Trump is a FASCIST!

[maxpower1227]

Donald Trump is a Fascist

One of the most-read takes on fascism comes from Italian philosopher and novelist Umberto Eco in an essay for the New York Review of Books titled “Ur-Fascism.” Eco emphasizes the extent to which fascism is ad hoc and opportunistic. It’s “philosophically out of joint,” he writes, with features that “cannot be organized into a system” since “many of them contradict each other, and are also typical of other kinds of despotism or fanacticism.”

With that said, it is true that there are fascist movements, and it’s also true that when you strip their cultural clothing—the German paganism in Nazism, for example—there are common properties. Not every fascist movement shows all of them, but—Eco writes—“it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it." Eco identifies 14, but for this column, I want to focus on seven.

They are: A cult of “action for action’s sake,” where “thinking is a form of emasculation”; an intolerance of “analytical criticism,” where disagreement is condemned; a profound “fear of difference,” where leaders appeal against “intruders”; appeals to individual and social frustration and specifically a “frustrated middle class” suffering from “feelings of political humiliation and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups”; a nationalist identity set against internal and external enemies (an “obsession with a plot”); a feeling of humiliation by the “ostentatious wealth and force of their enemies”; a “popular elitism” where “every citizen belongs to the best people of the world” and underscored by contempt for the weak; and a celebration of aggressive (and often violent) masculinity.

I'm with Cleon. He's close enough for the label to be appropriate.

 

[Myron Proudfoot]

I don't know if Trump is technically a fascist, but he's close enough to scare the **** out of me.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck, has a bill and feathers, I'm not going to bother with a DNA test before breaking out the Hoisin sauce.

he's far too close to a real fascist for comfort. Deporting millions of people (some of whom are US citizens!) , banning persons who practice a specific religion from entering the US, registering residents and citizens by religion, encouraging torture even beyond waterboarding, encouraging his fans to attack protesters, and now he's saying he'll use libel laws to stifle press criticism.

the fact that he has no coherent policy besides "I am great. Hate who I hate" is not especially comforting.

 

[maxpower1227]

Donald Trump: We're going to 'open up' libel laws

"One of the things I'm going to do if I win, and I hope we do and we're certainly leading. I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We're going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they're totally protected," Trump said.

It's also apparently pretty common for the press to be bullied and demonized at Trump rallies. I've heard someone describe "holding areas" where the press is sort of roped off at his rallies, where Trump will point to them and whip the crowd into a frenzy of booing and jeering at the reporters. It all seems very unnerving.

 

[dudalb]

He's a raging narcissist. Fascism, for all its faults and general wrongness, is focused on the state. Trump only cares about Trump.

False dichotomy. The Surpreme Leader is a basic part of Fascism. Both Mussolini and Hitler were raging narcissists if ever there were any.

 

[dudalb]

If there was any doubt that the Fascist applies to Donald Trump,his statement on "Opening Up" libel laws should remove it.
Anybody denying that with Trump we have a full scale fascist movement in the US is either blind or just playing verbal word games.

 

[dudalb]

That this man could actually be President is a good example of why I break with liberals on Gun Control. I want the resistence to hit the ground running.......

And if the GOP embraces Trump, it will be a cold day in hell before I vote for for a Republican again. ANd I have voted for a Republican quite a bit in the past.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Aw c'mon! Goering could at least fly an airplane!

Goering was a connoisseur of fine art and also spoke French and Italian.

Trump's art appreciation levels are.................Ivanka?? Trump Tower? Ugh.

And Trump's language skills are......................no, no, let's not go there. I can't even.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

Goering was a connoisseur of fine art

Well, that's one way to put "thief" I suppose.

 

[newyorkguy]

It's also apparently pretty common for the press to be bullied and demonized at Trump rallies...

I read on a reporter's blog that one young journalist said she noticed at rallies Trump uses the same words -- scum and sleazebags -- to describe both ISIS and the media.

 

[applecorped]

he is a pleasant diversion, I hope he wins just for the lulz

 

[PhantomWolf]

I think that instead of trying to compare him to any particular leader past and present, it's better to compare his beliefs to the Tenants of Fascism and see how close they match.

Nationalism
Totalitarianism
Economics
Action

He certainly meets the levels for Nationalism. I don't know that he's a supporter of a one party state and everyone doing what that party tells them. I believe his Economics are close to the protectiveness of Fascism rather than that of liberal capitalism, but someone that knows him better might be able to suggest that with a closer answer. Finally while he certainly is talking about boosting the US Military and rattling sabers, I don't see the signs of war mongering that is found in Fascism.

I'd say he certainly has traits of it, but isn't full-blown.

 

[Ladewig]

Problem is. the status quo sucks. People say you can tell how bad of a job Bush did because people voted for Obama next. If Trump is elected, that doesn't say much for the way people think the country is going now..

Not necessarily. People might vote for Trump because they don't like Hillary -not because they don't like Obama.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

he is a pleasant diversion, I hope he wins just for the lulz

It would be awesome for sure! And nobody would be more surprised than Trump himself.

Won't happen though, because that isn't Trump's goal.

"In many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat. It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans... Hillary’s always surrounded herself with very good people. I think Hillary would do a good job" - Donald Trump, 2004

"I think it's been most surprising to me to see somebody who was affable and was good company and had a reputation of being kind of bigger than life really traffic in a lot of the prejudice and paranoia. Some of the comments he has made which have been so divisive and mean-spirited doesn't fit with what I thought I knew about him... It's going to be interesting to see, if he does get the nomination, what he decides to do with it" - Hillary Clinton

 

[angrysoba]

If there was any doubt that the Fascist applies to Donald Trump,his statement on "Opening Up" libel laws should remove it.
Anybody denying that with Trump we have a full scale fascist movement in the US is either blind or just playing verbal word games.

Well, frankly I have heard Fascism applied to pretty much every president and candidate used over many decades. Bush, of course, was considered a fascist by plenty of people, and people will even accuse Obama of fascism. I don't doubt that FDR was referred to as a fascist as well. In particular, that Umberto Eco article is nearly always invoked to designate someone or another as fascist. If you really want to avoid word games then maybe you can pin down what you mean as fascism and see which other presidents and candidates are disqualified from your definition otherwise it's just like your opinion man.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Well, that's one way to put "thief" I suppose.

That's how Goering "acquired" his collections, most definitely. But he did also know what to collect and what to leave off his hit-list.

Trump just collects anything gold-coloured and shiny. Buildings, cars, TV shows, wives...

 

[angrysoba]

For those who thought Trump was Goering they'll now have to explain who Chris Christie is in all of this.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

For those who thought Trump was Goering they'll now have to explain who Chris Christie is in all of this.

Well, you got me there.

 

[angrysoba]

Well, you got me there.

I'm prepared to see Ann Coulter as Goebbels. Or she may even be in Streicher territory.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

I'm prepared to see Ann Coulter as Goebbels. Or she may even be in Streicher territory.

And in Sheriff Arpaio we might have our Himmler.

 

[angrysoba]

And in Sheriff Arpaio we might have our Himmler.

Ah! Maybe Ann Coulter is Blondi.

Is that sexist?

Anyway, here's the latest:

https://www.facebook.com/dorri.olds/posts/10153946879819573