DEFEATING THE FASCIST BEAST: A California Perspective.

The Goatfürher at Burning Hills, California ©️2025 Martha Previte https://www.patreon.com/MarthaPrevite

by John Earl, of SoCalWaterWars (previously Surf City Voice), Jan. 31, 2025

Welcome! Defeating The Fascist Beast is about me, John Earl, and others doing our best to help defeat The Fascist Beast, Donald Trump, and his cult of MAGA-fascist followers.

I don’t know if victory will come in two years, four years, or even within my lifetime (I am 70 years old). But I want my children, grandchildren, and anyone else who stumbles upon my writings to know that I cared enough about them to take action. I wanted to make life better for them than it would have been if I, and millions of others, hadn’t tried.

And I know that there are millions of other parents and grandparents who feel the same way I do.

Besides being a grandfather, I am a journalist who has lived in Southern California for most of my life. I currently reside in San Diego County. I previously lived in Los Angeles and Orange County, spending 1984 to 2021 in Huntington Beach.

During my thirty-seven years there, I witnessed the city government oscillate between moderate and conservative. However, starting with the pandemic, it rapidly shifted to a full seven-member council of MAGA neo-fascists. Their relentless culture wars and cronyism morally and financially crippled the city, serving as a stark demonstration of what America is becoming under Trump.

Huntington Beach vice mayor Kasey McKeon presides with The Fascist Beast close by at all times. (screenshot)

I also publish the newsletter SoCal Water Wars on Substack, where you can learn more about me and my journalism background.

DTFB is evolving, but its main purpose is to examine how we allowed the MAGA fascists to take power and how we can take it away from them as soon as possible, no matter how long that takes. We must never give up.

If Democratic Party politicians want to act like leaders of a real opposition party, that’s great—welcome aboard the freedom train. But if you continue standing around doing nothing—perhaps because you still think you have a lock on power in places like San Diego County, and can play your own crony games while MAGA fires burn all around you—then you are part of the problem.

How will the MAGA-fascist Huntington Beach City Council deal with the real challenges of climate change? They have been in the majority since 2022 and gained a full 7-member majority in 2024. “D” represents a recent staff report’s grade of the current condition of city infrastructure.

On DTFB, I will be crossposting a wide variety of articles from other Substack writers who effectively address the MAGA-fascist takeover of the federal government, its effects, and how to work together to stop it. I will also provide links to relevant articles published outside of Substack’s boundaries. Guest writers will be welcome. Additionally, I intend to provide links to and reviews of various organizing efforts in SoCal, other states, nationally, and internationally that are dedicated to fighting the rise of neo-fascism wherever it occurs.

Gradually, I will incorporate more of my own original reporting, focusing on DTFB’s purpose throughout SoCal, with significant coverage of Orange County, especially Huntington Beach, and San Diego County, particularly the South Bay area near the Mexican border.

New fully MAGA city council starting Dec. 3 2024. Self-proclaimed St. Michael, God’s Archangel, aka City Attorney Michael Gates, is on the far right. (Screenshot)

Since I have spent much of the past 20 years writing about SoCal water politics, I will highlight the actual and potential effects of MAGA politics on California’s water management, climate change, and environmental policies. We’ve already seen horrible indications of this in Donald Trump’s threats and lies, coinciding with the LA wildfires.

More to come as it happens. Click HERE to become a subscriber…

About Surf City Voice

John Earl is the editor of SoCal Water Wars (previously Surf City Voice.) Frequent contributor Debbie Cook, a former Huntington Beach Mayor, is board president of the Post Carbon Institute.