Thread by @equalityAlec

THREAD. The Democratic Party platform presents such a profound crisis if we have any hope of avoiding fascism.

Kamala Harris and other Democrats would essentially only need to say that they will condition aid to Israel on compliance with international law (i.e. follow existing U.S. law on weapons). The refusal to say something so simple presents a point of no return, for a few reasons.

Here is an image of everywhere bombed in Gaza, mostly with U.S. bombs. 100,000s have been killed by conservative estimates in medical journals. The entire infrastructure (schools, hospitals, water, history, etc) destroyed, and many thousands kidnapped, raped, tortured, maimed.

People can see the images for themselves, and they can listen to what Israeli settlers, soldiers, and far-right government are saying. And yet, leading U.S. politicians deny it, change the subject, ignore it, and even justify it with grotesque lies.

Every day there are pundits on Israeli TV calling for genocide that spares no one, soldiers/settlers smiling and dancing while poisoning wells, lynching, raping prisoners on video, blocking aid trucks, arresting people for social media posts, sniping children in the head, etc.

Instead of stopping this--by simply stopping to fund and arm it--the U.S. has done a series of depraved public relations stunts to redefine the term "ceasefire," and shift the goalposts, all in a cynical ploy to keep the killing going but deceive liberals. thenation.com/article/world/…

In this process of relentless, depraved lies about things that anyone can see, many of the key institutions in the West are brazenly careening toward the fascist dystopia that Orwell so beautifully described: totalitarian domination so complete that it can insist 2+2=5.

It is difficult to walk back from that cliff, because the subtle, pervasive message to everyone swimming in this water all around us is: nothing matters. There is nothing except who is stronger, except who is willing to use that strength to dominate.

This is fascism: brazenly violating the law, but unfurling messages to the masses like this:

Orwell saw something vital: there's a difference btw being part of terrible things but not fully realizing it. Yes, there is enormous culpability in that ignorance, much of which is willful. But the fascist mentality is: knowing a truth and insisting on a lie with brute force.

People are taught that genocide is singular. It is a unique horror that trumps all. And so, once it is embraced, all else follows--for what else is there? What more can be said or done with those who do genocide? This is one reason the current moment is such a profound crisis.

And so, anyone who tells you that this is just about a single issue doesn't know history, doesn't understand how fascism works, and doesn't understand the awe-inspiring architecture of violence, control, and power it takes to insist on a lie this big, and what that portends.

Thanks to @adamjohnsonCHI @akela_lacy and @provisionalidea whose images and work I cited above.