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Mar 28, 2023Edited
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Ian Alterman's avatar

An interesting assessment. With regard to Trump's demise, while it is true that he would become something of a martyr for a portion of his "base," I'm not sure how broad that would be, or how long it would last. Historically, even "dear leaders" are pretty quickly forgotten once they go.

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Mar 28, 2023
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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

Yes, fascism always promotes vices like scapegoating, anger, hate, vengeance and violence. Democracies promote virtues.

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Jan's avatar

Those mis-led sheep if they have guns might be more like Orcs if there is somebody organizing them.

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Jan's avatar

Timothy Snyder, who I have followed since 2016 also predicted this behavior.

It’s very frustrating for me to see it and not feel I can discuss it with my brothers. I seem unable to get family members to have any reaction at all. Anything I would forward to them is always met with...silence. I have no idea what they think.

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

Confirmation bias affects us all but especially those whom have embraced the emotion-based thinking known as post-truth. This could be the situation with your brothers.

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Jan's avatar

Not quite sure what you mean.

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

Confirmation bias is the tendency to believe something is true, that we WANT to believe to be true. Post-truth is when emotions supersede facts as a basis for thinking, especially in politics. Both of these are rampant right now in the MAGA world.

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Jan's avatar

I don’t think they are MAGA because they did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, even though they were both Republicans. I often wonder if they just can’t take the truth that they may have to constantly push back and constantly make the effort to support democratic institutions and candidates who support democracy. It takes effort and there is no end in sight. We are on a razor’s edge in the US for sure. I go back from time to time to re-read Snyder’s On Tyranny. It is a good guide.

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mike bianculli's avatar

Yes, I’m experiencing the same thing, family members are mostly in a collective stupor about this emerging fascist state, the others are hardcore right wing nuts.....it must be confronted.......

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

Most of my in-laws are shooting it up like heroin.

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Paul J. Baicich's avatar

Great work... perceptive and frightening. Already sending it out to dozens of other folks. ~ Paul

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Michel Venghiattis's avatar

Brilliant article Ruth, and terrifying , it’s hard to comprehend how millions of Americans have fallen into his spell !

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Mar 28, 2023
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Michel Venghiattis's avatar

I understand what you’re saying, but it’s still hard to comprehend , just like it’s hard to understand that poor people will back candidates that will do nothing for them…..speaks to the poor quality of our educational system

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mike bianculli's avatar

Very well said thank you for saying it!

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Ian Alterman's avatar

Actually, I do not think that Trump is as smart as all that. He has authoritarian tendencies, but he is a functional moron in other regards: he is famous for not reading, and not knowing very much about history at all. And although he does have a knack for theatrics and for identifying grievance culture, etc., most of his tactics now are from those with whom he surrounded himself, like Bannon, Miller and others who ARE smart, and DO know history, and were able to "teach" Trump more of the "authoritarian playbook" than he knew.

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Mar 29, 2023
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Ian Alterman's avatar

I think he is more Mussolini than Hitler (though Hitler did pattern HIS trajectory partly on what he learned from Mussolini). But yes, Trump's malignant narcissism does make him a sociopath. Combined with arrested development and the active lack of morality he was brought up with vis-a-vis his father (and later, Roy Cohn), he will not only do whatever it takes to get what he wants, but he will continue to believe that he is (legally) untouchable. Still, his own education and intelligence is far weaker than most. And again, I'm not sure it's HIS knowledge of history that informs his "pattern," but rather the knowledge of those he surrounds himself with, who know that history, including how it will benefit THEM. :-(

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Mar 29, 2023Edited
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Ian Alterman's avatar

Excellent assessment!

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AndrewWaldie's avatar

This has been the central question/thought in my mind too. I wonder too if Trump is a useful surrogate for fascists because of what you have noted about his seeming personality disorder(s) and the ease with which one can appeal to his vanity. I recall the account of him saying Nick Fuentes gets him over Thanksgiving dinner. This just reminded me of reading "For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence" (Alice Miller, 1980) in the mid-80s. It has not been uncommon to hear Trump ask rally-goers if they love him, if they still love him or if he is their favourite president. Mary Trump's accounts of a childhood absent parental love and friendships combined with a narcisstic father unable to emotionally provide for his ailing wife or children are not dissimilar to the love-lacked childhood of Hitler with his aunt and terror of his uncle, manifest in the smoking pipe on the mantle. The sins of the father are all-too-evident in Don Jr. who, despite his horrific politics, fills me with an empathetic sadness for a shattered son just wanting nontransactional, genuine love from his father.

