Creeping fascism is a political term documented in various forms during the first half of the 20th Century, especially after World War II. It variously describes the circumstances where governments increase their legal powers and/or use illegal powers without censure, particularly when laws controlling social behaviour are introduced with popular support but without empirical evidence that they are effective, and are not subsequently revoked despite popular opposition. Leaders in government and society also harness propaganda and the media to "indulge in feverish rhetoric and stoke paranoia."[1] Ray McGovern has cited wiretapping by George W. Bush as an example of creeping fascism.[2]