To Say It Is Fascism Is Not An Exaggeration
‘Basically the strategy is now to shock with ‘I am doing what I promised I would do’ and appeal to quick judgments. This makes space for the negotiation of a new reality. For whatever does not work: blame intellectuals, minorities, and anyone bringing points of view that require consideration and thought.’
-Mattijs Maussen (paraphrased)
This is what is actually going on. Why Trump supporters, and non-Trump supporters whom I know and respect cannot see it is absolutely beyond me. Then again, maybe the Trump supporters at least, see it, and it is exactly what they want. We sure had better reach the non-Trump supporters who remain ahistorically blind to what is being laid out before our eyes. Folks, this is fascism come to America. Thank you my friend Mattijs, the husband of a close friend and a voice from the Netherlands speaking clearly, and sharply describing what we are witnessing.
Sometimes it takes a voice from the outside to speak most clearly. And Europeans know fascism when they see it.
they can get you to commit atrocities.” VOLTAIRE
Fred Rich LaRiccia
…..The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.
….Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
Spicer tells the reporter that “This is NOT a ban” and it is THE MEDIA that is distorting the truth and spreading this fake news. CNN then cuts to earlier clips from the previous day where Spicer uses the word “ban” and then shows image of Trump tweet with the word “ban”. Spicer’s reply was that the administration is only using the word “ban” because THE MEDIA made that falsehood and the administration does not call this a ban.
Welcome to Ameristan…..a backwards nation ruled by a wealthy family whose patriarch surrounds himself with members of the family, generals, and one trained propagandist.
…but I’m not quite to fascist yet (though he does demonstrate some scarily fascistic tendencies), because I tend to associate that with single-party dictatorships where opposition is literally outlawed and elections are cancelled.
… you gotta call it and do something about it before that happens.
Look at how things are playing out in Berkley, and then look at how people are reacting to it. Trump supporters are calling for the government to kill the protestors. Here are some posts on an uncensored site (zerohedge):
Trump supporters are primarily interested in making liberals miserable. They have no rational justification for what Trump is doing, but as long as they believe it is “creating liberal tears” they love it.
It is genuinely scary – I never realized how a country could slip into fascism so easily. I always figured that saner heads would prevail. But they’re not. They truly want blood. A large portion of them would be just fine if the police lined up immigrants and executed them. They would justify it by saying “we are now safer”. A large portion of them would be just fine if the government rounded up “liberals” and executed them. They would justify this by saying “we are eliminating the disease from our society”. There are truly many people who believe this.
These people are completely alienated from us.
So when we say “Birtherism is racism,” we think they’ll react like WE’D react: stop in our tracks, think, consider the charge, and then respond.
They are way past that. They’re ready to be called racist, and they wear the charge like a badge of honor. “Oh some libtard called me racist — I must have hit a nerve. Once again I am proved right.”
Saying “fascist” is just another level, or maybe another charge on the same level. That’s why it isn’t helpful.
That said, the travel ban is the most concrete step toward fascism yet, and something we need to monitor. But like the proverbial crying wolf, I think we’re better served with cooler rhetoric. Just my two cents.
The ban is unprecedented and scary-and its galvanized our side like nothing before. Democrats in Congress are quickly growing the spines needed to fight this administration tooth and nail. How does cooler rhetoric make the situation better?
I don’t know if they ever will listen, but I know they won’t listen to the word fascist.
n/t
…not to scream bloody murder at the things that are happening. It’s just if we prematurely call something fascist we risk diluting the meaning of the term (and trust me, I’ve been more tempted to use it with him than any of his predecessors), coming across as crying wolf, and/or triggering Godwin or something similar.
I think the time to worry about that framing was prior to his election. Now that he is in power, it is time to call a spade a spade. Doing so will actually harden our base and expand it to include the soft Trump voters who didn’t grasp what they were getting into. Easy to dismiss our fears as campaign talking points in November, a lot harder to do now that he is truly doing everything he said he would do. And doing it badly.
Also where’s the Benghazi outrage over the botched mission in Yemen?
n/t
It is helpful, if it’s the truth.
They turn it around and make it about angering liberals because, for the most part, most of them don’t really want to think of themselves as racists. They certainly don’t want to think of themselves as fascist either. That’s why they get angry. That’s why they double down: Because they are afraid of the possible truth of it. Somewhere in the back of their consciousness their dad, or grand-dad, or uncle, who actually and actively fought actual Nazis is screaming at them in terror and they can’t distinguish that from the terror they get from Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. That’s what cognitive dissonance is all about.
And don’t tell me that the real ‘Murcans who voted for Putins pet billionaire don’t suffer from cognitive dissonance.
And some point we have to call it what it is. We will have to confront them with their truth. Each and every one of them will have the choice presented to them, over and over again, until they make it: until they decide to actively embrace the fascist label — not just dismiss it as ‘libtard’ name-calling — or actively reject it. We can hasten that day by pointing out the fascistic tendencies of the administration and confront them with their complicity in it.
Fascism an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
This article disagrees with a score of 28.
I’d add one more Benitos on #1, one more (after today’s Iran statement) on #2, three more on #3, two more on # 4 (after seeing FaceBook posts from white youths in the South), and one on #10, bringing him to 35 out of 44, with no indication that this number has peaked.
or as Forrest Gump put it : ” Mama says stupid is as stupid does.”
Fred Rich LaRiccia
1) Resist
This isn’t normal and he will keep pushing the envelope on extremist policies that hurt our fellow citizens and make America weaker abroad. It is incredibly important we use all the checks and balances we have left-including our first amendment rights as citizens-to push against the unconstitutional actions this administration will continue to take.
2) Stay United
Anyone who isn’t with Trump has to be against him. No compromises, no meeting in the middle, but consistent resistance from everyone. I welcome neocons like Bill Kristin and Jennifer Rubin to this fight;libertarians; leftists who voted for Stein; and anyone in beteeen who is concerned about this administration. If we do this we can win the midterms-by keeping our base fired up and letting swing voters that sour on this president know we are the only ones who will check him.
3) Reach out to soft Trump voters
This is the only way to win in 2020. There isn’t enough time and we don’t have enough influence to end the electoral college; end gerrymandering and campaign finance irregularity. We can convince 100,000 late breaking voters in PA, WI, and MI to come back. We do this by showing he’s made us less safe and hasn’t brought the jobs back. Period. Talk of racism or fascism doesn’t phase these voters-but it does keep our coalition intact. Hard rope to walk by we have no alternative.
Fascist is not “a scary system of government that I don’t like.” It is not “less freedom” than I’m used to.
There may be some elements to Trump’s program that share elements with the four Fascist governments of world history, and many do not.
Dozens of nations have less freedom than we do, struggle with a greater wave of media cowardice/control, anti-intellectualism, and executive power. Are you calling Russia fascist? Venezuela? Turkey? Cambodia? Sri Lanka? Hungary?
You want to call this autocracy, fine. But this isn’t fascism according to any useful definition.