An expert on fascism???? When the left says fascist, they mean "disagrees with the religious tenets of wokeness". Anyone who would vigorously thwart efforts to legislate wokeness is a threat to totalitarian socialism and therefore is labelled fascist thus completely tossing out the definition of fascist. These people would be just a joke if they were not blinded by their rabid "end justifies the means" efforts to divide and control the population. Don't blink. They won't.
This essay is a royal hoot, a textbook case of psychological projection, which is a hallmark of left-wing extremists in every nation. Everything that she attributes to DeSantis is in blatant evidence by Biden, Obama, and all national Democratic leaders such as Schumer and Pelosi. With respect, Ben-Ghiat needs to seek a psychological assessment by a competent professional who will explain to her that the principles and precepts of constitutional republicanism advocated by DeSantis were designed to, and continue to, secure and protect all American citizens' individual rights and liberties, not impose the hard elitist strictures of "woke" collectivism aka neocommunism that she would characterize as somehow "liberal." They are not; they are autocratic in every respect, and this is her quintessential blind spot. As a historian, she would do well to study the mad "equality" rantings of Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Pol Pot, Chavez/Maduro, and even Obama, not just Mussolini and Hitler, for some object lessons in totalitarian thinking.
Thanks again and again Ruth. I would very much appreciate hearing more from you on states like, but in particular Ohio - either publicly or privately. I've lived most of my life here. The city I live in is a bright red identity model. Thx ~
The guy DeSatanist...er, I meant the Governor of Florida, where I am a prisoner of the electoral map, looks like a thug. He purports to have an Ivy League education, but he sure is stupid. Ok, he ACTS stupidly, brutally, as if he doesn't care about people. He is the very danger that the founders feared most: a man with too much zeal for power, with his hands on the levers of government.
What scares me is the population at large. They have never had to be aware of an autocrat before. If they haven't had trauma in their own lives they have no idea how detrimentally manipulative people with no morals can be. It's a slow, insidious attack that works if you can't/don't/won't/don't-know-how-to fight back against it... if you don't think you have anything to fight back against, because you're not feeling the negative effects of their power yet, you're wrong. But. How. Do. We. Tell. Them. They. Are. Wrong. in enough time to get them to do something about it? DeSantis has been planning this for years; some, not all, of the public are just catching on now. A lot of the public is completely hoodwinked/gaslit. Is there time for the populace to stop him? If so, how?
Trump came to power with the use of effective propaganda and DeSantis is following suit. What they are selling is quasi-fascism and it's being done by polarizing people into clashing groups. Those not a part of their clan are considered the outside enemy, so outsiders cannot be trusted. Only their clan has the truth and can be trusted. Once this structure is established, anything can be sold as the truth, even the lies of fascism, especially when it is wrapped in the US flag.
DeSantis's template for his political activity is Trump, a man afflicted by secondary psychopathy (sociopathy). What a role model!
American voters need to pay attention to what these fools are selling and stop being so gullible.
Maybe the visiblity of Putin's authoritarian actions will convince many on the right that the path that Trump has lain out is dangerous?
One last comment. I apologize for taking-up so much space. I've been preparing for this attack on Jacksonville for the past 30 years. DeSantis cannot win Jacksonville. He's made a crucial mistake. And if we all get together and concentrate on Jacksonville much like the Ukranians have done with Kiev, then we will all have something magnificent to remember.
Professional rules and guidelines prevent the effective exposure of someone like Ron DeSantis. He's too shrewd. He knows how to manipulate the rules. We're not dealing with an ignoramus like Donald Trump who needs Steve Bannon and others to direct his activities.
Thank you Ruth for this focus on the danger of DeSantis and the danger breeding in state governance. With everything else going on, it's easy to become distracted! Thank you for the refocus.
The right candidate with an aggressive advertising strategy can beat DeSantis in Florida. But it will require that DeSantis be constantly attacked for his governing style, for the 70,000 preventable deaths from COVID, for the racism, for the hate and for the attacks on the education system that he has engineered. Ronnie may be popular in the GQP, but from what I hear, his act has worn thin with many Floridians.
