The Fascist Theocracy of the MAGA Cult and the Coming Redneck Revolution
I think I’d like to tell you all a little story. Do you know why I think that the entire MAGA endeavor is doomed for failure? To my way of thinking, the thoughts behind the words that make up the majority of the MAGA creed are fascist. I get that fascism is a word that gets bandied about a lot and it has lost a lot of the horror that it once generated, but the facts of what it is and what it means are still very much present with us.
There are three basic branches of fascist thinking. If you wish to cement a fascist state, the first thing you’d have to gin up is a rebirth. Oh, I don’t know, something like “Make America Great Again.” Next, you’d want to promote ultra-nationalism. Something like people running rampant through the capitol screaming how they all be patriots, saying things like, “This is our house.” The third thing you’d have to have in place is a trumped-up, pardon the pun, story about decadence. Maybe something like “The Democrats are pedophiles.” If you had all three of those ingredients you could bake a fascist cake.
Here in the US of A, we have all of the ingredients. We don’t have anyone who can bake that cake though. It is highly unlikely that we ever will. We will always have people who have that particular bent but I can not fathom that kind of person remaining in power for any length of time. Nixon represented much of that recipe for a fascist state, but he was brought down by his own hand. It always seems that fascists are self-destructive. For the most part, fascists do not advertise their particular bents in ways that one could easily mark them for what they are. They often hide in places other than in the halls of Congress. And I really do think that, again, for the most part, they are well-meaning people. But well-meaning is never long-lived.
I think a notable example of this kind of person was exemplified by Jerry Falwell¹. Jerry was the son and grandson of Atheists. He found the Lord early in life and became a driven “Soldier of God” in his words. He founded a church soon after graduation from bible school and leveraged that church and his sermons into an international business enterprise. Jerry is most noted for backing Ronald Reagan for president with his Moral Majority organization. Jerry was against gay rights, and abortion, and was for Israel and a strong national defense. Jerry was a good man. He founded a university that enrolled 15,000 kids. That’s no small feat. But Jerry also had the ingredients of fascism in his thinking. It never was something that he thought about consciously but then beliefs are never conscious, are they? The main thing to consider in Jerry’s life is that his son Jerry Jr. proclaimed the Orange Guy to be “The One” but that was before he lost it all due to a sex scandal². Could it be that the apple did not fall far from the tree?
A characteristic of the fascist way of thought is to consider other forms of life to be lesser and therefore subjected to the fascist. Women are another form of life. Children are another form of life. Black people are another form of life. Jews are another form of life. Women, children, Black people, Jews, and brown people are all folks who can not ever belong to the white boys club of fascism. Do you wonder why Greg Abbot can sit smugly on his podium and declare what a sick person Beto is for calling the governor out on those 19 babies gunned down by military weaponry³? Well, consider if Greg fits the fascist recipe. If he does, you have your answer.
I think that Beto represents the 70 or 80% of Americans who support background checks for people who buy military-grade armament⁴. That 70 or 80% of Americans are the ones with good old-fashioned horse sense and would not take kindly to being a bunch of wannabe theocrats with fascist tendencies to rule their life. I have no illusions about the Stevie Millers and the Bannons and Roger Stones or even the Greg Abbots and Ronnie Desantis suddenly coming to Jesus and developing a sense of civic duty. They can’t even conceptualize that kind of thinking.
Those kinds of people can fool everyone for a while like P. T. Barnum said, but they will never fool all the people. Consider a moment about how much trouble it was to get people to wear a mask to protect their health. Do you really think that people who put up that much of a fuss over a mask will docilely agree to allow the thought police to control them? If you think that can happen it’s obvious you don’t know any real Rednecks.
I think the shift towards actual freedom is starting to show up in this generation of politicians like Beto O’Rourke, John Fetterman, and even the famed AOC. During the Vietnam war, there was a desperation in the US citizenry. It is not unlike what is taking place these days. People have reason to feel put upon. Gas and gold cost about the same, children are still murdered in their classrooms, inflation is high, and the crazy Russian guy is threatening all-out nuclear war. One thing about Americans that you can bet on, when they’ve had enough, they’ve had enough. I remember Bob Dylan singing about the times they are a changing. It’s blowing in the wind. So hang your head over and hear the wind blow. It is not time to throw up your hands and bitch about not being able to do anything because you’re too apathetic. It’s time to get up “offa that thang” and organize a cleaning party. It’s time to sweep this bunch of old white dinosaurs out of office and make room for a newer set of minds to come in with a modicum of humanity still flowing in their veins. Jerry Falwell and others like him set the stage for the time of the Nones. People who have had enough of religiously pompous old guys who can no longer relate to ordinary folks because they live in a world where they are always right, and if people would simply go back to the old great way again, things would all be fine and dandy.
So no, I do not see the coming of a new fascist world order. I see a purge of old fascist-like thinking that can not ever serve a society. I see that being replaced by people who marched for George Floyd. With people who are incensed that 19 fourth graders can be gunned down in their classroom. With people who do not want to make the United States great again. They just want to make it greater than it is. My father fought in World War II. The people of the United States would not allow a fascist government to exist then and they will not allow one to exist now. I’m sure there are some who will try to realize that fantasy, but I do not see how we Rednecks are ever going to agree to such a raw deal.
References
1. Jerry Falwell | Biography, Televangelist, Significance, & Facts. (2022, May 11). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jerry-Falwell
2. Severns, M. (2020, December 14). In final years at Liberty, Falwell spent millions on pro-Trump causes. Politico. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/14/jerry-falwell-trump-liberty-university-444661
3. Svitek, P. (2022, May 25). Beto O’Rourke confronts Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at Uvalde press conference: “This is on you”. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/25/beto-orourke-greg-abbott-uvalde-shooting/
4. Schaeffer, K. (2021, September 13). Key facts about Americans and guns. Pew Research Center. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/