Great piece! Thank you! To your point, why have we allowed this regime to cajole us out of using appropriate terminology for their actions? When we are feeling particularly frisky we may discuss their malignant malfeasances as "authoritarian leaning." Heaven forbid we employ the "F" word. But when we see snipers on the rooftops of our cities taking pepper ball pot shots at peaceful demonstrators, or masked, unidentified para-military thugs repelling from Blackhawks to rip apart apartment buildings full of children in the middle of the night; when in our airports Orwellian videos are drummed into our heads about the ills of the government's opposition parities; when thirteen year olds are abducted and shipped off to "detention centers" hundreds of miles from their homes; when ambulances drivers are threatened with their lives for caring for the sick and injured, shouldn't we be using the proper language to fully capture its repulsive horror? SHouldn't we indeed be calling it FASCISM? Yes, FASCISM. If you want to gentrify it a tad, perhaps call it Oligarchical Fascism, or Fascist Oligarchy — because I suspect the oligarchs are the drivers behind it all. But a rose by any other name... Let's therefore be very clear. We are in a pitched battle for our freedom, for our democracy, for our nation with the forces of FASCISM. It's about time we say it loud and clear.
Speaking of word that starts with "F" I add one often in my thinking or when I'm muttering after reading about where we are headed as a nation and world. My anxiety level no longer tolerates watching news with visuals.
I am bowled over by your paragraph about the language of the oppressor, something we history teachers are guilty of all the time. It's baked into our history and many good people have tried to wrestle free the domination of language, and what the heck, the monuments of expression that glorify traitors like Robert E. Lee. Language is your stock in trade, Mary, and you have a wonderful, vivid control over it. Calling a POW a hostage works when the POW is an American, doncha know? But, seriously, great reflection on the power of words and how this administration (to take your argument even further) has used language and misused language constantly. Let's keep our eyes on that and on the religious phrasing that is creeping into their speech.
"At the Knesset this week, the president delivered a speech that managed to make every foreign leader in the room look like they were calculating escape routes"
What gets me... is that Trump cannot deliver a major speech, or even a minor one --even when HE is receiving major adulation -- without going off teleprompter to remind everyone that BIDEN was "the worst president ever" while he, Trump, is the greatest. Never mind the facts. I guess it's just part of his pathological narcissism, but couple that with early-stage dementia and we're getting, as George Bush once said: "Some pretty weird shit"
Just like his "speech" during the Kirk remembrance.
Yes and some folks here in Coos County want to join in with the Idaho thing. I think it is the same people who refuse to pay more taxes to support North Bend schools and vote it down every time. They don’t seem to know or care that the schools are below average on national rankings. They want a lower crime rate but vote against funds the sheriff and jails need to operate, making sure people are arrested and often re arrested the same day. I see a lot of Trump and MAGA flags on homes and trucks alongside the US flag as they pretend patriotic as our government is quickly being dismantled. I am sure they complain about immigrants while the only good restaurants here are run by them.
Spot on, Mary. As a fellow Oregonian I have marveled for years at the signs I see in Eastern Oregon. I know a lot of folks there, and if they know you they will give you the shirt off their back. Our truck (pulling our trailer, and with 2 dogs) blew up just outside Butte, Montana; apparently kissing cousins to Eastern Oregon, and a friend of a friend gave me a number for a contact that took almost a half day off work to find us a mechanic and help get us a rental. She actually said, "I bet we don't agree on a lot of things, but here in Butte we help people that need it."
But just days earlier on a lovely highway through the mountains on our way to the Wallowa Mountains was a falling down shed with a tattered sign that read, "Joe and the H** gotta go." These are folks that home school so their kids don't come home and ask about gays, or trans, or acceptance of people that are not like them.
And then there is the fun place along the way to John Day that STILL says Biden is providing guns to criminals and yes, "Free Oregon to Join Idaho!" along with more outdated favorites.
I'll bet that eastern Oregonians are rethinking the Idaho thing now that there might be Islamists training in Idaho!
Mary- your response to the reader who pointed out a language issue was great.... and one of the reasons I keep forwarding your newsletters to other friends and action groups. Hopefully that will translate into more membership for your blog.
