Bennett a fascist

Editor, Gettysburg Times,

In his column in Friday’s Gettysburg Times, Bruce Bennett talks crazy for what looks like almost a thousand words and finds evil almost everywhere but in his own heart. “The evil Dr. Fauci… a political hack… [and] insane medicine man” tops his list. But the “Communist Democrats” come in for a close second. Together they are said to be “responsible for the deaths of 3.5 million around the world and 550,000 Americans.” And at that point, Bennett is just getting started. Before he’s done, he wants us to take a tip from Shakespeare who is reported to have said, “Kill the lawyers first.” “After that,” Bennett says, “we might start on the doctors who have let the country down by kowtowing to China and never questioning the evil Dr. Fauci.”

This is not “conservative thought.” This is fascist propaganda, a mixture of lies, distortions, and half-truths taken out of context. The word “fascist,” I would be the first to agree, is used (and misused) way too often. But how else can we describe a piece of writing that uses lies—both big and little—to call for violence against fellow Americans?

Facts are not really relevant to Bennett’s article which consists entirely of wild claims, personal attacks, and dark fantasies lifted from social media. By printing this stuff the Times lends legitimacy to these claims and attacks, and credibility to the dark fantasies that power them. In other times and places, the demonization and dehumanization of others associated with this type of writing has had terrible consequences.

Do Republicans and other conservatives, including the management of the Gettysburg Times, really want to go down this road? We have a country to heal and a future to build together. Bruce Bennett is not helping.

Will Lane,

Gettysburg