We haven’t had a truly free election since the Citizens United decision; we have two parties who are only a mocking puppet show of opposition, and are largely aligned with one another on the most important issues; the judiciary is largely subservient to the omnipotent executive on most major issues; and the press is now only as free as its billionaire owners allow. This is a fascist oligarchy, a kleptocracy, and a kakistocracy all rolled into one.
"The center has not held" We are finally at that point.
Your assessment is not understated. The Great Spanking is upon us.
In my small way, from afar, I tried to offer same wake up calls to y'all from well over a year ago ( in 22 LETTERsTO AN AMERICAN/ Substack) .
Gave up in despair this year.
Don't have to be a Cassandra to see a hard rain's gunna fall!
"Politics of exception" looks a teeny bit like
the One True Scotsman Fallacy...
Fascism and coup framing. In political science, usually involv
suspension of elections
elimination of opposition parties
centralized, unchecked executive control
systematic use of violence to maintain power
The U.S. today still has:
functioning (if strained) elections
opposition parties with real power
an active judiciary (even if contested)
a free press
That doesn’t mean “everything is fine.”
But it does mean we’re not in a fully consolidated authoritarian or fascist state...yet.
We haven’t had a truly free election since the Citizens United decision; we have two parties who are only a mocking puppet show of opposition, and are largely aligned with one another on the most important issues; the judiciary is largely subservient to the omnipotent executive on most major issues; and the press is now only as free as its billionaire owners allow. This is a fascist oligarchy, a kleptocracy, and a kakistocracy all rolled into one.
Yes yes yes!