How to deal with the rise of fascism
PLUS: Harry Sisson talks about the 2024 race, Biden fighting Trump and misconceptions about Gen Z voters
I loved having the opportunity to “interview” my friend Katie Couric. Heading into it, I knew that I didn’t stand a chance, and I would be doing the answering before very long, which is exactly what happened!
During our conversation we talked about the state of the American media and journalism. We talked about what constitutes a national news story. Here was that part of the conversation, as well as the CNN story we were talking about:
I think Katie is right, and she definitely has sat at the head of the table when it came to making those types of judgements. My point, which I made inartfully, was about proportionality. Where is the boundary line between the whack job and public relevance? Are the musings of every loon, dime-store Mussolini and wannabe boss really of national import in an interconnected world? Where is the line?
Who doesn’t want to take an off-ramp off of the crazy lane? I know I do.
I also know that ignoring, minimizing and pretending aren’t effective strategies for dealing with a rising fascism, including the tide of blustering idiocy, venom, antisemitism and the intimations towards violence from a weapons-grade imbecile like North Carolina’s MAGA Holocaust denier Mark Robinson, who is now the Republican candidate for state governor. Many of you have talked about him in The Warning comments section over the past several weeks.
There are no people he has not insulted and lambasted. Truly. His record of offensive bluster is astonishing. Robinson combines the philosophy of the simpleton, with the certitude of a know-it-all into a combustible mix of venomous jingoism in which conspiracies, Jews and plotters of all sorts lurk behind every corner. Whatever remnant of American exceptionalism remains unrebutted by an ascendant Trumpism, it is certainly clear that Mark Robinson is its final refutation. His unfitness for public responsibilities of any type is indisputable. There has never been an era in American life that a person of such low character, lower intellect, and profound delusions would ever be considered for a position of public trust. Ever. Robinson is an avatar for an era of nihilism. He is the tip of the spear of a philosophy that says, “Let it burn” for no reason at all. He is a vandal and a blowhard. He is a fool and a menace. He is a clown and a threat.
He must be defeated. He must be stopped.
His candidacy is a national shame and a national stain. His effort is an affront to the murdered and dead of the Holocaust, which he denies.
Elie Wiesel talked about the moral monstrousness of Robinson’s position when he suggested that the denial of the murder of Holocaust victims is the equivalent of murdering the dead, again. Here is what he said:
We owe it not only to the living. If we forget, the dead will be killed a second time, and then they are today's victims.
Mark Robinson is a political extremist with glaring mental health problems, who stands 217 days away from being one of America’s 50 state governors. Should that come to pass, it will be a humiliation for the people and state of North Carolina, which will be making an unequivocal declaration of ignorance, grievance, misogyny and contempt for decency with the choice. It will also be an embarrassment for the American people, and an affront to our values.
It must not happen.
Later today, I will speak directly to the antisemite Mark Robinson — as well as to as many Americans as I can reach — about what we are obliged to stop. I beg you to read the words of Steven Spielberg, who talked about the spreading cancer at the 30th anniversary celebration for the Spielberg-founded Shoah Foundation:
Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history – to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish.
The echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate. The rise of extremist views has created a dangerous environment, and radical intolerance leads a society to no longer celebrate differences but instead conspire to demonize those who are different to the point of creating ‘the Other’… This is happening alongside anti-Muslim, Arab, and Sikh discrimination. The creation of ‘the Other’ and the dehumanisation of any group based on their differences, is the foundation of fascism.
He also added:
We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7th and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza.
What is coming must be stopped as early as possible, which will always now be much later than was necessary. How much worse things get is an open question on which we all literally get to vote. Before that happens, I intend to tell the truth about Mark Robinson.
This morning, I will begin my day by walking next to the monument that marks the site of the Warsaw ghetto wall, behind which the city’s Jews were locked and confined in misery and penury.
Approximately 1.7 million Polish Jews, mostly from the ghettos, would be moved at gunpoint during Operation Reinhardt in 1941-42, herded onto rail cars and shipped 50 kilometres from Warsaw to Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor. All would die.
Later today, I will travel to Treblinka and bear witness that the murder that happened there was real. I will use the occasion to condemn Mark Robinson to millions of people who are reached through the Warning community and social platforms. I will appropriately condemn his ignorance, indecency, amorality, immorality and galactic arrogance. How dare he? Shame on him.
“Never forget” has become “always look away” for the MAGA fascists and their sympathizers.
Should we not be clear about what Mark Robinson is? We must all be clear because what he is, is perfectly clear. Everything has come into focus. There is no mystery about who and what everyone is in election 2024.
Today, I will help educate the public about Mark Robinson. I will go to a place he says is make believe, a fairy tale.
I assure you that it is neither. Like Robinson, it is a nightmare. The difference is one must be remembered, while the other must be evaded and avoided.
I will do my part to deliver the warning. I hope you might do yours by spreading the message. Join the cause. Join the Warning community.
PODCAST: Harry Sisson talks about the 2024 race, Biden fighting Trump and misconceptions about Gen Z voters
On this week’s episode of The Warning podcast, I sat down with Gen Z political activist Harry Sisson. Harry says he became aware of the danger of Trump when he was 15 years old, and has worked since then to make sure he doesn't return to office. We talk about whether the campaign strategy to keep Biden cloistered is working, how Trump's America parallels historical periods of fascism, and what older people get wrong about Gen Z.
You can watch it here, or you can listen to it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.
I think Robinson is a gift to Democrats Steve, I really don’t believe that a majority of North Carolinians will vote to put him into the governorship, and hence the gift 🎁 . That is not to say that his unfitness for public office should in any way not be broadcast widely. Every time I have seen clips of him speaking, I have wondered if he has ever looked into a mirror, did he not notice that he was a black man. It astounds me, what comes out of his mouth, if the Democrats wanted to create their ideal opponent, he’s the personification of that ideal. And he will be sucking up money that might be put to more nefarious uses, that’s a double win for all of us.
I envy your trip to Poland, I too would pay my respects at the camps where so many perished. I had good friends that worked on “Schindler’s List”, it was a deeply moving experience for all of them. We have to do everything in our power to prevent another Holocaust, that tragedy can never be repeated, ever! My father and his brothers, along with hundreds of thousand others, fought to end the scourge of the fascists, they all risked everything to accomplish their victory. We have to honor their sacrifice, that we have an aberration like the insipid clown, is an indication that many of us have lost sight of our obligation. Stay safe on your somber journey 🙏
As a native North Carolinian, both Mark Robinson and Michele Morrow are appalling embarrassments. Morrow has only homeschooled her own kids and knows NOTHING about public education. Her educational background is that of a nurse. As a former NC teacher, I find her presence in this race demeaning to NC teachers and public education in general.
I don't know how politically talented she is. She couldn't get elected to the Wake County School Board. She was not supported by Senate leader Republican Phil Berger, who is one of the most powerful politicians in NC. I think her election was a fluke, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't work to defeat her. Expertise does matter. After all, don't you want a highly qualified, experienced surgeon performing YOUR operation?
As for Mark Robinson, he is just vile. There are those voters who see him as a way to "stick it to the libs." He doesn't seem to realize that in a fascist, racist society, he would be a disposable "other."