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Congratulations America! You Are Now Free to Use the F Word

But you still might get pushback from fascists.

10 min readMay 22, 2025
Fascism: propaganda poster for autarchy in Italy “”Buy Italian products,” 1935 | Leopoldo Metlicovitz

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Remember when Kamala Harris called Trump a “fascist” during her presidential campaign?

Forget the pearl clutching. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell nearly dropped his monocle. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, acted as if Harris had asked him to declare his pronouns. (We can assume it’s he/him/hallelujah.) Fox News piled on, warning that calling your opponent a “fascist” was a dangerous escalation. (Unlike, say… calling Democrats pedophiles, groomers, communists, or woke demons sent from hell to ruin your gas stove.)

Fox News had a point. Say the word “fascism” and you might as well throw a live grenade into polite conversation. Even George Orwell, writing in the 1940s as fascism was a global menace, warned us of its slipperiness:

“It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless… I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley’s broadcasts, Youth Hostels…

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Carlyn Beccia
Carlyn Beccia

Written by Carlyn Beccia

Award-winning author of 13 books. My latest: 10 AT 10: The Surprising Childhoods of 10 Remarkable People, MONSTROUS: The Lore, Gore, & Science. CarlynBeccia.com

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