When fascism comes: blame public hopes and popular opinion

“When fascism comes it will not be in the form of an anti-American movement or pro-Hitler bund, practicing disloyalty. Nor will it come in the form of a crusade against war. It will appear rather in the luminous robes of flaming patriotism; it will take some genuinely indigenous shape and color, and it will spread only because its leaders, who are not yet visible, will know how to locate the great springs of public opinion and desire and the streams of thought that flow from them and will know how to attract to their banners leaders who can command the support of the controlling minorities in American public life. The danger lies not so much in the would-be Fuhrers who may arise, but in the presence in our midst of certainly deeply running currents of hope and appetite and opinion. The war upon fascism must be begun there”.

– a passage written by John Thomas Flynn, “As We Go Marching”, 1944

The modern version of this sentiment says that when fascism comes it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a bible. This topic came to mind yesterday as I watched the President’s official spokesperson Sean Spicer literally laughing aloud while admitting the president’s past lies to a group of reporters in the White House press briefing.


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