American Fascism: The Death of “Truth, Justice and the American Way”

“Fascism doesn’t need to show up looking like the History Channel: swastikas, stiff-armed salutes, and jackboots marching down Main Street. Contemporary fascism, here and abroad, wears their Sunday best and clutches a Trump Bible.” – Rachel Bitecofer

The “blockbuster” movie of the summer opened this past week to adoring fans. Flying into theaters across the land “faster than a speeding bullet“ was the 2025 version of America’s #1 super hero, Superman. It is the twelfth in a long lineage of major flicks about the virtuous “Man of Steel” spanning decades.

The fact is that Superman (alias Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper) has been fighting villains, rescuing folks in need and doing whatever he can to make this world a better, safer place for almost nine decades. His first appearance was in a comic book back in 1938 created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. As an alien from outer space (planet Krypton), this extra-terrestrial immigrant swooped in as the most powerful man in the world, and he did so right in the nick of time.

In 1938 Nazi Germany under Adolph Hitler was on the move, stirring up the winds of war that would soon blow England and France into the conflict. Many Americans rallied under the motto of “America First,” calling for American neutrality. Siegel and Shuster, the sons of Jewish immigrants, were not so inclined, nor was their comic hero. In 1939 comic book covers found Superman fighting against soldiers in what appeared to be Nazi military helmets. And by 1940 he was taking on the likes of an Adolph Hitler lookalike in the syndicated comic strip.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japan in 1941 would force a reluctant America into the fray. A comic book cover then showed Superman bending the barrel of a Nazi artillery crew’s cannon in half. Then, during the height of World War II in 1942, the Adventures of Superman radio show introduced the caped crusader to the world as a hero who would be fighting for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.” This would go on to become the indelible lasting slogan associated with Superman’s purpose for being.

In his book, Superman Is Jewish?: How Comic Book Superheroes Came to Serve Truth, Justice, and the Jewish-American Way, Harry Brod writes, “Although U.S. entry was prompted by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,“superheroes fought against the Germans much more often than against the Japanese, reflecting the comics’ Jewish creators’ preoccupations with Europe and the Holocaust.”

And with that, dear reader, this is where all this history of the creation and evolution of America’s #1 super hero and his passion for Truth, Justice and the American Way serves as a spring board to launch you into a must-read post on The Cycle by Rachel Bitecofer.

The quote that leads off this post is taken directly from the introduction to Ms. Bitcofer’s post titled Make America 1933 Again: The Rise of American Fascism. No one, in my humble opinion, has done a better job of explaining how the MAGA movement mirrors (for the most part) the standard playbook of 20^th century Fascism in contemporary dress. Here is her lead-in to the raw meat of her post:
“And the closer you look at the MAGA movement, the harder it is to avoid the conclusion that America is not just playing footsie with fascism. Millions are in bed with it, spooning it, whispering sweet nothings to it on Truth Social…
So what I want to do here is lay out, piece by piece, how MAGA ideology mimics the machinery of Nazi-style fascism. I’ll also explain where it diverges. But mostly, I want to draw your attention to the structural similarities in how power is pursued, how enemies are constructed, and how the lie becomes the truth.”

Here’s what you’ll find when you read the post, piece by piece:
1. The Big Lie: Different Words, Same Playbook
2. The Conspiracy Machine: Globalists, Communists, Soros
3. Authoritarian Desire: The Daddy State
4. The Cult of Decay
5. Where They Diverge: Jews, Christianity, and American Exceptionalism
6. Dehumanization: Same Playbook, Different Targets
7. Don’t Wait for the Uniforms

She concludes with these sobering words:
“You don’t need swastikas to have fascism. You just need the belief that some people aren’t really people, that violence is justified, and that only one man can fix it. We’ve got that. Right now. In broad daylight. So the question is no longer, Could it happen here? The question is: Can we stop it, now that it has?”

Read all about it HERE.

We are now the (somewhat less than super) heroes called upon to redefine and reconstruct the “American Way” to serve the virtues of truth and justice in this time and place. May we be swift and persistent in answering the call

I leave you with a couple images of the band of heroes that gathered to make some “Good Trouble” this evening in front of the historic Chatham County Courthouse to pay honor to the legacy of a true American hero, former Representative John Lewis. In Pittsboro the Good Trouble Lives On candlelight vigil was marked by the singing of songs of peace and protest.