Soon after 47 took the oath of office at noon Monday, he signed dozens of executive orders and granted close to 1,600 J6 pardons as a demonstration of what I will call ‘Firehose Fascism.’ Simply put, it is force-fed, shock-and-awe, blitzkrieg (lightning war) Fascism, meant as a kind of stress test for the legal system and a psychological and spiritual blow to American institutions, citizens, and non-citizens who aspire to citizenship or extended residency.
For purposes of laying out a working definition of Fascism, here is my September 22, 2022 article: “The Three Cornerstones of American Fascism” — plus 28 sub-characteristics: https://americanfascists.us/the-three-cornerstones-of-american-fascism/
In brief, 47’s orders struck at some of the largest policy questions in American society, from legal to health to immigration to social media to environment to civil rights to international trade. More than that, the stunning executive actions sought to undermine conventional notions of order, justice, due process, fairness, public safety, global health, and social unity.
Here is a sampling of eight of the most strident actions:
He pardoned nearly all the rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.
47 granted clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the 6 January 2021 insurrection and coup attempt on the Capitol, issuing pardons to most of the defendants and commuting the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
He withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization.
47 ordered the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, a seeming punishment based on his non-stop criticisms of the global health agency, especially regarding its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Public health experts say the withdrawal is a setback for America’s global standing and it will make it more difficult to fight the next pandemic.
He started his promised crackdown on immigration.
47 signed a series of orders designed to seal the nation’s borders against migrants and crack down on immigrants already here — including a national emergency call to deploy the military to the border and an effort to cut off birthright citizenship for the children of noncitizens, a constitutionally protected right.
He sought to slow a ban on TikTok.
47 signed an executive order to delay a congressional ban of TikTok. In what was perhaps his most politically savvy move of the day — playing to a huge audience of TikTok users — the measure instructs the attorney general to hold back on enforcing the law for 75 days to allow time for a negotiated settlement.
He withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.
47 signed an executive order to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord, a step which would make America one of only four nations to refuse to cooperate with other nations to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
He enacted a federal hiring freeze.
47 ordered an immediate hiring freeze across the federal government, pending the delivery of a broader plan for shrinking the federal workforce, with special targeting of the Internal Revenue Service.
He gutted racial equity policies and protections for transgender people.
47 ordered an end to all federal programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and halted Biden administration protections for transgender Americans.
He promised tariffs against Canada and Mexico.
47 announced his plan to impose a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico and Canada beginning on Feb. 1 because those nations were allowing “mass numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.”
So how, exactly, do we fight and defeat ‘Firehose Fascism’?
1. Establish and maintain a radical vision of that future time when we have rendered 47, his arrogant billionaire buddies, and their sycophants powerless and irrelevant.
2. At the same time, that vision beheld a time beyond the ‘rendering’ when we established a society centered on universal justice for health and healthcare.
3. That same vision was unpacked to understand precisely what we did to establish: a. effective internal and external communications. b. strong, diverse, and enduring visionary leadership. c. nimble and effective strategic planning. d. short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals for learning, building morale, learning lessons, and more. e. we defined our terms, our context, and the participants and players across the political and cultural spectrum.
Yours with enduring hope, radical vision, and purposeful strategy,
Chuck