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Mar 30, 2023
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AndrewWaldie's avatar

I wonder similarly. Do you think one factors of the Trumps' obsession with Hunter Biden may include the unconditional love and empathy he receives from his father?

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Cheryl Cardran's avatar

What Trump has, I believe, is a very advanced reptilian brain, by which I mean that his survival and power grasping instincts are strong.

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Ian Alterman's avatar

Agree!

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SuzEeee's avatar

Before he became elected, I always felt he was a “Hitler wannabe”; people thought my ideas about T. was silly. Unfortunately, my worst fears have become true, he is another Hitler.

How many in his former administration are compromised? Is there anyone in the GOP not tied/or afraid of T? Are they defending him due to their own role in the coup attempt?

Where is Merrick Garland? DOJ? Is the SCOTUS guilty, too?

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

In 2015 I suspected T of being a sociopath. A year or two later, psychologists/psychiatrists were confirming this. Since fascism is led, in most cases by sociopaths/psychopaths, T had the personality disorder necessary to be just like Hitler and Mussolini.

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Mar 28, 2023
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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

There is really no cure for sociopaths/psychopaths, so I agree, Trump will not change. Fascism was created by a sociopath, so it makes sense that Trump embraces it.

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Jan's avatar

There is strength in numbers. For example, Moms Demand Action is a great group to join or support if you are concerned about guns. They support gun control candidates and legislation.

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Gordon's avatar

Ruth, I just wanted to say I am a new subscriber after watching you on Rachel Maddow’s show last night. I am looking forward to reading your work, and achieving a greater understanding of our country as it attempts to stave off authoritarianism. Thank you so much! I’m glad to be here!

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Sonia Abitbol's avatar

Thanks for the blueprints; even if we go no deeper into details, that's all we need to know.

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WILLIAM CASH's avatar

Trump theme song:

I'm a grifter and I want your money

but in exchange

I will teach your children how to hate

I will teach them to discriminate

I will teach that white rule is our fate

If we act now and don't be late

So put your money in my plate

For a bigot needs a mate

So put your money in my plate

Don't wait until it's too late

for you see

I'm a grifter and I want your money.

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WILLIAM CASH's avatar

trump doesn't know the pledge of allegiance. He had to read it. Melania taught him to put his hand over his heart.

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Diane Monaco's avatar

Ruth, this is a very well-written and comprehensive development of the Nazi party movement in Nuremburg with some contrasts to the Trump rally in Waco....including the 'Horst Wessel Song' v. 'Justice for All.' Although the J6 choir and political prisoners references was totally funky to say the least! But thank you so much for these unforgettable contrasting image references!

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Andrew's avatar

The parallels with Hitler and Nuremburg are chilling. I also see a lot in common with Mussolini, a murderous clown, who was able to gain power through violence and persuasion.

This is really getting scary.

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AndrewWaldie's avatar

Trump's apocalyptic rhetoric and calls for death, destruction and retribution remind me too of the Futurist movement in art in Italy, particular the works of its founder, Filippo Tomaso Marinetti, which helped lay the cultural foundations for the ascent of Italian fascism and Mussolini. In his "Manifesto of Futurism," for instance, he wrote in points 6, 7, 9 and 10, respectively:

"The poet must consume himself with ardor, splendor, and generosity, to swell the enthusiastic fervor of primordial elements."

"Except in struggle, there is no more beauty. No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent attack on unknown forces, to reduce and prostrate them before man."

"We will glorify war—the only way of cleansing the world—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of those bearing freedom, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and the contempt of woman.'

"We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of all kind; will fight against moralism, feminism, and all opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice."

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Art's avatar

Whomever is elected King, or Queen in 2024, CBP and DHS will be the place to watch. They are most likely to rise as a national police force. We must have the leader, crisis and organization for a rapid police force, in place. Netanyahu is seeing what happens when you don’t. After the latest shooting, the hatred aimed toward the LGBTQ community will rise exponentially. Franklin Graham was already stirring the pot on Twitter last night. Perfect scapegoats. Thanks for your work Ruth. Kitchen is heating up.

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

I just saw an interview with several attendees at the Waco rally. It was a study in social psychology. The degree of nihilism/postmodernism was off the charts. The danger of this sort of thinking is that it easily leads to post-truth, the belief that emotion supersedes facts. There was a retreat from reality seen in the interviews, in addition to delusional thinking.

