Soft Fascism Florida-Style: Ron DeSantis’s War on Amendment 4
A fascist to the core. That’s how retired US general Mark Milley, who directly served Trump as the chair of joint chiefs of staff, as described in Bob Woodward’s upcoming book. As Milley put it, “He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country.” And while they may be true, it’s important to keep in mind that Donald Trump is far from the only aspiring fascist in contemporary American politics. The Schedule F/Project 2025 scheme orchestrated by the Council for National Policy is a group effort, after all. And as we’re going to see, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been laying the groundwork for the kind of ‘soft fascism’ that we should anticipate a lot more of under a second Trump presidency. The kind of ‘soft fascism’ that is shaped less by Trump’s personal madness and more by the theocratic ambitions of the movements that have long animated the Republican Party. Which brings us to DeSantis’s war on Amendment 4, a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in Florida’s state constitution up to the moment of viability, coming months after Florida Republicans put in place a restrictive new 6 week abortion ban. After first trying to get Amendment 4 thrown off the ballot, the DeSantis administration has proceeded to spend taxpayer funds on an anti-Amendment 4 public messaging campaign includes tv and radio ads. An unprecedented investigation into the Amendment 4 ballot signatures has also been opened, with police showing up at people’s homes to confirm they signed the petition. Local election supervisors are also under suspicion of verifying invalid signatures. And as we’re going to also see, there’s no possible way this investigation can get the Amendment 4 removed from the ballot even if it succeeded in revealing some fraud. It’s pure intimidation. More recently, the Florida government has threatened television station employees with criminal charges if they air a pro-Amendment 4 ad. Why? Because the state claims the ads — which raise questions about whether or not women’s health is adequately protected under the new 6 week abortion law — pose a threat to public health because the new law in no way endangers women. Yes, if you run an ad suggesting the new Florida abortion law — one of the strictest in the US — could put women at risk, you could be criminally charged. So if you were wondering how the GOP is planning on handling public discontent over the unpopular policy that are about to be imposed on the public at large, look to Florida. Ron DeSantis is one of the Council for National Policy’s favorite politicians for a reason.
The Eyes Over Mike Johnson: the CNP’s Texas Template for God’s Power Grope
Christian Nationalism isn’t simply on the rise in the United States. It’s already at the top, thanks in no small part to the Council for National Policy (CNP) and the myriad of groups operating under its theocratic umbrella. The Supreme Court is dominated by a hard right majority and there’s even the CNP’s planned mass purges — starting with the government but not ending there — under the ‘Schedule F’/Project 2025 label. That’s all part of the grim context surrounding a series of reports around the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson that should raise serious questions about just how much influence the leading Christian Nationalist hold over new Speaker of the House. But thanks the House and Supreme Court aren’t the only government institution under Christian Nationalism sway. States Republicans are increasingly adopting Christian Nationalist laws, with Texas leading the way under the way under the vision of CNP pseudo-historian David Barton. It turns out Johnson and Barton are long-time allies who share the same vision for the future. A vision in line with the ‘discipleship’ form of authoritarian Christianity now mainstreamed in the CNP-dominated network of 47,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Which also happens to be a denomination grappling with a sex abuse mega-scandal hauntingly reminiscent of the Catholic Church’s mega-abuse scandal. A mega-scandal with a number of major CNP figures operating as abusers or enablers. It’s that broader intersection of Mike Johnson’s ties to Christian Nationalism with this growing SBC abuse mega-scandal that we’re going to look at in this post.
Oligarchs for Theocracy: Project Blitz, the Council for National Policy, and God’s Insurrection
“One nation under God.” It’s a familiar phrase for modern Americans. But how about the phrase “One nation under God, and one religion under God”? That was the call recently made by Michael Flynn. As we’re going to see, Flynn wasn’t just speaking for fellow theocrats when he called for an end to the separation of church and state. He was voicing the views of some of the most powerful lobbies operating in DC. Groups like the Council for National Policy (CNP) that represent the merger of corporate (Koch) and theocratic interests. A network that for all practical purposes is the Republican Party’s oligarch establishment, pushing a theocratic agenda with a goal of not just conferring special rights for Christians but effectively ending democracy itself. Because as we’re also going to see, just as you can’t separate the GOP establishment from the theocratic CNP, you can’t separate the GOP’s party-wide push to overturn the 2020 election results from the CNP either. The death of representative democracy in the US is very much a ‘God’-ordained project.
The 99% Dynamic
Fascism and the Dangers of Economic Concentration 1980 broadcast highlights economic concentration and its historical relationship to fascism. Read more »
- Spitfire List is licensed under Creative Commons.
Recent Comments