Memo to Future Historians: This Is Fascism, and Millions of Us See It

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1. ***A Machiavellian Analysis:***

   Recent executive actions and rhetorical framing by the administration appear to parallel pre-January 6th dynamics, though inverted in direction. Whereas the earlier phase sought to incite followers toward illegal action, the current pattern seems to focus on inciting opponents, those who object to rough and militant immigration enforcement, to acts of visible resistance. Such escalation would create the pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act, thereby permitting domestic military deployment and justifying intensified suppression. This strategy, if intentional, would serve two convergent objectives: (1) legitimizing exceptional use of force, and (2) furthering the consolidation of autocratic authority through the imagery of restoring order.

   ***Excerpts:***

   Historians sometimes say that when societies are descending into fascism, it can be hard for the people to notice it in real time. Well, historians of the future, I’m here to tell you: We are noticing.

   Historians of the future: Rest assured, millions of us know all this in real time. We are horrified, shocked, enraged, and ashamed. We are acting, in a thousand ways, to oppose it. This cannot, and will not, be how the United States ends.

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