If we do not rise up in unprecedented, unified, coordinated resistance now, it will very soon be too late.
Protesters rally against National Guard deployment and President Donald Trump as they march on Capitol Hill on September 2, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Christopher D. Cook
Sep 07, 2025
Common Dreams
Saturday September 6, an even more-atrocious-than-usual Trump social media post pushed the fascist envelope further wide open, creating heightened alarm and urgency. “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” taunted the text above an AI image ripped from Apocalypse Now, superimposing US President Donald Trump’s face on a warzone scene from the classic film. In the background, the Chicago skyline is filled with army helicopters and orange hellfire.
Yet more ominously, Trump’s post went on, “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” Yes—Trump is now directly and openly declaring war on American cities.
Sickeningly, the Trump “White House” (using quotes here to emphasize how utterly surreal and beyond-the-pale they are) reposted the open threat with helicopter emojis. As Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted, with this post Trump “drops all pretense and openly admits the mass raids in Chicago are about ICE raids and deportations (not crime), and essentially declares that he’s going to war with the city.”
The blatant, in-your-face nakedness, vicious meanness, and fearmongering are all the point—a central aspect of fascism is its normalization, the forceful imposing of a new normal. Trump’s ghoulish post this Saturday took this to new heights and depths and cannot be ignored or diminished.
Trump’s rapidly intensifying fascism is on daily display, everywhere: the military takeover of Washington, DC, and soon Chicago and other cities, violating both federal law and local will; unmarked vans with the masked, unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents rounding people up and detaining and deporting them without any due process; his constant declarations that he can do whatever he wishes because he is president, such as violating court orders, profiting directly off the presidency, and endlessly, relentlessly more.
The time has come to take the resistance to a new level. Everyone who is outraged, upset, scared, anxious, and sickened by Trump’s rapidly intensifying fascism must unite in coordinated mass resistance. If we do not rise up in unprecedented, unified, coordinated resistance now, it will very soon be too late. If you are outraged and sickened by what this administration is doing, do not wait—the longer we wait, the worse and more irreversible Trump’s fascism will be.
The next mass protest action in Washington should be 1 million strong.
As I write this, a massive “We Are All DC” protest in Washington, DC could pave the way forward. A diverse, steadily growing, and loud crowd of many thousands took to the Capitol’s streets Saturday, marching near the White House and other sites of power, with shouts of “Shut it down” and “Trump must go now.” On October 18, an array of groups will hold a nationally coordinated “No Kings” protest. The last “No Kings Day” drew record crowds and marked a potential turning point in the growing movement against Trump’s fascism and bigotry.
The anti-Trump resistance movement is steadily growing and congealing. The question now is, when and how will this burgeoning uprising go beyond protests and mobilize coordinated actions that create concrete impacts? When do we coordinate a national General Strike, or similar effort that shuts things down for a time? When will we all go to Washington, DC and simply sit down, sit in, refuse to leave, and prevent this fascist administration from creating further harm?
Actions like these must be done thoughtfully, carefully, and strategically. This is not a time for whimsy or flippancy. We must create real infrastructure, systems of solidarity, support, and mutual aid, to sustain nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, including a General Strike. Such efforts must include organized labor and other diverse major movements.
This is not a criticism of the current protests—I have been to and supported all the marches I can muster, while supporting online, signing petitions, and making phone calls daily; this is an urging in solidarity. Now is the time for a new level of national mobilization and resistance action that goes beyond marches and rallies.
Building on Saturday’s inspiring turnout in DC, we need to coordinate and organize a truly massive, nationwide “STOP FASCISM NOW” protest in Washington—one that people can plan for and that unites and coordinates the many uprisings across the country. The next mass protest action in Washington should be 1 million strong. Yes, 1 million.
It’s time to aim higher and dig deeper. All of us. The time to UNITE, COORDINATE, and MOBILIZE a MILLION people in DC is NOW. Of course, many can’t make the trip, and cities across the nation will continue their own protests—but mobilizing 1 million people in DC for a national day (or week) of action and, potentially, a General Strike Against Fascism, would be dramatic, powerful, and impactful.
One million against fascism and for democracy, diversity, love, solidarity, and a future that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. One million against fascism and for our shared futures.
Maybe we call it simply: The National Mobilization Against Fascism. The General Strike Against Fascism.
It’s time to imagine it, build it, and make it happen. Our country, our communities, and our future are on the line, and there is truly no time to lose. The time is now.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Christopher D. Cook
Christopher D. Cook is an author and award-winning journalist who has written for Harper's, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Guardian, Mother Jones, the Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and many other national publications. He is the author of Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis. Contact him through www.christopherdcook.com.
Full Bio >
Saturday September 6, an even more-atrocious-than-usual Trump social media post pushed the fascist envelope further wide open, creating heightened alarm and urgency. “I love the smell of deportations in the morning,” taunted the text above an AI image ripped from Apocalypse Now, superimposing US President Donald Trump’s face on a warzone scene from the classic film. In the background, the Chicago skyline is filled with army helicopters and orange hellfire.
Yet more ominously, Trump’s post went on, “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” Yes—Trump is now directly and openly declaring war on American cities.
Sickeningly, the Trump “White House” (using quotes here to emphasize how utterly surreal and beyond-the-pale they are) reposted the open threat with helicopter emojis. As Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted, with this post Trump “drops all pretense and openly admits the mass raids in Chicago are about ICE raids and deportations (not crime), and essentially declares that he’s going to war with the city.”
The blatant, in-your-face nakedness, vicious meanness, and fearmongering are all the point—a central aspect of fascism is its normalization, the forceful imposing of a new normal. Trump’s ghoulish post this Saturday took this to new heights and depths and cannot be ignored or diminished.
Trump’s rapidly intensifying fascism is on daily display, everywhere: the military takeover of Washington, DC, and soon Chicago and other cities, violating both federal law and local will; unmarked vans with the masked, unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents rounding people up and detaining and deporting them without any due process; his constant declarations that he can do whatever he wishes because he is president, such as violating court orders, profiting directly off the presidency, and endlessly, relentlessly more.
The time has come to take the resistance to a new level. Everyone who is outraged, upset, scared, anxious, and sickened by Trump’s rapidly intensifying fascism must unite in coordinated mass resistance. If we do not rise up in unprecedented, unified, coordinated resistance now, it will very soon be too late. If you are outraged and sickened by what this administration is doing, do not wait—the longer we wait, the worse and more irreversible Trump’s fascism will be.
The next mass protest action in Washington should be 1 million strong.
As I write this, a massive “We Are All DC” protest in Washington, DC could pave the way forward. A diverse, steadily growing, and loud crowd of many thousands took to the Capitol’s streets Saturday, marching near the White House and other sites of power, with shouts of “Shut it down” and “Trump must go now.” On October 18, an array of groups will hold a nationally coordinated “No Kings” protest. The last “No Kings Day” drew record crowds and marked a potential turning point in the growing movement against Trump’s fascism and bigotry.
The anti-Trump resistance movement is steadily growing and congealing. The question now is, when and how will this burgeoning uprising go beyond protests and mobilize coordinated actions that create concrete impacts? When do we coordinate a national General Strike, or similar effort that shuts things down for a time? When will we all go to Washington, DC and simply sit down, sit in, refuse to leave, and prevent this fascist administration from creating further harm?
Actions like these must be done thoughtfully, carefully, and strategically. This is not a time for whimsy or flippancy. We must create real infrastructure, systems of solidarity, support, and mutual aid, to sustain nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, including a General Strike. Such efforts must include organized labor and other diverse major movements.
This is not a criticism of the current protests—I have been to and supported all the marches I can muster, while supporting online, signing petitions, and making phone calls daily; this is an urging in solidarity. Now is the time for a new level of national mobilization and resistance action that goes beyond marches and rallies.
Building on Saturday’s inspiring turnout in DC, we need to coordinate and organize a truly massive, nationwide “STOP FASCISM NOW” protest in Washington—one that people can plan for and that unites and coordinates the many uprisings across the country. The next mass protest action in Washington should be 1 million strong. Yes, 1 million.
It’s time to aim higher and dig deeper. All of us. The time to UNITE, COORDINATE, and MOBILIZE a MILLION people in DC is NOW. Of course, many can’t make the trip, and cities across the nation will continue their own protests—but mobilizing 1 million people in DC for a national day (or week) of action and, potentially, a General Strike Against Fascism, would be dramatic, powerful, and impactful.
One million against fascism and for democracy, diversity, love, solidarity, and a future that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. One million against fascism and for our shared futures.
Maybe we call it simply: The National Mobilization Against Fascism. The General Strike Against Fascism.
It’s time to imagine it, build it, and make it happen. Our country, our communities, and our future are on the line, and there is truly no time to lose. The time is now.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Christopher D. Cook
Christopher D. Cook is an author and award-winning journalist who has written for Harper's, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Guardian, Mother Jones, the Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and many other national publications. He is the author of Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis. Contact him through www.christopherdcook.com.
