What If Fascism Is... Boring?

I fear historians will mark 9/10/25 as the day America died.

It was already clear last week—but even clearer now—that Stephen Miller is using this tragic moment as his Reichstag Fire. And too many of us still refuse to see what’s right in front of us: America is in the early stages of a fascist takeover. The far right isn’t hiding it. They’re broadcasting it.

But here’s the twist I didn’t expect: Most Americans don’t seem to care. First, here are The Drift scores for this week. 

The only reason “Charlie Kirk” didn't break the record is that there aren’t many ads yet showing up in the databases. So far, the ads are mostly from people trying to sell merchandise. 

After seeing the fascists start to seize their moment, I was deeply depressed on Friday. I took Utah Governor Cox’s advice to “touch some grass”—in my case, sand. Jess and I went to Ocean City, Maryland, just to escape for a bit. Unintentionally, we were there for “OC Rock & Ride,” surrounded by thousands of bikers.

Naturally, I listened in on as many conversations as I could.

Not once—not once—did I hear anyone mention the assassination, the Reichstag moment, the unraveling of the republic. Not even in passing. In addition to a lot of conversation about motorcycles and the events over the weekend, I heard people talk about inflation. College tuition. The job market. One guy had a whole fantasy about buying a private island if he hit the Powerball—ideally one with a hotel already built, but if not, he'd construct it himself. “So basically a Branson island,” the bartender joked. I added, “Better than an Epstein island,” which got a big laugh. The guy quickly clarified: 21+ only, friends and family welcome. Then the conversation moved back to lump sum versus annuity payouts.

This weekend made one thing devastatingly clear: To many, the authoritarian takeover of our country is not just horrifying—it’s boring.

And that’s a massive problem.

While the Left churns out reactive outrage, most Americans are tuned out. Even JD Vance’s authoritarian show from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building barely cracked a million views. I’d bet more Germans heard Hitler speak on scratchy radio.

Here’s the real crisis: We’ve spent years chasing what resonates now, while the fascist right has spent years planning what will reshape the future.

The Drift started as a way to analyze what works—what gets clicks, what resonates, what goes viral.

But that’s not enough anymore.

We’ve been too reactive. Too focused on amplification. Too obsessed with being louder than the Right instead of being smarter than them.

Going forward, I’m evolving The Drift to do more than track what’s breaking through now.

We need to understand:

Starting next week, you’ll see a new section inside The Drift called Future Signals. It’ll focus on:

We’re not becoming fortune tellers. We’re building foresight. We’re asking the question the Left has too often ignored:

“What content, what issue, what narrative could drive a wedge right now—even if it’s not viral yet?”

We’ll still track digital trends and tactics. But this is about combining that knowledge with strategy. Not just what’s working—but what needs to work to shift the balance.

Because the far right is not as unified as they appear.
Because most Americans are not tuned into this fight—but they could be.
Because if we want to win, we can’t just resist. We have to disrupt.

I’ll be testing some of these ideas out in the coming weeks. Some might flop. But some might just help us sharpen a strategy that goes on offense for once.

Thanks for staying with me through this evolution. You’ll be the first to see what comes next.

–Keegan

P.S. What do you see coming next? What stories, patterns, or cracks in the right’s coalition do you think we should be watching more closely?