You have to confront DeSantis, words in themselves are not nearly enough. I hope we can realize that in time, but I'm not very confident on that score, from what I've scene and heard.
Yikes....I've been following the nightmare in Florida, but hearing your analysis as an expert on authoritarianism just adds one more slice of anxiety, an American state that has gone full blown CoCoPuffs! Along with Texas, Idaho, Arizona, South Dakota, Iowa, etc. When I see this 'virus' of authoritarianism expanding in the United States, I think about how much access to information we have. I think about former Republicans who worked on campaigns (Nicolle Wallace, Steve Schmidt with Sarah Palin for instance). It was there job to shape and market these ideas. They've since talked about regret for promoting such an unwell woman. I'm not at all naive, but with so much information available, including yours, Tim Snyder's, Bandy Lee, and other experts, how does this fever break?
I'm thinking of Idaho and the anti-abortion billed just passed, fashioned after Texas. Governor and Senators, Republican. White male daddy types. The cream is going to start rising to the top now. The country will have plenty to pick from. Trump won't matter, and neither will DeSantis, or anyone that obvious. For the past 5 years we have been warning about the coming of the next Trump. Infrastructure is in place, SC in control. It has to be someone we don't expect. One who can carry the Independent vote and siphon the conservative Democrats. The individual cannot have much baggage. There needs to be a catastrophe. I don't think that person is in plain view yet. Someone like an American Marine LePen would be interesting. Whoever it is will have the ability that will make Mussolini and Hitler look tame, quietly. Depending on the next 2 years seems to depend on if we get another reprieve. I keep focusing on Jose Antonio Kast, Chile"s last election. Someone like that could sweep this country, given the right circumstances. In the meantime, we watch and keep up the local fight. Thanks Ruth.
An expert on fascism???? When the left says fascist, they mean "disagrees with the religious tenets of wokeness". Anyone who would vigorously thwart efforts to legislate wokeness is a threat to totalitarian socialism and therefore is labelled fascist thus completely tossing out the definition of fascist. These people would be just a joke if they were not blinded by their rabid "end justifies the means" efforts to divide and control the population. Don't blink. They won't.
This lady scares me.
I quote her "Success in today's GOP means embracing extremism, bullying peers, and silencing and punishing political enemies"
Let's get real.
She sounds like what the democrat's, the media, and Black Lives Matter have been doing for years.
This lady is delusional! The left are the ones that try to control people to conform to their ways.
This essay is a royal hoot, a textbook case of psychological projection, which is a hallmark of left-wing extremists in every nation. Everything that she attributes to DeSantis is in blatant evidence by Biden, Obama, and all national Democratic leaders such as Schumer and Pelosi. With respect, Ben-Ghiat needs to seek a psychological assessment by a competent professional who will explain to her that the principles and precepts of constitutional republicanism advocated by DeSantis were designed to, and continue to, secure and protect all American citizens' individual rights and liberties, not impose the hard elitist strictures of "woke" collectivism aka neocommunism that she would characterize as somehow "liberal." They are not; they are autocratic in every respect, and this is her quintessential blind spot. As a historian, she would do well to study the mad "equality" rantings of Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Pol Pot, Chavez/Maduro, and even Obama, not just Mussolini and Hitler, for some object lessons in totalitarian thinking.
Thanks again and again Ruth. I would very much appreciate hearing more from you on states like, but in particular Ohio - either publicly or privately. I've lived most of my life here. The city I live in is a bright red identity model. Thx ~
The guy DeSatanist...er, I meant the Governor of Florida, where I am a prisoner of the electoral map, looks like a thug. He purports to have an Ivy League education, but he sure is stupid. Ok, he ACTS stupidly, brutally, as if he doesn't care about people. He is the very danger that the founders feared most: a man with too much zeal for power, with his hands on the levers of government.
