The Fascists Have No Clothes

Revealing the How to Fash playbook reduces their power to virtual nothingness

First, a big welcome to our new members. Thanks to the generosity of Bette Dangerous benefactors, we were able to sign up six new members (!), and I am able to keep a roof over my head as I do this work. Thank you from the bottom of my typing fingers.

So, let’s jump right in. Once you know the fascist playbook, it reduces the power of these extremist cult members. They are auditioning to be the new avatar for the Koch-Kremlin-cadre, trying to be more extreme than Trump, who moved the Overton Window so far, he is now their center. They’ve normalized fascism.

Because I am a student of anti-fascist scholars, I can see the fascist signaling from a mile away. None of this is new.

The physical gesticulations of the extremists are pure Mussolini - or as I noted of Ron DeSantis - more like Adenoid Hynkel, the character played by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator.

The hand movements, the strong man stare, the verbal repetition of loaded words - all come from a very specific playbook.

My studies of Hannah Arendt make it easy to spot the response techniques - a key tactic is the questioning of motives when the facts are not on the totalitarian’s side. DeSantis utilizes this technique often. When questioned last night about the banning of books, he deflected to attacking the motives of school unions, and by so doing, accomplishes two things…