When authoritarian instincts no longer bother to hide themselves

Fascinating.  All the things Democrats had claimed to be concerned about in terms of assaults on freedom, we now see them pursuing towards an authoritarian end.  For all their nominal support of anti-fascism, their emerging agenda is pretty clearly fascist (i.e. Government working hand-in-glove with major corporations to bring about changes not otherwise achievable in a democratic manner.  

Over dramatic?  I hope so, but the tea leaves are disturbing.

Some hopefully ephemeral and misleading indicators:

In 2017 as Trump staffed his administration, Democrats insisted we should all be concerned by the number of retired generals he was considering.  Most of them were not nominated or did not last long.  In 2021, the nation's capital is still occupied by 25,000 National Guardsman to counter some unarticulated and non-apparent risk.

Democrats in Congress, despite the first amendment, are seeking to suspend free speech by legislating against opinions with which they disagree.  Specifically, they claim that some broadcasters’ and cable networks’ demonstrate  an increasing reliance on conspiracy theories and misleading or patently false information.  This is pretty rich from a House which spent three years trying to breathe life into the Zombie Corpse of Russia Collusion and trying to hide that that whole effort was the product of Democratic efforts. 

Given the First Amendment bulwark, Congressional Democrats have a plan B.  Seeking to coerce media and technology companies into following suppressing free speech not sanctioned by the Democratic Party, and worse yet, targeting specific media outlets based on their viewpoints.  This sort of coercive power play based on Government and Corporations is the very definition of Fascism.

The effort to circumvent democratic checks and balances by governing through Presidential Edicts is part and parcel of this effort to suppress the voice of the people.

Glenn Greenwald has two excellent essays on these emerging trends; House Democrats, Targeting Right-Wing Cable Outlets, Are Assaulting Core Press Freedoms which includes numerous examples of instances where the Democratic playbook is a clear mirror of similar such actions among authoritarian regimes abroad; and Congress Escalates Pressure on Tech Giants to Censor More, Threatening the First Amendment.

Then there is the effort by Democrats to elevate an unruly mob at the Capitol on January 6th into an armed insurrection.  Initial, and continuing reporting, had it that one Capitol Police Officer was murdered, that there were guns and explosives carried into the Capitol, and that other paraphernalia was present indicating an effort to occupy the Capitol.  As investigations have proceeded, with very little reporting in the MSM, it seems increasingly clear that entry to the Capitol was in many areas permitted by the Capitol Police, that there has been no evidence of arms or explosives or occupation supplies, and that the only fatality was that of an Air Force Veteran shot and killed by a Capitol Hill Police officer.  Invented dangers are a frequent tool used by authoritarians to suspend Constitutional rights.

Then there is the media assault on privacy, aided and abetted by Democratic members of Congress, trying to turn private conversations into a threat to public safety.  The debate is centered around Apps which enable private and secure conversations.  Apps such as Clubhouse and encrypted platforms such as Signal and Telegram to Parler, even to Substack.  Matt Taibbi has good reporting on this controversy at The War on Privacy.  

And all this is on top of the routine deplatforming, cancellations of independent thinkers and speakers (See the NYT campaign against Slate Star Codex for no apparent reason other than they are free speech advocates), follow the experts despite their poor record for accuracy or forecasts and inconsistency of forecasts, obey government edicts (such as lock downs and sustained school closures) despite the absence of empirical data supporting those policies, etc.  

My alarm is not so much about the specific instances of infringement of freedoms.  My alarm is that what had been mere implications of authoritarian intent are now transforming into very transparently authoritarian actions.  A rejection of human rights and Constitutional freedoms are being treated as mere impediments to a powerful coalition of Mandarin interests seeking to work against both the Constitution and against the expressed interest of the public and usually towards an end which makes personal well-being much lower.