Great piece! Thank you! To your point, why have we allowed this regime to cajole us out of using appropriate terminology for their actions? When we are feeling particularly frisky we may discuss their malignant malfeasances as "authoritarian leaning." Heaven forbid we employ the "F" word. But when we see snipers on the rooftops of our cities taking pepper ball pot shots at peaceful demonstrators, or masked, unidentified para-military thugs repelling from Blackhawks to rip apart apartment buildings full of children in the middle of the night; when in our airports Orwellian videos are drummed into our heads about the ills of the government's opposition parities; when thirteen year olds are abducted and shipped off to "detention centers" hundreds of miles from their homes; when ambulances drivers are threatened with their lives for caring for the sick and injured, shouldn't we be using the proper language to fully capture its repulsive horror? SHouldn't we indeed be calling it FASCISM? Yes, FASCISM. If you want to gentrify it a tad, perhaps call it Oligarchical Fascism, or Fascist Oligarchy — because I suspect the oligarchs are the drivers behind it all. But a rose by any other name... Let's therefore be very clear. We are in a pitched battle for our freedom, for our democracy, for our nation with the forces of FASCISM. It's about time we say it loud and clear.
Speaking of word that starts with "F" I add one often in my thinking or when I'm muttering after reading about where we are headed as a nation and world. My anxiety level no longer tolerates watching news with visuals.
agreed
I really appreciate how you step back and check your language! It’s hard to do, especially when writing daily and when you love simile.
I am bowled over by your paragraph about the language of the oppressor, something we history teachers are guilty of all the time. It's baked into our history and many good people have tried to wrestle free the domination of language, and what the heck, the monuments of expression that glorify traitors like Robert E. Lee. Language is your stock in trade, Mary, and you have a wonderful, vivid control over it. Calling a POW a hostage works when the POW is an American, doncha know? But, seriously, great reflection on the power of words and how this administration (to take your argument even further) has used language and misused language constantly. Let's keep our eyes on that and on the religious phrasing that is creeping into their speech.
"At the Knesset this week, the president delivered a speech that managed to make every foreign leader in the room look like they were calculating escape routes"
What gets me... is that Trump cannot deliver a major speech, or even a minor one --even when HE is receiving major adulation -- without going off teleprompter to remind everyone that BIDEN was "the worst president ever" while he, Trump, is the greatest. Never mind the facts. I guess it's just part of his pathological narcissism, but couple that with early-stage dementia and we're getting, as George Bush once said: "Some pretty weird shit"
Just like his "speech" during the Kirk remembrance.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jaywilson1/p/two-trumps-one-teleprompter?r=10sd39&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Yes and some folks here in Coos County want to join in with the Idaho thing. I think it is the same people who refuse to pay more taxes to support North Bend schools and vote it down every time. They don’t seem to know or care that the schools are below average on national rankings. They want a lower crime rate but vote against funds the sheriff and jails need to operate, making sure people are arrested and often re arrested the same day. I see a lot of Trump and MAGA flags on homes and trucks alongside the US flag as they pretend patriotic as our government is quickly being dismantled. I am sure they complain about immigrants while the only good restaurants here are run by them.
Yes, it is. Rod Taylor, Rob Taylor and their band of miscreants
Brilliant commentary as usual. Thank you.
Spot on, Mary. As a fellow Oregonian I have marveled for years at the signs I see in Eastern Oregon. I know a lot of folks there, and if they know you they will give you the shirt off their back. Our truck (pulling our trailer, and with 2 dogs) blew up just outside Butte, Montana; apparently kissing cousins to Eastern Oregon, and a friend of a friend gave me a number for a contact that took almost a half day off work to find us a mechanic and help get us a rental. She actually said, "I bet we don't agree on a lot of things, but here in Butte we help people that need it."
But just days earlier on a lovely highway through the mountains on our way to the Wallowa Mountains was a falling down shed with a tattered sign that read, "Joe and the H** gotta go." These are folks that home school so their kids don't come home and ask about gays, or trans, or acceptance of people that are not like them.
And then there is the fun place along the way to John Day that STILL says Biden is providing guns to criminals and yes, "Free Oregon to Join Idaho!" along with more outdated favorites.
I'll bet that eastern Oregonians are rethinking the Idaho thing now that there might be Islamists training in Idaho!
Mary- your response to the reader who pointed out a language issue was great.... and one of the reasons I keep forwarding your newsletters to other friends and action groups. Hopefully that will translate into more membership for your blog.