The G7 meeting focused attention on many challenges facing the world, but it did not address the most dangerous threat of them all, which is the transformation of the Republican Party in the US into a fascist movement.

When Donald Trump was in the White House there was much debate about whether or not he could be called a fascist in the full sense of the word, and not merely as a political insult. His presidency showed many of the characteristics of a fascist dictatorship, except the crucial one of automatic re-election.

But Trump or Trump-like leaders may not have to face this democratic impediment in future. It was only this year that the final building blocks have been put in place by Republicans as they replicate the structure of fascist movements in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.

Two strategies, though never entirely absent from Republican behaviour in the past, have become far more central to their approach. One is a greater willingness to use or tolerate violence against their opponents, something that became notorious during the invasion of the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on 6 January.

The other change among Republicans is much less commented on, but is more sinister and significant. This is the systematic Republican takeover of the electoral machinery that oversees elections and makes sure that they are fair. Minor officials in charge of them have suddenly become vital to the future of American democracy. Remember that it was only the refusal of these functionaries to cave in to Trump’s threats and blandishments that stopped him stealing the presidential election last November.

Many of them will be unable to perform the same duty in future elections. The Republican Party across the country is replacing or intimidating them so they are giving up their jobs or are being forced from their posts. In Pennsylvania, a state which played a crucial role in Trump’s defeat, a third of county election officials have changed as have numerous others in swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin. Their places are frequently being taken by conspiracy theory zealots who will have the power to nullify election results that are not to their liking. A survey by the Brennan Center for Justice shows that one in three local election officials say that they are being subjected to harassment and other pressures.

Speeding up this exodus are Republican state legislatures that have passed laws mandating heavy fines – $10,000 in Iowa, $25,000 in Florida – for election supervisors who make minor technical mistakes. Republican officials who refused to say that Trump won the election are being removed by their party. The Republicans should be able to do in 2022 and 2024 what they failed to do in 2020, which is to nullify election results at will so the true outcome of a poll can be ignored. Put simply, the will of the people will no longer count for anything.

Authoritarian regimes across the world have found that it is much easier and more certain to announce the election result they would like than to go to all the trouble of suppressing votes and gerrymandering constituencies. Once control of the electoral machinery is obtained then democracy poses no threat to those in power. Fascist leaders may use democratic processes to obtain office, but once there, their instinct is to pull up the ladder and let nobody else climb up it.

Nullification of elections is only the latest step in the Republican Party’s strange voyage towards becoming a genuine fascist party. Other steps have a much longer history, notably the moment half a century ago when President Nixon adopted his “Southern Strategy” whereby the Republicans capitalised on the Civil Rights acts to make a political takeover of the American South. The old slave states became the strongholds of the Republican Party which had once freed the slaves and defeated the Confederacy.

It is worth listing the chief characteristics of fascist movements in order to assess how far they are now shared by the Republicans. Exploitation of ethnic, religious and cultural hatreds is probably the most universal feature of fascism. Others include a demagogic leader with a cult of personality who makes messianic but vague promises to deliver a golden future; appeals to law-and-order but a practical contempt for legality; the use, manipulation and ultimate marginalisation of democratic procedures; a willingness to use physical force; demonising the educated elite – and the media in particular; shady relations with plutocrats seeking profit from regime change.

One by one these boxes have been ticked by the Republicans until the list is complete. The Tea Party movement was an important staging post on the road to Trumpism. Trump himself possesses all the classic features of a fascist leader, though he was somewhat hemmed in by the institutional and political divisions of power. Yet these impediments will be less in future as local legislatures, courts, electoral machinery and Congress itself are colonised by Trumpian Republicans. This erosion of democracy has a precedent, given that Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 were denied the presidency though each won a majority of the popular vote, but it is becoming all pervasive

American fascism differs from its European, Middle Eastern and Latin American variants because of the history of America, with its legacy of slavery, and the Civil War still remaining as a great divider. Slavery was abolished, the Confederacy lost the war, but in many respects the civil war never ended.

The civil rights legislation of the 1960s provoked a white counteroffensive that still goes on. Opposition to racial equality has never ceased. The key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which declared that changes in state election laws must have federal approval, was invalidated by Republican appointed judges on the Supreme Court in 2013. “Our country has changed,” said chief Justice John G Roberts in a majority opinion, which declared that racial minorities no longer faced barriers to voting in states with a history of discrimination. The absurdity of this was immediately demonstrated as Texas introduced a previously blocked voter ID law.

Voter suppression has ballooned ever since, but never more than this year. Some 14 Republican controlled states have passed 24 laws criminalising, politicising and interfering in elections to their own advantage.

What explains the descent of the Republican Party into fascism? Racial division explains much. The division of American culture along the same geographical lines as the civil war explains more. Add to this the frightening dislocation imposed on white working- and middle-class Americans by technological change and globalisation. Powerful forces are let loose similar to those that once propelled the rise of European fascism and is now doing the same in America.

Patrick Cockburn, UNZ Review

BIDEN: “Those who say the blood of Patriots, you know, and all the stuff about how we’re gonna have to move against the government… If you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons.”

