedly mapping out purges.
Never forget the Rosewood and Tulsa massacres.
But the most chilling reality isn’t the Black Code policy or the Confederate based platforms – it’s the people. It’s everyday white Americans who grin in your face while silently – or gleefully – cheering on your total, complete erasure. They laugh at your optimism, smile at your activism, then vote for your oppression. And here’s the kicker: they don’t give a damn if the world thinks they’re barbaric. In fact, they want the world to know – they’re ready to take “their” country back.
Smiling faces… sometimes stab the deepest. That’s the Undisputed Truth!
Because this isn’t about safety, or schools, or God, or family. This is about big payback. The Great White Get-Back. The MAGA Agenda isn’t about building – it’s about burning. It’s pure revenge for having to share – the resources, the spotlight, hell, just even the damn sidewalk.
It’s vengeance for the unbearable trauma of watching someone Black, Brown, queer, female, or – God forbid – all of the above succeed without first asking their permission. It’s yesteryear’s slow-cooked Yankee Pot Roast stew of resentment finally boiling over, and now they’re spooning it onto the nation’s dinner plate and calling it a “return to greatness.”
What are they avenging, exactly? Decency. Civility. Morality. Progress. Change. Women demanding autonomy, Black folks refusing to vanish, immigrants daring to dream, trans kids asking to exist. All that is just far, far, far too much for them. To them, liberty is for the few. Justice is for the wealthy. And equality? Equality is the end of the world.
I’m gonna circle the block, drive back by, slowly, and blast that one one more time: To them, to MAGA, liberty is for the few. Justice is for the wealthy. And equality? Equality is the end of the world. The sky will fall.
And here’s the raw, ragged truth: a terrifying number of white men in America don’t just fear equality – they despise it. They treat it like a killer virus, a lifestyle-ending infection. A threat to their inherited illicit monopoly on power. They don’t want to share the table. They believe they built the table, own the table, and anyone else trying to sit down better bring a mop and apron.
Ain’ that a ….?!
And white women? MAGA will welcome them – as long as they smile, bake cookies, vote Republican, and stay quiet. Feminism? That’s just liberal slang for “uppity.” In MAGA-world, women are handmaidens with Wi-Fi and lipstick. Mrs. 2nd household income.
This isn’t a movement. This is a national tantrum soaked in nostalgia and sprayed with some of that cheap-ass Axe body spray. It’s the revenge of the fragile, the entitled, the insecure. The ones who think “equal rights” means “less rights for me.” And rich, white, and male? That’s the un-holy trinity. They believe they were born holding the deed to democracy – and everyone else is trespassing.
So no – it’s not about policy. Not about taxes. Not about schools or gas or any of the smoke screens. It’s about control. Dominance. Reclaiming a fantasy version of America where everyone knew their place – and stayed in it.
Look, this ain’t conservatism, and it damn sure ain’t populism – this is fascism in a trucker hat, humming Kid Rock, and handing out yard signs like communion wafers. Either we name the beast or let it devour us – zip code by zip code. And, it’s not small government – it’s bigotry cruising around in a red pick-up with the Confederate and Trump flags. Not heartland values – it’s hate wrapped in patriotism and delusionalism. Call it fascism now, or get used to calling it “normal” tomorrow.
Source: Black Commentator
Featured image: Photo by R. Nial Bradshaw via Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
