I really, truly understand now how fascism takes hold in a society. None of this “how could it happen” self-pardoning and wilful blindness. This is how!

Your immigrant friends are unimpressed.

I knew some of the mechanisms, but only because I grew up with a few enthusiastic fascists in my purview. What I could not imagine was how clownish and cartoonish it was possible for their leader to be whilst still gaining broad support.

Just endless fact checking of obvious nonsense, trying to convince them to stop calling in bomb threats