Antifa

The president of the United States – Donald John Trump – has issued an executive order designating “Antifa” as a terrorist organization.  Which means that anyone believed to BE Antifa has broken the law and can be arrested, tried and convicted for being a domestic terrorist.

But let’s look at this.

Antifa is short for anti-fascist.  No one disputes this.  Anti means against, and no one disputes this.  Fascist is the adjective form for fascism.  According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, fascism means 

a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.

Most Americans – indeed most everyone who has grown up in a democracy – would not call fascism a good thing and they fought World War II to keep fascism from spreading, anywhere.

Prime examples of fascism were General Francisco Franco’s Spain, Benito Mussolini’s Italy, and Hitler’s Nazi Germany.  No one thinks any of these guys were good guys.

In the United States, Antifa was born in Portland, Oregon and is still associated with that city.  Portland is by far the largest city in Oregon.  But Oregon is only the 27th most populous state in the United States, with a total population half the size of New York CITY.

Antifa has never been registered as any kind of official entity, anywhere.  It has no headquarters, no letterhead, no leadership, no member list.

If I wore a tee shirt emblazoned with the words “I am Antifa,” could I be arrested?  Could I be found guilty and tossed in prison?  For how long?  Yesterday, that shirt was merely an exercise of freedom of speech.  Today, according to our president, it is a crime.

So, what is the problem with Antifa?

Donald Trump is the problem with Antifa.  Fascists are the problem with Antifa.  Donald Trump IS a fascist.

During World War II, Italy was part of the Axis powers, alongside Hitler’s Nazi Germany.  Most Italians hated their political leadership, so much so that Mussolini was never turned over to Allied forces, his own countrymen got hold of him, his mistress, and his associates; they were all executed by common citizens, without trial, and then hung by their feet for all the world to see.

If Americans were truly a free people, Donald Trump would already have met a similar end.

I am Antifa!