This Week In Fascism May 14-21
Second installment of refusefascism.org weekly feature enumerating some of the fascist acts of the Trump/Pence regime over the past week.
The past week has been marked by a dizzying pace of fascistic moves. The fallout from the Comey firing has brought forward multiple scandals regarding this regime’s ties with Russia and the sharing of classified information that Trump believes he has “absolute right” to share. At Refuse Fascism our focus is on driving out the whole regime for the sake of humanity and indeed the planet.
Attacks on Abortion and Women’s Health
On Monday May 15th, the Trump/Pence regime unveiled a deadly new policy: Protecting Life in Global Healthcare Assistance (PLGHA). PLGHA extends the murderous Global Gag Rule to NGOs who receive funding from any U.S. government agency or department. NGOs who receive U.S. support for global health from any U.S. department or agency may not provide patients with or educate patients about abortion care. This increases the amount withheld to $8.8 billion. $8.8 billion worth of life saving care for HIV/AIDS prevention, Zika and malaria treatment, maternal/pediatric health, and family planning programs is being cut off through this truly deadly policy.
Texas House of Representatives passed sweeping legislation outlawing dilation and evacuation (common method for abortions) and requires the burial or cremation of aborted fetuses. This legislation would mean that doctors who perform dilation and evacuation would face felony charges. The restrictions on dilation and evacuation, one of the safest forms of abortion, is very likely to pass the Senate and has nothing to do about the health or welfare of women. These laws further limit and shame women who seek to control their bodies and their lives.
Criminalizing Immigrants
News broke this past week that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempted to enter an elementary school in Queens, NY on the hunt for a fourth-grader.
An ICE report published last week which indicated a 40% rise in people arrested for deportation (more than 41,000 people since the inauguration). This includes a 150% increase in specifically non-criminal immigration arrests, more than 10,000 people who are not even suspected of having done anything wrong. It’s not just the sheer numbers, many of these raids and arrests are targeted to incite fear and compliance throughout the immigrant population. For example, an outspoken immigration activist was arrested Thursday in Los Angeles by Border Patrol agents in an apparent act of intimidation towards anyone who speaks up.
Whipping Up A Fascist Movement
The very first lawmaker to call for impeachment on the floor of the House of Representatives, Rep. Al Green of Texas, received numerous threats of lynching. “You’re not going to impeach anybody, you f*****g n****r,” said one caller. “You’ll be hanging from a tree.”
In Charlottesville, Virginia white supremacists led a torch rally to denounce the removal of a monument to Robert E. Lee. Dozens were heard chanting the Nazi chant “blood and soil” and the KKK classic “you will not replace us.” Those rallying were joined by a Karl Oliver, a Mississippi lawmaker who exclaimed that those who are taking down confederate monuments should be lynched. Rep. Oliver’s district includes the town of Money, Mississippi where Emmett Till was kidnapped before being lynched.
Networks of “alt-right” fascists have unleashed a campaign to dig up and publish everything they can find about the personal lives of the thousands of individuals who signed the Refuse Fascism Call to Action: “NO! In the Name of Humanity – We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America! DRIVE OUT THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME!”
Wars for Empire
Trump made his first stop of his first international trip to the theocratic kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While there Trump signed an arms deal of $110 billion to support Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen. This war that has involved both U.S. and Saudi airstrikes has killed over 10,000 people and decimated Yemeni access to clean water and sanitation. Another focal point of his visit was ferociously beating the drums of war against Iran.
In a transcript of an April phone conversation between Trump and Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte Trump continued to threaten the use of nuclear weapons on North Korea. In the conversation he stated, “We can’t let a madman with nuclear weapons let on the loose like that. We have a lot of firepower, more than he has times 20, but we don’t want to use it… We have two submarines — the best in the world — we have two nuclear submarines…”
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While rumblings of impeachment have begun to emerge, it does not yet appear likely. If he is impeached in regard to the Russia scandal, his program remains intact and Mike Pence becomes president. No! We refuse to accept a fascist America. As Refuse Fascism’s Call to Action states: “What matters right now is what masses of people do: acting together with determination and creativity, expressing outrage and anger, taking to the streets with the spirit of no business as usual and demanding that this regime be driven from power. In dealing with the extraordinary, we must rid ourselves of ordinary thinking.” Read, sign, spread and donate to promote Refuse Fascism’s Call to Action.