The “F-Word” and the End of the Joke

But as I read this latest piece in The Atlantic, I realised I have to stop being polite about terminology. Let's just call it what it is.

February 4th, 2026
New York, NY

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For years, I avoided the "F-word" (fascism) the way I avoid WebMD. It felt like a hysterical over-diagnosis. You have a mild headache, and suddenly you're convinced it's terminal brain cancer. I didn’t want to be labelled some kind of Chicken Little. (“The Democracy Is Falling!”) That’s to mention the ideology itself, which is such a mess that even the original dictators couldn't agree on what it meant (which is surprising for a group of people so obsessed with rules).

But as I read this latest piece in The Atlantic, I realised I have to stop being polite about the terminology. We’re moving past the “semi-fascist” label President Biden used and entering an era where the best description of the MAGA movement is psychological. As John Bolton pointed out, Trump looks at dictators unburdened by legislatures or judiciaries and thinks, like a jealous toddler, “Why can’t I have the same fun they have?”

That is where the laughter stops, and the nervous sweating begins.

We’re seeing a transition from Trump treating the government like his personal family business (classic patrimonialism) to something strictly ideological and aggressive (regressive?). We are looking at a “constellation of characteristics” that, when viewed together, spells out the F-word in bright, terrified neon flashing lights.

It feels like things are getting very serious for those of us who satirise the government. I was listening to Ben Collins from The Onion talk to Kara Swisher recently, and the subtext was chilling. Satire is becoming a dangerous occupation. When you have a leader who gleefully trashes liberal pieties like reason and civility, and whose administration opens the door to “dark passions” of domination, the satirist isn’t just a jester anymore. They’re a target.

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Related Reading:

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The Atlantic article highlights how Trump has moved from simply mocking John McCain to calling journalists “piggy” and making obscene gestures to factory workers. It’s funny in a “middle school bully” way until you realise this demolition of decency is a feature, not a bug. It clears the path for the glorification of violence, where the government glamorises military-style raids and suggests shooting protesters. (in the leg.)

Above: Sam Harris talks to Jonathan Rauch; the author of that Atlantic article.

This brings us to the so-called “intellectuals” giving this movement momentum, like conservative writer Michael Anton. The article mentions Anton’s view of the 2016 election as a “Flight 93” scenario where you have to “charge the cockpit or you die.” This is the Schmittian¹ view of politics as war, where the goal isn’t to govern the country but to destroy the other side. It’s a worldview where Stephen Miller can stand up and say, “We are the storm... You are nothing,” like a villain in a screenplay critics would say was too on-the-nose.

Cartoon by myself and Scott, for MAD Magazine, 2018.

It makes you worry about the institutions we’ve relied on, like The Washington Post. They’re facing a hostile government that views the press not just as a nuisance, but as an “enemy of the American people” to be crushed with lawsuits and regulatory abuse. (This week, WaPo laid off over a third of its staff. A third.)

This is heavy stuff, I know. (eep) But we need to talk about it.

That is why I am thrilled that later this month on DMA, I will be joined by two people who understand this better than anyone. The brilliant Pulitzer Prize winning Political Cartoonist, Ann Telnaes and the legendary Swiss cartoonist Patrick Chapatte will be coming on. We are going to discuss what it means to draw the line when the line keeps moving.

I also just read about a famed satirist who says he is throwing in the towel: Forty years ago, Christopher Buckley (author of Thank You for Smoking, among many other books) poked fun at Ronald Reagan in a satirical novel about a president refusing to leave office. The idea that a world leader would never surrender office to his successor was “a quaint notion,” writes Buckley. And then came Trump.

“If video killed the radio star”, Buckley argues, “current events have almost certainly killed the humorist. Our reality is much more absurd than anything even the most seasoned satirist could write.”

By me in 2020.