Fascism is real

I've been listening to history
Tales of fascists trying to take power
But not just the oft-told tales from Germany
And, well, not just from some long past hour

The Nazis were villains. Monsters.
And it's easy to spot monsters right?
And it was evil folk that let them prosper?
And they only meet at the dead of night?

No. They had families. Many went to church.
They played sport and some sung in a choir.
They weren't deformed, didn't cackle and lurch.
But they fanned flames that were just embers, high and higher.

They told sweet lies that you weren't to blame
They gave you a scapegoat, an other to attack
They made them less human, and felt no shame
They used language that seems to be coming back

Maybe we wont take this path. We could be fine.
But Ukraine shows warfare is possible, even in the "civilized" West.
History is filled with people who did cross that line.
And I'm worried we're putting that line to the test.

***

Inspired by, well, a lot of recent events. But also specifically by "Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra", a podcast about how Nazism almost took hold in 1940s America.