News organizations are using cowardly words to describe killing abroad, fascism at home — downplaying the danger to democracy.
There was a shocking and incredibly important story on the front page of the New York Times last week. As reported by an A-team of journalists including two Pulitzer Prize winners, the Times warned its readers that Donald Trump — if returned to the White House in 2025 — is grooming a new team of extremist government lawyers who would be more loyal to their Dear Leader than to the rule of law, and could help Trump install a brand of American fascism.
You say you didn’t hear anything about this? That’s not surprising. The editors at the Times made sure to present this major report in the blandest, most inoffensive way possible — staying true to the mantra in the nation’s most influential newsroom that the 2024 election shouldn’t be covered any differently, even when U.S. democracy is on the line.
Fascism won’t be going away no matter the results of the next election so we’re going to need people to stand up for each other. We need people who can spot fascism and call it out. People aren’t inclined to believe the kind of fascist takeovers that the Republican and Libertarian parties have gone through the first time we tell them. At least, when I tell people irl they don’t seem to really believe it. We need everyone we can get to keep telling them. There’s never going to be a moment when everyone realizes what’s happening so people have to spread it by word of mouth, either online or irl.
I don’t want to do another Trump term either, but we need to be there for each other.