Rachel Maddow says what the remainder of the mainstream media will not say about rising fascism

Rachel Maddow broke the political noise on Monday night to warn that a response from all of society is needed to effectively combat fascism. And that’s something we’ve done before.

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Maddo says:

If you look at what happened the last time we faced something like this, criminal law can’t do everything. I mean, we can’t rely on everything in the courtroom to argue against it. If these are extremist far-right groups willing to use violence against anyone else to get their way, then that’s crime, and the courts and prison system matter, right? But there’s also a really important role for everything else.

For a response from society as a whole. I mean, the criminal justice system isn’t bulletproof, but it also doesn’t address the nature of these crimes in their entirety. To fight fascism effectively, to fight rising authoritarianism effectively – especially when it comes to undoing elections and trying to both gain and keep power in this country in ways other than democracy.

When it comes to the threat of violence as a means of seizing power, there isn’t just space; There is a need for a societal response. So that everyone does something. For activism. For journalism, for political organizing, to keep them out of real power.

I see a way for you to learn how we’ve been through something like this before and it can be unnerving if we’ll ever get away from it. On the other hand, knowing that we’ve encountered this before and encountered it effectively, and the Americans had great ideas on how to outflank and defeat these forces, that gives me energy.

Maddow doesn’t pretend that we don’t confront the rise of fascism and authoritarianism. The queen of context laid it out for Americans tonight – not only do we face this threat, we have done it before. This is exactly the topic she dedicates to her new podcast Ultra.

Ultra looks familiar because we’ve faced major threats like this before:

Sitting members of Congress support and encourage a conspiracy to overthrow the government. Insurgents accused of conspiring to end American democracy for good. Justice Department prosecutors under crushing political pressure. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra is the almost-forgotten true story of good old-fashioned American extremism fueled by proximity to power. When extremist elected officials are caught conspiring with the violent far right against America, this is the story of the efforts they will make to cover their tracks.

We must fight on all fronts and never miss a battle. This is an all hands on deck situation. It’s bad, it’s terrifying, but it’s also something each and every one of us can do something about.

Political organizing at the local level, driving people to the ballot box, knocking on doors – these things have power. community has power.

We can learn from those who fought this battle before us. We can use our wits to fight these anti-freedom forces on all fronts.

Ms. Jones is Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief of PoliticusUSA and a member of the White House Press Pool.

Sarah hosts Politicus News and co-hosts Politicus Radio. Her analysis has been featured on several national radio and television news programs and talk shows, as well as in print media, including Stateside with David Shuster, as well as The Washington Post, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter and more.

Sarah is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.