The Skinny: Courting a Fascist Dictatorship
Author’s note: in addition to my work here on NIDC, I also blog about fascism and current affairs on the Fediverse; click here to check it out. Want more? Click here to subscribe to NIDC today.
Genocide, Revenge, and the Injustice Department
As we passed the halfway point of March, Trump and the Pork Reich turned their attention towards transforming the Department of Justice into an instrument for the Klepto Kaiser’s revenge. Despite this, the regime still found time to continue prosecuting its ongoing anti-trans pogrom, threaten even American protestors with “deportation” to El Salvador, and give Israel the green light to resume its genocide in Gaza. The hits don’t stop coming, but The Skinny is here to give you the straight dope on our rapidly deteriorating political situation in Trump’s Amerikkka. As always you can follow the links below to check out these stories on my Fediverse blog, or simply read them in their entirety on page two by using the navigation buttons at the bottom of this article.
March 15th – 22nd, 2025
Breaking the Law to Torture Trans Women
“Because this administration (and some would say, American society) hates trans women more than they like ice cream, nobody is making any effort here to prevent abuses that would seemingly go even beyond Trump’s fascist executive order. There are already reports of male guards “groping” trans women prisoners, prison officials seizing the bras and underwear of trans women prisoners like they were contraband, threats to force detransition incarcerated trans women by denying their hormone therapy, and even one report of a woman who had gender-affirming surgeries before her incarceration, being moved to a men’s prison. As one lawyer noted, this “is essentially sanctioning sexual assault in some instances.”
Trump, Vengeance, and the Justice Department
“Whether we’re talking about annexing Canada, mass deportations, kidnapping student protestors, or illegally handing over the power of the purse to Elon Musk, Trump appears to always preview his fascist activities by bringing them up, often casually, in his rambling public appearances first. This then establishes his personal antipathies as state antipathies, and his personal definition of reality as officially recognized reality. Once that is accomplished the fascist administration will increasingly operate as if Trump’s public utterances have always been known reality, and prosecute the regime’s agenda based on that assumption; “Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia” indeed.”
The Swine Emperor Wants to Criminalize Unflattering Media
“Frankly, I don’t think it’s an accident that in the very same speech Trump previewed loyalty investigations into Justice Department officials, and attempted to usurp the power of his Attorney General by declaring himself the country’s “chief law enforcement officer,” he declared liberal establishment media an active political arm of the opposition party, then accused them of both actively conspiring against him and engaging in criminal activity. What does it mean when the “chief law enforcement officer” declares media critical of him “corrupt” and “illegal?”
Trump Takes Possession of the Gaza Genocide
“Furthermore, all of this is pretty consistent with statements made by various high ranking officials in the Netanyahu government, who have openly flouted their intentions to break the cease fire and ethnically cleanse (by whatever means are necessary) the Palestinian people in Gaza. The fact that American corporate media rarely reports on these stated intentions, and is foundationally committed to credulously taking Netanyahu’s word for it when he claims to be seeking peace while bombing hospitals and murdering babies, does not mean the larger US establishment is unware of these facts – just that they’re hoping you are.”
Courts Stacked By Trump Won’t Stop Him
“There’s a pretty good chance we both already know Trump is a fascist, the MAGA or “America First” agenda is fascism, and these maggots have managed to stack a boatload of fascist judges throughout the judiciary branch; even the news that Trump stands poised to appoint more judges that will support his again, fascist agenda probably doesn’t come as a complete surprise to you. What I’m bitterly teasing you for is knowing all that, and still assuming a regime packed to the gills with literal nazis is going to give a flying fuck about what the referee says if those rulings go against them, and continuing to wait around hoping that at some point the nazis will start playing by the rules.”
Criticism of the Regime is Not a Threat
“Naturally, you’re probably thinking “criticizing Trump’s shortsighted budget policies and Elon Musk’s hard on for destroying any scientific research capabilities he and his tech fascist buddies don’t own isn’t a crime, and doesn’t represent a danger to American security” and you’re absolutely right. Unfortunately due to America’s twin historical freak outs about “communist spies” and “terrorists” the fact is that American border authorities have already been conducting ideological screening at the borders and turning away folks who share benign opinions with millions of Americans under the guise of “keeping us safe,” for decades.”
Vandalizing a Car is Not Violent Terrorism
“Just yesterday Pam Bondi made the argument that mere vandalism is actually a “wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties,” and that line was then parroted by a variety of regime-loyal mouthpieces in the larger discourse. This process of laying the ground work to transform fascist unreality into a presumed mandate to act is precisely the tactic we saw the Trump regime employ to justify kidnapping student anti-genocide protest leaders residing legally in the United States, render prisoners to a slave labor dungeon in El Salvador without due process, attempting to seize control of Columbia University, manufacture consent to annex Canada, and even attempt to shutter the US Department of Education.”
The Vichy American Establishment Won’t Save Us
“So, let’s make sure we all understand what’s going on here. Trump is brazenly and almost certainly illegally, shaking down a powerful law firm that has literally worked on cases opposing him in the past, and is known for their commitment to diverse hiring practices, and instead of fighting back, or even just taking the loss of government money on the chin, they’ve decided to *check notes* concede that a former partner who worked on cases against Trump was engaged in “wrongdoing,” work pro-bono for the fascist regime, and capitulate to the fascist “war on DEI” – an idea whose ever-expanding meaning appears to be “restore mandated white supremacy in America.”
– Nina Illingworth
Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic and analyst.
You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, and on Mastodon.
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