About | Speaking Truth To Po

Somebody's Got To Do It!

In days past, if a politician was known to be a fabricator of the truth, he/she was ostracized from their respective political environment. Not anymore! The current administration has made the ability to lie with a straight face a prerequisite to being elevated to a cabinet-level position. In addition, the potential candidate must be able to perpetuate the lie even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary. Our mission here is simple: to tell you the truth. Not as we see it, but the unadulterated truth.

It's pretty amazing how easily lies flow from this administration. From the top down. According to Politifact, an independent, non-partisan website that evaluates the accuracy of claims made by those in the political arena, 2025 was the "Year of the Lies." Editor-in-Chief Katie Sanders: "We have been doing this for a long time. And the volume and severity of the inaccurate claims was just overwhelming. And we felt that it was insufficient to name just one our lie of the year."

And the hits just keep on coming.

Now, the mainstream media does a pretty good job of holding this administration accountable, but they are overwhelmed. So what we propose to do is focus on some of the biggies and hopefully help you to see the destructive impact these lies are having on our democracy. And it is dramatic.

Democracy in Peril: It's Now or Never

On The Road Again

If ever there was a time to speak truth to power, this is it. The United States of America is well over half the way down a treacherous road to Fascism, which is defined as "a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement; characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy." Sound familiar? Okay, so maybe more than halfway.

Fascism is at the very far right of the traditional left-right spectrum, and this is not our first trip down this road. America is no stranger to fascist ideology and wannabe autocrats.

Testing The Authoritarian Waters

Having been deliberately buried in the basement of the archives of American history, fascism has been a part of the American experience for over 100 years. Although it was primarily overshadowed by the fascist extremists in Europe — most notably the Nazis in Germany — fascism first reared its ugly head in the United States riding horses and sporting hoods.

The Klan

Granted, there was no doubt earlier groups with fascist ideology floating around since the States became United, but most scholars agree that fascism began to take root in America in earnest in the mid-19th century when the Ku Klux Klan was created to reign terror on the southern Black population to prevent them from voting after they were freed from slavery. The Klan checked all the boxes: as far right as you can get; characterized by a dictatorial leader; belief in a natural social hierarchy; subordination of individual interests, and all of the oppressive attributes listed above.

Slavery

Since the Klan was created to oppress the black vote in the South after slavery was abolished, I think it's safe to say that slavery is the root of the fascist movement in the United States. Talk about checking boxes! It was a fascist, authoritarian regime operating primarily within the Southern borders of the United States!

Nazis In the Garden

However! When it comes to a public display of fascism, the largest one to date in the United States was the Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. It was organized by the German American Bund, a pro-Hitler organization in the United States. In this astonishing display of all things un-American, more than 20,000 American citizens offered Heil Hitler salutes to Fritz Julius Kuhn. Kuhn was a Nazi activist who had been elected leader of the Bund.

Over 100,000 people gathered outside the Garden to protest the rally. The pro-Nazi Bund was very unpopular in New York City, and the locals cried for the rally to be banned. But then-mayor Fiorello LaGuardia resisted the temptation to cancel it and allowed the event to go forward. He correctly predicted that the Bund's highly publicized display of support for Hitler would discredit them in the eyes of the public at home and abroad.

The Train Has Left the Station

Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt are among the scholars who argue that the U.S. has already transitioned into a form of "competitive authoritarianism." At this stage, the ruling party uses whatever works to subvert democracy. It starts with gerrymandering, voter suppression, critical funding cuts, and demonizing the press. Again, sound familiar.

As the Trump Train hurls down the track toward complete authoritarianism, the pilot - or "cowcatcher" - is barreling through some critical democratic institutions: elections, the courts, Congress, the press. Let's take a look at some of the damage so far:

Elections

To completely dismantle the electorate is an absolute necessity when establishing an autocratic regime. Donald Trump's election interference efforts have been remarkably bold and effective at both the federal and state levels. He has minions in state legislators all across the country doing his bidding to ensure that he remains in power. His attempts to influence election outcomes include:

Trashing the Process

The minute Donald Trump realized that he had lost the 2020 presidential election, he began to impugn the process. But he sowed the seeds for it back in 2018 when it became pretty clear he would not be re-elected. Since then, his attack on the electoral system has been ruthless and relentless, culminating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Donald Trump began his attack on the electoral process insidiously but has since elevated it to an unabashed assault. In his efforts to remain in power, he has: