1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Call it what it is. What we are living through is not a "weakening of democracy" or an "alarming trend" — it is fascism. Masked federal agents shooting people in the streets. Detention camps operating under humiliating conditions. The home of a sitting congresswoman raided weeks before an election. A president threatening to "annihilate" a sovereign nation at the United Nations. These are not the symptoms of a democracy under stress. They are the operating procedures of a fascist government. History is unambiguous on this point. By the time European fascisms of the last century were fully recognized and named, it was already too late. The lesson is not subtle. Describing what is happening as merely "alarming" is a recipe for waiting — for the next election, the next norm violation, the next outrage. That is exactly what fascism counts on. Name it in the headlines. Demand your colleagues do the same. The remedy cannot begin until the diagnosis is made out loud.