What scares me is the population at large. They have never had to be aware of an autocrat before. If they haven't had trauma in their own lives they have no idea how detrimentally manipulative people with no morals can be. It's a slow, insidious attack that works if you can't/don't/won't/don't-know-how-to fight back against it... if you don't think you have anything to fight back against, because you're not feeling the negative effects of their power yet, you're wrong. But. How. Do. We. Tell. Them. They. Are. Wrong. in enough time to get them to do something about it? DeSantis has been planning this for years; some, not all, of the public are just catching on now. A lot of the public is completely hoodwinked/gaslit. Is there time for the populace to stop him? If so, how?
Thank you, Ruth, for writing this. I have lived in Florida since 1995, and you are right on target. DeSantis is truly dangerous.
Trump came to power with the use of effective propaganda and DeSantis is following suit. What they are selling is quasi-fascism and it's being done by polarizing people into clashing groups. Those not a part of their clan are considered the outside enemy, so outsiders cannot be trusted. Only their clan has the truth and can be trusted. Once this structure is established, anything can be sold as the truth, even the lies of fascism, especially when it is wrapped in the US flag.
DeSantis's template for his political activity is Trump, a man afflicted by secondary psychopathy (sociopathy). What a role model!
American voters need to pay attention to what these fools are selling and stop being so gullible.
Maybe the visiblity of Putin's authoritarian actions will convince many on the right that the path that Trump has lain out is dangerous?
One last comment. I apologize for taking-up so much space. I've been preparing for this attack on Jacksonville for the past 30 years. DeSantis cannot win Jacksonville. He's made a crucial mistake. And if we all get together and concentrate on Jacksonville much like the Ukranians have done with Kiev, then we will all have something magnificent to remember.
Professional rules and guidelines prevent the effective exposure of someone like Ron DeSantis. He's too shrewd. He knows how to manipulate the rules. We're not dealing with an ignoramus like Donald Trump who needs Steve Bannon and others to direct his activities.
Thank you Ruth for this focus on the danger of DeSantis and the danger breeding in state governance. With everything else going on, it's easy to become distracted! Thank you for the refocus.
The right candidate with an aggressive advertising strategy can beat DeSantis in Florida. But it will require that DeSantis be constantly attacked for his governing style, for the 70,000 preventable deaths from COVID, for the racism, for the hate and for the attacks on the education system that he has engineered. Ronnie may be popular in the GQP, but from what I hear, his act has worn thin with many Floridians.
You have to confront DeSantis, words in themselves are not nearly enough. I hope we can realize that in time, but I'm not very confident on that score, from what I've scene and heard.
Yikes....I've been following the nightmare in Florida, but hearing your analysis as an expert on authoritarianism just adds one more slice of anxiety, an American state that has gone full blown CoCoPuffs! Along with Texas, Idaho, Arizona, South Dakota, Iowa, etc. When I see this 'virus' of authoritarianism expanding in the United States, I think about how much access to information we have. I think about former Republicans who worked on campaigns (Nicolle Wallace, Steve Schmidt with Sarah Palin for instance). It was there job to shape and market these ideas. They've since talked about regret for promoting such an unwell woman. I'm not at all naive, but with so much information available, including yours, Tim Snyder's, Bandy Lee, and other experts, how does this fever break?
I'm thinking of Idaho and the anti-abortion billed just passed, fashioned after Texas. Governor and Senators, Republican. White male daddy types. The cream is going to start rising to the top now. The country will have plenty to pick from. Trump won't matter, and neither will DeSantis, or anyone that obvious. For the past 5 years we have been warning about the coming of the next Trump. Infrastructure is in place, SC in control. It has to be someone we don't expect. One who can carry the Independent vote and siphon the conservative Democrats. The individual cannot have much baggage. There needs to be a catastrophe. I don't think that person is in plain view yet. Someone like an American Marine LePen would be interesting. Whoever it is will have the ability that will make Mussolini and Hitler look tame, quietly. Depending on the next 2 years seems to depend on if we get another reprieve. I keep focusing on Jose Antonio Kast, Chile"s last election. Someone like that could sweep this country, given the right circumstances. In the meantime, we watch and keep up the local fight. Thanks Ruth.