Full Bio >
The Smell of Fascism: What the Absolute Flying Fuck
Meme from the unhinged Peace President of the United States
Photo from Truth Social
Abby Zimet
Sep 07, 2025
Sep 07, 2025
Further
Implausibly, it keeps getting weirder, darker, worse. Hankering to make war against his own citizens in the name of an imaginary crime wave, the deranged, draft-dodging Peace President of the United States just posted a mock Apocalypse Now meme of himself as Duvall's warmongering sociopath, warning Chicago is "about to find out why it's called the Department of War" and leering, "I love the smell of deportations in the morning." Sigh. Nothing to see here.
Wildly flailing in a job he is utterly unfit for and so eager to deflect from the looming, likely damning Epstein files he'll do pretty much anything even kill us, the old, bored, crumbling, makeup-caked man now defiling the White House randomly decided it was time to "send a message of strength" to an unlistening world by changing the longtime name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. "We won the first World War, we won the second World War, we won everything before that and in between," he babbled, "and then we decided to go wokey and we changed the name to Department of Defense." Umm. Ok. So now he's changing it back except Congress would need to approve the change, so not really.
At least now Pete Hegseth gets to use a new bellicose name to show the U.S., in a break from its long tradition as global peacemaker, is "going to go on offense, not just on defense," a shift he explained in his best warrior-ethos gibberish as, "Maximum lethality, not tepid legality,” also, "Violent effect, not politically correct." In other words, given the "100,000 Americans killed each year" by Biden's "open border," the U.S. had "absolute" authority" to attack a Venezuelan boat carrying suspected gang members in the Caribbean - "We smoked a drug boat and there's 11 narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean" - though some would call that a war crime. Speaking for the regime, J.D. Vance chimed in: "I don't give a shit what you call it."
No wonder, then, the orange man-child seeking revenge on those who doubt his manly powers is threatening to send troops to Chicago, "the most dangerous city in the world" - "I have an obligation" - though it only has the 92nd highest violent crime rate among big American cities, where crime has been falling the last few years to unprecedented lows, and where Dem-led Chicago's crime rate remains far below the most murderous four cities, all in GOP-run states, of Jackson MS, Birmingham AL, St Louis MO, Memphis TN, which in turn are far below the world's most dangerous cities - Tijuana, Mexico, Colima, Mexico, Caracas Venezuela, Durán, Ecuador - and countries: Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, Jamaica, South Africa, Colombia, and now, of course, Gaza.
Still, onward to Chicago, or at least the fever dream of Chipocalypse Now, an awkward word-play that prompted confused responses online: "So now he's declaring war on Chipotle?" "Wouldn't Chicagalypse be better?" "It sounds like the next Ben and Jerry's flavor," etc. Evidently re-posting a MAGA fan's AI slop, the peace president declared war on an American city, coincidentally blue, with a tacky meme rendering himself as an unhinged anti-hero of a smoldering, surreal anti-war movie, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Apocalypse Now, which updates Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness to the Vietnam War that Private Bone Spurs, aka the fearful manchild who would be king of Chipocalypse, passed on five inglorious times.
Now he's cosplaying as Lieut. Col. Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, commander of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, a gung-ho, racist, surfing madman who loves war, wears a black Cavalry Stetson hat straight out of America's Indian Wars - "Stolen valor at its worst"- and delivers the iconic line - after an attack on a village of innocents, to helicopters blaring Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries that Hitler played at his rallies, relishing the use of a flammable "stick-to-kids" gel that burned screaming children alive - "You smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning...It smells like...victory." "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." "I love the smell of deportations in the morning." Get it? Get the vile sick fucking joke?
This ghoul, these people, are vile sick fucking jokes. And they're so dumb they again utterly misunderstand - see Springsteen's Born In the USA - what's going on here. They think Duvall, a sociopath in a black hat, is a good guy. "Tell me this is not real, please," was one comment. Also, "More fucking fuckery" and, "I have a hard time comprehending how we got to this moment and why any of this is acceptable on any level for any human being." "(Trump) is threatening to go to war with an American city," notes Gov. Pritzer "This is not normal." "Kilgore is a psychotic, mass-murdering white supremacist, an embodiment of every evil American impulse and of (our) pointless, sadistic rampage through Southeast Asia," writes Peter Birkhead. "The President of the United States thinks he’s cool."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Abby Zimet
Abby Zimet has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: azimet18@gmail.com
Full Bio >
Implausibly, it keeps getting weirder, darker, worse. Hankering to make war against his own citizens in the name of an imaginary crime wave, the deranged, draft-dodging Peace President of the United States just posted a mock Apocalypse Now meme of himself as Duvall's warmongering sociopath, warning Chicago is "about to find out why it's called the Department of War" and leering, "I love the smell of deportations in the morning." Sigh. Nothing to see here.
