MAD Hero of the Month: Will Bunch Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer is not afraid to call out the Trump regime’s fascism. Bunch exemplifies the power of opinion journalism to tell the truth and defend democratic principles. Media and Democracy Project Dec 13 American democracy and journalism need more heroes. Our Media and Democracy Project hero for October is Will Bunch of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Included in this post are actions to take to thank and support Mr. Bunch. “Words still not only matter, but have incredible power. What we are witnessing is American fascism. I am an anti-fascist.” — Will Bunch Words are powerful tools. As George Orwell portrayed in his post-World War II book 1984, the deliberate misuse of language (Orwell’s so-called “Doublespeak”) by a fascist regime is a manipulative and deceptive form of propaganda intended to a control society and alter its perception of reality. The current resistance of most legacy news outlets in the United States to accurately describe the destructive and corrupt activities of the Trump regime threatens to distort our understanding of what is happening around us. This distortion can prevent media consumers from perceiving and reacting to even the most obvious infringements of our constitutional rights. Even worse, it encourages the acceptance or avoidance of outrages such as the invasion of our cities and the abuse of our people by a violent, masked secret police force. At least one columnist and his publisher have chosen not to abdicate their role as the independent Fourth Estate of our democracy and have rejected the use of weak euphemisms to describe the ongoing horrors of the Trump regime. On October 5, 2025, The Philadelphia Inquirer published opinion columnist Will Bunch’s column “Why we can’t allow Trump to ban that other f-word:The column the Trump regime wants to ban: America has to call out surging fascism in order to defeat it.” Bunch muses on the possibility that Trump would very much like to ban his column, citing the “National Security Presidential Memorandum NSPM-7”, in which the Trump regime designates “Antifa” as a “Domestic Terrorist Organization”. That “Antifa” is not an actual organization has not deterred the regime from defining it as such and issuing an assembly of ridiculous and fascist directives targeting anyone who is not MAGA or who dares to disagree with the Trump regime’s policies. As Bunch points out, the term “Antifa” is short for “Anti-fascism”, which is simply an ideology that opposes fascism. Bunch writes: “Trump, in his memo, attempts to rebrand anti-fascism, writing that ‘these movements portray foundational American principles (e.g., support for law enforcement and border control) as ‘fascist’ to justify and encourage acts of violent revolution.’” Bunch cites historians such as Timothy Snyder and Robert Paxson to help define American fascism. He goes on to emphasize that in the regime’s efforts to destroy American democracy, Trump is ignoring our constitutional right of free speech and attempting to cover up the outrageous, aggressive, and potentially illegal activities of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in our cities: “This isn’t some arcane dispute over language. The Trump regime is desperate to control the words of America’s political conversation because they want to normalize what they are doing right now, which is pursuing a rapid race to demolish democratic norms and institutions.” “The reason is simple: Defeating fascism requires a very different type of posture — both politically and morally — than might an old-fashioned political quarrel between liberals and conservatives over tax rates and government services. To truly oppose a fascist Trump regime, we must declare ourselves anti-fascists.” Bunch’s clear analysis of the nature of speech and our right to use it is a sorely needed acknowledgement from a major city newspaper that we are indeed witnessing the unfolding of a fascist police state on American soil. Bunch’s bravery to speak the truth and to name it FASCISM, along with the Philadelphia Inquirer editor’s willingness to publish his column, is a beacon to all of us who oppose and want to speak out against Trump’s corrupt regime. Today, democracy and all the principles and rights that accompany it are under siege by the Trump regime. We desperately need the press and media to stand up for our rights and unabashedly speak the truth. Thank you, Will Bunch. The country owes you a debt of gratitude for your bravery and perseverance, and your powerful use of opinion journalism to tell the truth and defend democratic principles. Signed, The Media and Democracy Project community. Other noteworthy pieces by Mr. Bunch this year: College journalism exposes the rot of ‘grown-ups’ It didn’t take a Reichstag Fire to burn down Congress From autism to beards, the Trump regime wages war on ‘the different’ Then they fight you: How the ‘No Kings’ protests are winning America Kimmel blackout is what happens when your TV isn’t locally sourced Kimmel yanked: Sen. Fetterman, can we call it ‘fascism’ yet? The Washington Post has broken my heart Americans told to watch what we say about ‘free speech icon’ Charlie Kirk Actions you can take in support of Mr. Bunch:  1 – Follow Will Bunch on Bluesky and amplify his work: https://bsky.app/profile/willbunch.bsky.social 2 - Subscribe to and write a letter of thanks to The Philadelphia Inquirer in support of Will Bunch and his extraordinary columns: https://www.inquirer.com/offers/ https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/philadelphia-inquirer-op-ed-opinion-pitch-submission.html UPDATE: Since awarding Mr. Bunch our “Hero of the Month” in October the Trump administration has further weaponized the power of the federal government using the infamous presidential memorandum (NSPM-7). Here is journalist Ken Klippenstein who first obtained the memo discussing its danger and recent use by US Attorney General Pam Bondi. Additional reading: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/trumps-orders-targeting-antifascism-aim-criminalize-opposition DISCLAIMER: Due to our concerns about Substack’s leadership, ownership and agendas that conflict with our values, MAD is in the process of finding a new home for our blog. We will keep you posted.