I have a silly theory about how our use of four-letter words evolves as we age. When we’re young we use four-letter words of aggression and urgency: f*ck, sh*t and the like. You know, “Why the f*ck isn’t this sh*t done yet!” As we progress through middle age, the most frequently used word becomes soon. “It’ll be done soon.” It’s almost here, soon. relax.” etc. At my age, the most frequently used four-letter word is what?

But there’s another word that will be getting used with more frequency than anything in 2024 and it is far more important than all the rest. This is a word that cuts across all age boundaries and is the lynch pin to all our futures: VOTE.

You’re going to hear this word countless times in the days leading up to both the Primaries and the Presidential election. You’re ears and eyes will be flooded by the use of it. And this is with good reason. This time voting will be an existential practice for every American. Our votes will answer the question of whether this country will continue as a Democracy or be rebooted as a Fascist Dictatorship. This distinction is not hyperbole or some over-dramatized fever dream.

Use It or Lose It

Trump and the people backing him have been uncharacteristically transparent about their intentions should he, or another Republican, win the election. Trump has stated repeatedly that he intends to “be a dictator.” He added the phrase “for a day” or “for one day.” But given his track record for truthful statements, you can rest assured any time-limiter is “fake news.”

The Heritage Foundation, source of such things as far-right Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, has generated a nearly 1000-page plan dubbed Project 2025. It is the detailed plan to dismantle the US government’s non-partisan bureaucratic structure and replace it with those loyal to the executive—Trump or otherwise. For any students who missed history lessons about the rise of Hitler in Germany, this is exactly what the Nazis did. No original thought here.

Project 2025 institutes minority rule in the United States and would bring to an end any semblance of Democracy. There’s no denials of this from Republicans. Their latest CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) guest was Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán, whom they openly admire and want to emulate. Hungary no longer has an independent judiciary, legislature or press. As of last week it was now illegal to criticize Orbán in any media at all. Again, this was exactly what was done in Germany in the 1930s.

In short, the ambition of Republicans is to do to the United States what Orbán has done to Hungary.

In a quick digression, there is a direct parallel to our present situation in the story of how Orbån came to power. Two American political consultants, Arthur Finkelstein and George Birnbaum engineered his campaign. They used a strategy of having Orbán use targeted enemies for him to be seen as fighting against: immigrants and George Soros. Sound familiar? The story is too long to tell here, but you can read the whole sordid tale at BuzzFeedNews.

High Stakes

With the far-right putting its cards on the table and telling us outright what they intend, a line has been drawn in the sand. Billions have been invested in trying to demolish Democracy in America, so the chips these guys are pushing to the middle of the table mean a lot:

• A government based on a ChristoFascist version of religion (and theirs would be the only religion).
• Mass arrests and incarcerations of immigrants and enemies of the “state,” meaning whomever is in the White House.
• Mass detention camps.
• “Vermin” such as LBGTQ+, anyone liberal, etc., rounded up by the military.
• Journalism and opinion under tight control.

This is a short list of examples. Thom Hartmann as published a much more extensive one.

Another thing you won’t see on the list of plans under Project 2025 is free elections. If this faction wins, 2024 will be the last free presidential election.

Another quick jump into history shows us that one of the things the Nazis did after installing Hitler was abolish all other political parties. When you’ve got a dictatorship, who needs elections.

Unpopular? So What

Fascists, MAGAs, Nazis, White Supremacists, whatever you want to call them, have fully wrested control of the Republican Party. They know full well that their proposed policies are unpopular. But they don’t care. Why? Because they think that they have a lock on what is going to happen in the coming elections.

Republican legislatures in over 20 states have passed a variety of laws to make voting harder or outright suppress it. A project headed by another former Trump lawyer, Cleta Mitchell, is working to replace a long-standing voter verification system with one of her own concoction to remove targeted voters from the rolls. That same lawyer is also involved in a push to keep college students from voting and openly advocating to raise the voting age.

Republicans feel very secure in the idea that they can push their programs through, if no one votes them down. So, they target voting, propagandize voting and generally try to make themselves seem inevitable—hoping to generate an apathy about voting and get people to just stay home.

What Do We Do?

It is obvious the far right fears our votes. This is so plain it might as well be a coast-to-coast billboard.

So what can we do to protect this right now and into the future? A lot.

• If you are not yet registered, register now. Today.
• If you are registered, verify your registration. Make sure you are still on the rolls and that no shenanigans are underway in your area.
• Get others registered.
• On election days, be prepared to stand in log lines. Bring snacks and water. Some states have passed laws making it illegal for people to even give you water if you are waiting in line to vote.
• If you see armed men in the vicinity of polling places, photograph them and post them to the internet. Call the police. But don’t allow them to deter you. That’s why they are there.
• Vote by mail. And then verify that your vote was received and counted.
• But in any event, VOTE!

We have a lot actually going for us. Since the end of Trump’s time in office and his attempted insurrection, he and his followers have proven time and time again that they lack the competence they assume they posses.

This has been shown many times since then. A great example was the Constitutional Amendment passed in Ohio to protect abortion in that state. The far right and the steamroller is professes to be was stopped by a populace that said, “Not on our watch.”

Each and every one of us are the actual superheroes to wrest our country from the grasping hands of wannabe dictators. Our vote is our stance and the same message for us to deliver this year is “Not on our watch.”

Here’s a meme we created to help get the message out. This will be a major focus of Factkeepers this next year. We will produce more.

A meme you can share.

Voting is more than your right as an American. It is your job.