Emperor Joe Biden, providing all the proof you need that he and his party are the biggest threat to the rights of individuals since Nazism and Communism.

In 1962, freedom-loving Americans feared being nuked by Russia. In 2021, freedom-loving Americans fear the threat of their own government.

In other news …

The U.S. military is now teaching critical race theory, the idea that America is a bad place with a shameful history, and that individual plus economic freedom is an evil and hateful thing. George Washington executed known traitors in the early American army. Today, the heirs to George Washington are teaching soldiers how to BE traitors.

And then there’s the question of election integrity …

Communist Democrat approach to elections:

If a Republican wins, it’s automatically invalid; the Democrat is the real winner, and only a conspiracy (e.g., Russia) could explain it.

If a Democrat wins, it’s automatically the “will of the people”, it must stand and it may not be questioned. Questioning the victory of any Democrat will get you condemned, censored and (perhaps) ultimately convicted of a felony.

That’s it.

DIVIDE, INDUCE UNEARNED GUILT & CONQUER.

Michael J. Hurd, Daily Dose of Reason

This is how the left turned America totalitarian.

A few years ago, my father passed away…

He was a brilliant physician… but unlike most surgeons, he didn’t have a lucrative private practice to support him in retirement. He was a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill… a state employee.

And his wife, my stepmother – whom I’ve known and loved for more than 30 years – depends on the survivorship benefits from his pension. The problem was, that pension was hanging by a thread.

I’ve seen headlines for years about a “pension crisis” (as I’m sure you have too) and read occasional notes about small towns going bankrupt. I figured the pension problems were just fearmongering… or something that a little bailout from the federal government could fix.

I was wrong.

When I dug into the numbers, I discovered that at the time, North Carolina’s state-sponsored pension funds were only 51.3% funded, right on the edge of the crisis point. It made me furious.

The more I dug, the more I realized how much danger was facing my stepmother and millions of other retirees…

Nothing beats a government pension. If you (or a loved one) work for the government, you expect pension benefits to support you for the rest of your life.

If you’re already retired, your check has shown up without fail, month after month. Your health care benefits are far better than most. And your money is practically inflation-proof, thanks to your cost-of-living adjustments.

Anyone would love to be promised those benefits in retirement. But what if that promise isn’t kept? What if you work for decades… only to have a big part of your promised compensation taken away from you?

This isn’t a hypothetical. It’s happening. And it’s going to happen to more folks soon.

Public pensions nationwide are crumbling. Legal loopholes are widening. If you don’t take action to protect yourself and your loved ones, you could be left with nothing.

If you’re currently retired, the coming American pension crisis could mean the elimination of cost-of-living adjustments, higher health care premiums, or even cuts to your base pension check. If things are bad enough, you may suffer a ravaging “clawback” – where the government repossesses a huge lump sum of your cash – and still cuts your monthly check.

Again, this is not a hypothetical.

In 2001, the vast majority of pensions were fully funded. Generally speaking, “well-funded” means above 80%. But 50% funding or less is considered the “crisis point.” It’s extremely difficult to come back from 50% or less.

According to The Pew Charitable Trusts – an independent research organization – pensions in Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, and New Jersey are less than 50% funded. In fact, New Jersey sits at the bottom of the list… Its pension is only 38% funded.

Only seven states are 90% funded.

If you’re one of the tens of millions of affected Americans, you should know… you have zero control over what happens.

You can’t increase or decrease the amount that’s being invested. Also, companies hire managers who oversee where the pension money goes… And the fees they charge dilute returns.

Plus, if you die right after you retire, your dependents might get nothing.

But there is a solution…

You can move money from your pension into a self-directed individual retirement account (“IRA”).

This gives you total control of your money. You get to grow your money tax-free, just like a pension… but there’s no limit on how much you can make.

A self-directed IRA is exactly what it sounds like… It puts you in charge of your investments.

In addition to the conventional investments you can make in a typical IRA – like stocks and bonds – a fully self-directed IRA allows you to invest in many other assets, including real estate, private stocks, businesses, options, and even precious metals.

You can invest in just about anything, as long as it’s not employed for your personal benefit. This simply means you must avoid any conflicts of interest. You can’t, for example, invest in companies you have a 50% interest in. But you can buy the house next door through your IRA and then rent it to a neighbor. You can also invest in a local small business (again, as long as it’s not your own).

If you do all your trading inside a retirement account, you don’t have to report any trades to the IRS. The goal is simply to maximize your total returns as quickly and as easily as you can… and get better returns than a pension could offer.

There are two ways to move your pension to an IRA…

One is to “roll over” the pension directly into an IRA. The broker or custodian you’re opening an IRA with should have all the necessary forms for you to fill out.

You can also take a lump-sum payment on your pension and then move the funds into an IRA. If you do transfer the funds within 60 days of taking the lump sum, you’ll avoid being taxed on the money and the 10% early withdrawal penalty. (If you can, though, just roll over the pension directly – you don’t want to risk incurring taxes and penalties at all.)

And make sure that you check with your employer’s pension-plan rules for any fine print.

However you do it, don’t wait. Why leave your pension – the money you’re counting on for retirement – in someone else’s hands?

Here’s to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,

— Dr. David Eifrig