The following article was authored by Suzanne Downing solely. Both John Quick's and Suzanne Downing's articles will appear regularly in this section.
The world recently commemorated the 76th anniversary of D-Day.
This milestone serves as a stark reminder that on June 6, 1944, America fought fascism, landing on the shores of Normandy, France, to beat back the aggressive German fascist forces who were invading neighboring countries, killing Jews, those with differing sexual preferences, gypsies, as well as the physically and mentally challenged.
America was on a righteous cause to save the globe from the Nazis — from Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Francisco Franco.
Today, patriotic Americans are verbally assaulted by the radical left, who brand the president and his supporters "fascists." A strategy to make Donald Trump toxic in the minds of voters. The left now compares Mr. Trump to Hitler — who laid waste to the lives of millions of non-Aryan people, primarily Jews, for whom he harbored an obsessive hatred.
Fascism is not a specific thing, historians say, but a collection of actions informed by beliefs. Fascism is marked by far-right, authoritarianism, and heightened natonalism.
Under fascism, dictators suppress opposing viewpoints; they also highy structure society, inclusive of the economy.
Definitions for fascism historically have been all over the map, but none of the definitions have any resemblance to President Donald Trump — or his millions of supporters.
Trump, before he became president, was not considered at all a "fascist" by the left.
He was rather mainstream, giving equally to Democrats as he did to Republican candidates.
He was a clever New York businessman with an eye for pretty European women.
However, at that time, conservatives on the right didn’t particularly care for him.
For Mr. Trump lived a little too fast, and was a bit too crass for them.
They were not at all sure about his stance on the Second Amendment or whether he truly would support the rights of the unborn.
Yet, as he spoke to the nation throughout 2016, his message of economic growth and freedom from Chinese economic threats resonated.
He convinced enough of the American people that he would protect our borders.
Americans in 2016 wanted jobs back. Trump brought them back from overseas.
Americans wanted the unrelenting flow of illegals across the southern border stopped. Trump promised to build a wall. Americans wanted less regulation, lower taxes, and energy independence.
Donald Trump wanted those things too.
Trump said he would drain the swamp of the ruling class in Washington, D.C. And Americans thought he was the one to do it — if anyone could. He was not one of them; but an outsider.
Voters granted him the right to try.
Most of all, he was not Hillary Clinton, and that pulled him over the finish line in 2016.
But the playbook of Saul Alinsky, "Rules for Radicals," has been at work to destroy him since the day he won.
There were marches against our new president, and lewd forms of protest even on Inauguration Day, January 2017.
The movie stars raged on stage about what a fascist Trump was.
The Democratic women members of the U.S. House and Senate wore all white as the sat, sneering during the State of the Union address in January of this year.
Other women stood around protest sites in costumes straight from Magaret Atwood's "The Handmaid’s Tale," to show how horribly oppressed women are in our era.
Antifa has gotten its legs during the Trump years.
The drumbeat that "the president is a fascist" began at the fringes of the movement, and wasn’t taken seriously until it became the mantra for the socialist movement largely comprisinf the makeup of the Democratic Party.
Women’s marches began with the heaping of hate on the president — in 2017, 2018, and 2019, only fizzling out in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic and the election cycle coincided sending women to the world of Zoom, along with everyone else.
Celebrities like Colin Kapaernick jumped in, and pretty soon the Betsy Ross flag was as racist as the Confederate battle flag.
Then, came the neck on the knee of George Floyd, and police brutality captured for all globally to see. It was horrific, a display of sadism that cannot be excused.
The pent-up tensions in the black community, combined with sudden joblessness due to disease-fearing shutdowns, as well as an unfurling economic crisis were the kindling.
The brutal death of George Floyd was the match.
Simultaneouly, the phrase "fascist" was now a synonym for a Trump supporter wearing a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat. In Fairbanks, Alaska, a man was told to never come back to a coffee shop because of the MAGA hat he proudly wore.
No shirt. No shoes. No "fascists."
Long ago, America really knew what fascism was, stared it in the face, killing it dead.
On June 6, 1944, our nation's young men stormed the beaches. Waves of soldiers died in the surf at beach in Normandy, turning the sea red with their blood, so that the Allies could liberate the oppressed and put an end to the genocide in Nazi concentration camps.
Thus, we cheapen the concept of fascism when we apply it to a lawfully elected president who has simply sought to govern in the way that he believes is best — a way to Make America Great Again.
Turning the phrase "MAGA" into code language for fascism takes us down a dangerous road. While it’s not likely that the left will tamp down the "fascist" rhetoric, they are sowing seeds dishonoring the hundreds of thousands of Americans who actually laid down their lives to create freedom globally — dismantling the real fascism.
One of John Quick’s many super powers is to help your business discover how to best use social media and technology to connect with customers, drive traffic, tell your authentic story, and increase sales. He’s entrepreneur and a former regional director for Samaritan’s Purse, and is known as "chief implementor and red tape cutter." Read John Quick's Reports — More Here.
Suzanne Downing is the publisher of Must Read Alaska and Must Read America. She is a former business owner, longtime journalist, and political adviser who worked for Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska. She was raised in Juneau, Alaska and is based in Anchorage. Where she writes on current events and politics. Read Suzanne Downing's Reports — More Here.