what was happening, although there were some who did not see it. Their problem was denial, just like people in the US today deny how bad things are. A frog in a boiling pot feels the heat, knows that it's getting hotter, but adapts to the heat as if it were normal, until it is too late to jump out.
Germans saw and heard what went on, but denied that Nazis were all that bad. Just political ruffians. When they did acknowledge how bad Nazis could be, they denied that they would gain enough power to do serious harm. Newspapers ridiculed Hitler as a buffoon during the 1920s elections when Hitler tried getting political support. When Hitler won enough votes in 1932 to have political bargaining power, conservatives had no serious qualms about him being appointed chancellor because they thought they could control him.
Regarding Nazi control of media, it didn't exist during the period when Nazis were rising in power. Media ridiculed Hitler and his militia thugs (sound familiar?) and some even later defied Nazi laws when the Nazis did have the power to crack down on media. People did speak out initially, before they realized how brutal the Nazi suppression would be. Then they stopped.
Not happening in America? What about poll workers getting death threats? Democratic activists getting forced off the road by RW vans? Cassidy Hutchinson and her family going into hiding after her J6 testimony? All meant to intimidate people into silence. Like Hitler's SA brown shirts did while the Nazis were rising in political power.
Regarding Republican media control, most US media are controlled by corporate conglomerates that support conservative financial interests, aka Republican financial policies. They control what their outlets say or print, without need for government intervention. But you can be sure that if Trump or DeSantis take the WH in 2024, there will be serious government censorship of journalists as "enemies of the state."
You keep comparing established German fascism with rising American fascism. It's not an accurate comparison. The comparison should be rising fascism in Germany with rising fascism in the US.
Republicans ARE banning books in schools and in some public libraries. Yes, people can buy a banned book on Amazon, if they can afford to. But this is rising fascism. If DeSantis or Trump gains the WH, and Rs gain control of the Senate, I expect that it will become illegal to own certain books.
Physical and psychological intimidation of anyone who is not a MAGA supporter is growing. People get harassed in stores over products the stores carry that MAGAs disapprove of. The families of mass shooting victims get villified in RW media which also encourage their followers to harass the victim families with death threats and claims of faked shootings. Alex Jones and Sandy Hook are only one example.
The US southern border and immigration are still issues with MAGAs and their xenophobic attacks on "the other." But during the Trump years, people were not concerned enough about the treatment of asylum seekers at the border. I was involved in seeking justice and help for them through a church's migration outreach program and refugee house in El Paso. I did not get to the house (covid intervened), but arranged a speaking engagement by a woman who had spent a few weeks there as a volunteer. People came out of curiosity to hear what we said, but already the MAGA propaganda had been accepted by too many people whose questions indicated that they believed that asylum was illegal, that the migrants were hardened criminals and gang members. Therefore, there was no mass reaction like George Floyd's murder brought out later.
Currently in NY, Governor Hochul is trying to find places for migrants coming into the state. Her plan was to house them in hotels in various communities. In the rural, red section of western NY, 6 counties immediately filed false state of emergency claims to prevent the migrants from being sent to those counties. (Mine is one of the 6.)
Defining "the other" to target as a scapegoat and as an unacceptable outsider is classic fascism.
I totally disagree with your last paragraph. RWers do accept anything for a win, but that's not true of the rest of us. Dems, for example, actually do weed out sexual predators, even when they are popular, like Andrew Cuomo. MAGAs elevate them.
RE: The excessive partisanship (aka polarization) that you referred to. What do you think that people are polarized about? It's creeping fascism vs. preserving democracy. Don't take my word for it. Check out people with more expertise than you or I have, e.g. Timothy Snyder, Madeleine Albright, and Ruth Ben Ghiat.
Albright's family's experience under fascism and then communism in Hungary, plus her experience in the UN and as Secretary of State qualify her as a top notch expert. I recommend her book, Fascism: A Warning.
Snyder and Ben Ghiat have books out on the subjects of fascism and authoritarianism, plus they have You Tube videos. Worth checking them out.
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