Actually this is not new for trump. During his previous administration he demanded unswerving loyalty or be thrown to the side and insulted. It's as though he read the Hitler playbook. He is a person that cannot accept anything but compete subservience. Donald Trump is an insecure and incomplete human being.
I agree with everything you wrote except that fascism is creeping in. It is stampeding in, in broad daylight. The parallels to Nazi Germany are blatant and terrifying. There is a reason why for 250 we take an oath to the Constitution, NOT any one man. I'll be honest. I am petrified.
"The domestic fascist faction known as the GOP, like all other fascist regimes, is amenable to murder, mass violence, incarceration without recourse, and concentration camps. This is what they do, and they do so without conscience or pangs of remorse. This is who they are.
We cannot appeal to any sense of ‘shared American values’, nor seek out their core of human decency, their moral conscience. We have been encouraged to do this for decades, with platitudes like ‘there’s more than unites us than divides us’, ‘meet them where they’re at, show you understand their concerns’). This has only brought us disastrous results.
I emphasize this to the extent that I do because anyone who wishes to maintain American constitutional democracy, and pursue social, environmental and economic justice, needs to accept that there is no making peace or compromising with fascists. Not even if they are family, friends, neighbors or co-workers...
I believe we are in the midst of multiple crises that are sufficient to permit the installation of a fascist regime here, while perhaps under the guise of retaining our governmental framework (I suspect, if the GOP/fascist cabal is not prevented from retaining and consolidating such power as it has already acquired, these pretenses of democracy and the rule of law will be dispensed with entirely).
In other words, we are on the precipice of the capture of the American state by a fascist cabal. If lost in November, restoring may take as long or longer than it took Spain to resume halting steps to representative democracy. Or we may never recover it. "
I'm no fan of Trump but this comparison to Hitler is extreme and is used carelessly by many writers. I guess it's to get the attention of the reader or maybe writers don't know any other villain from history. But it always seems hyperbolic to me. It's like when everyone on the right was calling Obama a communist or socialist or a non-citizen.
Actually this is not new for trump. During his previous administration he demanded unswerving loyalty or be thrown to the side and insulted. It's as though he read the Hitler playbook. He is a person that cannot accept anything but compete subservience. Donald Trump is an insecure and incomplete human being.
“Incomplete” is a very smart assessment.
I agree with everything you wrote except that fascism is creeping in. It is stampeding in, in broad daylight. The parallels to Nazi Germany are blatant and terrifying. There is a reason why for 250 we take an oath to the Constitution, NOT any one man. I'll be honest. I am petrified.
My two cents, written before the most recent election-
'Life under fascism: Franco's Spain and what it tells us about the GOP and conservative voters.' (July 5, 2024)
https://iandouglasrushlau.substack.com/p/life-under-fascism-francos-spain
"The domestic fascist faction known as the GOP, like all other fascist regimes, is amenable to murder, mass violence, incarceration without recourse, and concentration camps. This is what they do, and they do so without conscience or pangs of remorse. This is who they are.
We cannot appeal to any sense of ‘shared American values’, nor seek out their core of human decency, their moral conscience. We have been encouraged to do this for decades, with platitudes like ‘there’s more than unites us than divides us’, ‘meet them where they’re at, show you understand their concerns’). This has only brought us disastrous results.
I emphasize this to the extent that I do because anyone who wishes to maintain American constitutional democracy, and pursue social, environmental and economic justice, needs to accept that there is no making peace or compromising with fascists. Not even if they are family, friends, neighbors or co-workers...
I believe we are in the midst of multiple crises that are sufficient to permit the installation of a fascist regime here, while perhaps under the guise of retaining our governmental framework (I suspect, if the GOP/fascist cabal is not prevented from retaining and consolidating such power as it has already acquired, these pretenses of democracy and the rule of law will be dispensed with entirely).
In other words, we are on the precipice of the capture of the American state by a fascist cabal. If lost in November, restoring may take as long or longer than it took Spain to resume halting steps to representative democracy. Or we may never recover it. "
I'm no fan of Trump but this comparison to Hitler is extreme and is used carelessly by many writers. I guess it's to get the attention of the reader or maybe writers don't know any other villain from history. But it always seems hyperbolic to me. It's like when everyone on the right was calling Obama a communist or socialist or a non-citizen.
Hitler lost. Now Europe is Black. Happy?