Wildly flailing in a job he is utterly unfit for and so eager to deflect from the looming, likely damning Epstein files he'll do pretty much anything even kill us, the old, bored, crumbling, makeup-caked man now defiling the White House randomly decided it was time to "send a message of strength" to an unlistening world by changing the longtime name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. "We won the first World War, we won the second World War, we won everything before that and in between," he babbled, "and then we decided to go wokey and we changed the name to Department of Defense." Umm. Ok. So now he's changing it back except Congress would need to approve the change, so not really.
At least now Pete Hegseth gets to use a new bellicose name to show the U.S., in a break from its long tradition as global peacemaker, is "going to go on offense, not just on defense," a shift he explained in his best warrior-ethos gibberish as, "Maximum lethality, not tepid legality,” also, "Violent effect, not politically correct." In other words, given the "100,000 Americans killed each year" by Biden's "open border," the U.S. had "absolute" authority" to attack a Venezuelan boat carrying suspected gang members in the Caribbean - "We smoked a drug boat and there's 11 narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean" - though some would call that a war crime. Speaking for the regime, J.D. Vance chimed in: "I don't give a shit what you call it."
No wonder, then, the orange man-child seeking revenge on those who doubt his manly powers is threatening to send troops to Chicago, "the most dangerous city in the world" - "I have an obligation" - though it only has the 92nd highest violent crime rate among big American cities, where crime has been falling the last few years to unprecedented lows, and where Dem-led Chicago's crime rate remains far below the most murderous four cities, all in GOP-run states, of Jackson MS, Birmingham AL, St Louis MO, Memphis TN, which in turn are far below the world's most dangerous cities - Tijuana, Mexico, Colima, Mexico, Caracas Venezuela, Durán, Ecuador - and countries: Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, Jamaica, South Africa, Colombia, and now, of course, Gaza.
Still, onward to Chicago, or at least the fever dream of Chipocalypse Now, an awkward word-play that prompted confused responses online: "So now he's declaring war on Chipotle?" "Wouldn't Chicagalypse be better?" "It sounds like the next Ben and Jerry's flavor," etc. Evidently re-posting a MAGA fan's AI slop, the peace president declared war on an American city, coincidentally blue, with a tacky meme rendering himself as an unhinged anti-hero of a smoldering, surreal anti-war movie, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Apocalypse Now, which updates Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness to the Vietnam War that Private Bone Spurs, aka the fearful manchild who would be king of Chipocalypse, passed on five inglorious times.
Now he's cosplaying as Lieut. Col. Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall, commander of 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, a gung-ho, racist, surfing madman who loves war, wears a black Cavalry Stetson hat straight out of America's Indian Wars - "Stolen valor at its worst"- and delivers the iconic line - after an attack on a village of innocents, to helicopters blaring Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries that Hitler played at his rallies, relishing the use of a flammable "stick-to-kids" gel that burned screaming children alive - "You smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning...It smells like...victory." "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." "I love the smell of deportations in the morning." Get it? Get the vile sick fucking joke?
This ghoul, these people, are vile sick fucking jokes. And they're so dumb they again utterly misunderstand - see Springsteen's Born In the USA - what's going on here. They think Duvall, a sociopath in a black hat, is a good guy. "Tell me this is not real, please," was one comment. Also, "More fucking fuckery" and, "I have a hard time comprehending how we got to this moment and why any of this is acceptable on any level for any human being." "(Trump) is threatening to go to war with an American city," notes Gov. Pritzer "This is not normal." "Kilgore is a psychotic, mass-murdering white supremacist, an embodiment of every evil American impulse and of (our) pointless, sadistic rampage through Southeast Asia," writes Peter Birkhead. "The President of the United States thinks he’s cool."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Abby Zimet
Abby Zimet has written CD's Further column since 2008. A longtime, award-winning journalist, she moved to the Maine woods in the early 70s, where she spent a dozen years building a house, hauling water and writing before moving to Portland. Having come of political age during the Vietnam War, she has long been involved in women's, labor, anti-war, social justice and refugee rights issues. Email: azimet18@gmail.com
Full Bio >
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