FOR ALL OF US WHO DEFEND DEMOCRACY AGAINST FASCISM

 I may yet owe an apology to some of those who, IMO, voted for fascism this election. Starting with Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Spaffenberger. Yes, he voted that way but he still put truth, and his country, above political partisanship, respected the numbers like the good engineer he is and for that he deserves creditable mention. And more state and local Republican officials appear to be emerging from the woodwork to stand beside him, for which they also deserve creditable mention. Because of all the noise made by those on the Right who are about to become open fascists, it's hardly even possible to tell whether the honest patriots among our opponents are a silent majority or a (let us hope) leavening minority in the 'Republican' party. They certainly are quite absent, with the exceptions of Mitt Romney, Larry Hogan, Peter Shumlin and Charlie Baker, from the top rungs of leadership. But wherever they are, they are examples of something without which democracy cannot survive: they put truth, principle and country above political party and desire for wealth and power.
Of course I'm biased, but to me it looks like such a spirit is shared by nearly everyone who voted Democratic this past election. It's the Republican party that is seriously diseased by all-but-open fascism inside its ranks, perhaps especially within its inside-the-Beltway contingent and, most of all, inside its media wing of Faux News. There, I'd say the fascism is already open!
In our country, we are once more on the verge of creating something that, so far as we know, has never existed before: a genuinely multiracial, multi-ethnic, multi-faith democratic republic. Think about this. We have the opportunity to be a leader among the nations again in doing this. However, too many among us want to bar the gate and make our country into a hideous cross between Apartheid South Africa and a Shi'ite Baptist republic complete with its own ayatollahs! So long as they're on top, they don't care if what they're on top of is Fresh Kills as opposed to being on equal terms with those who are 'different' than they and building something unseen before in all of human history--together!
Which brings me to something else a democracy needs: citizens who understand what democracy, equal rule of law, and hearing out everyone means and who are willing to defend and fight for that against enemies foreign and domestic. Right now our biggest problem is with the latter on the Right: racists, fascists, oligarchs, wannabe Grand Inquisitors and other neo-feudal bad actors.
These are the groups who stand in the way of a democracy larger and more comprehensive than anything before in human history. And they will spout such things as how 'natural' it is to be tribal. And they'll be....partially right. But it is both possible and indeed urgently necessary to put precept, such as the one to hear as great a variety of voices as possible and to be zealous in making sure the rule of law is equally applied, before one's tribe or tribes. This is necessary for democracy to work. It is also necessary for civilization to work and endure. Finally and most importantly, it is commanded by God in both Old and New Testaments and in the Qur'an as well, if I'm not mistaken. We often misunderstand this as a command to impose our cultures upon the unwilling. No, that's not how it's supposed to go. Yes, I do think Sir Charles Napier was right in putting an end to suttee in the way he did, too. If you don't know the reference, google it and be enlightened.
Another thing necessary for democracy (and I must say we democrats and Democrats have been remiss in this) is the slapping down of behavior intended to stifle voices the speaker doesn't like. There's been a lot of noise made about such behavior on the far left but the Left does this much less than the Right. And one variety of 'free speech' that should never be tolerated is speech which says that, because of race, ethnicity, faith or lack thereof and/or sexuality, one group should have more rights and others less.
We cannot repeat this often enough: personal liberty is not zero-sum. The freer the least among us are, the freer we ALL are! Allied with this is that living creatures--humans, animals, biospheres-- and their necessities, must be considered of more importance than property and property rights, especially those of absentee landlords or other absentee 'owners'. Mom-and-Pop or even mid-size businesses are something very different from corporate oligarchs and the two have precious little, if anything really, in common. We can't repeat that often enough either.
Much has to be done with which the honest Republicans probably won't agree but, so long as they play by a democracy's rules, we can live with that--and with them. When they can see how much better progressive policies pay off for everyone, that will be the icing on a very sweet yet nourishing cake.
But we can hardly be too severe with our native neo-feudal fascisti. They need to be decisively beaten time and again. God give us the strength to do what is necessary, sez I.