It has been said that fascism promotes fantasy in society to accomplish its mission, and given what I saw at Trump's rally, he has surely done just that.

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Philip Bernhardt's avatar

Those people scare me more than Trump.

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Ian Alterman's avatar

"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." (Voltaire)

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Stephanie Massie Clark's avatar

Excellent writing, Ruth. Thank you for speaking out. We all must do the same. We cannot ignore this behavior. Our future safety depends upon calling it what it is: an invitation to be violent.

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Ian Alterman's avatar

I fully agree with the premise of this piece. However, I am wondering if we are overly concerned about Mr. Trump. It is not my intention to minimize the overall issue of the growth of authoritarianism in the U.S. (In this regard, Trump is less concerning than DeSantis, who is actually implementing proto-fascist policies in Florida, even if he doesn't have a private mob under his control.) But consider the following.

Trump has lost every election since 2016 (i.e., his own and those of the vast majority of his chosen candidates). In doing so, he has lost the support of whatever part of the "establishment" GOP still supported him. He will never "pick up" a new vote, since no Democrat would ever vote for him, and independents are increasingly sick of him. (And the imminent indictments are only going to make this truer.) His base in simply not large enough to win a general election; the only way he can do so now is through chicanery on the State level - which is certainly possible, but not probable (yet). And that base is eroding - slowly, to be sure, but eroding nonetheless.

As one pundit pointed out, Trump has ~73 million supporters. Of those, less than 50,000 (.00006%) showed up in DC on Jan. 6. And of that 73 million, less than 2,000 (.000002%) marched on the Capitol during the insurrection. Thus, 99.9998% of his supporters have no interest in protest, much less violence. And finally, his rallies - which used to bring in tens of thousands of people - are barely scraping 10,000 now.

Yes, Trump remains a worrying figure. And if he were to be able to steal the 2024 election, he would test the limits of our democracy even further than he has. But this is not 1930s Italy or Germany. 66% of Americans not only do not support Trump, but see him for what he is. We still have a robust media, despite the presence of Fox and the rise of right-wing sources, and that is unlikely to change. We also still have a robust judicial system, despite a right-leaning Supreme Court (which has not supported Trump in many cases) and Trump-appointed federal judges (ditto). So our country still has very strong bulwarks against the rise of an authoritarian leader who would actually have the support of "the people" beyond his (eroding) base and be able to implement very many (if any) regressive policies.

Am I wrong here?

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

Yes, the tide is turning away from fascism but we should never forget how a man with a minority of votes in the 2016 presidential election was able to take power and raise hell with the minds of 74 million people. Our Electoral College allowed rule by minority to become a reality, at a time when a toxic man had sold himself as a stable genius. This could all happen again, given the gullibility of the American voter. Fascism is a state of mind, not so much about a single leader.

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Ian Alterman's avatar

The tide DOES seem to be turning away - though, as you note, fascism (and authoritarianism in general) is a state of mind. All it takes is for enough people to "want" to be led (almost literally like sheep) - so they don't have to expend so much energy thinking and doing for themselves, or because they are simply sick and tired of the "status quo" - for authoritarianism to take root.

As for the Electoral College, the problem seems to be that we are damned if we do and damned if we don't; i.e., maintaining it can lead to "minority rule," but getting rid of it could lead to the "tyranny of the majority." What we need to do is find a middle ground. Not sure where that sits, but there needs to be a serious, reasonable, and forward-thinking discussion about it.

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

If alternative political ideas in a society are within a certain sane continuum, then yes, the Electoral College is somewhat benign. But when we have the rise of a toxic minority faction like fascism in the mix, then the Electoral College becomes a pipeline for the destruction of democracy (or anocracy). Fascists love to use the freedoms offered in a democracy to build their sick cult. With the rise of fascism, we can no longer afford the luxury of the Electoral College. Our Senate is already in place to avoid the tyranny of the majority.

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Ian Alterman's avatar

I was with you until your last line. Yes, the intention of the Senate was to avoid the tyranny of the majority. But it is now being used the same way as the Electoral College: to enforce a "tyranny of the minority." When one Senator, from a State that has among the lowest populations in the country (think Manchin or Sinema), can bring the Senate - and all legislative progress - to a halt, then the Senate is as broken as the Electoral College.

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Steve Rasmussen's avatar

I'm not saying that I'm a fan of the Senate. It's as antiquated as the Electoral College. Both should be eliminated.

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Ian Alterman's avatar

How do you think the Senate should be constituted and comprised? I am not saying that I have any good ideas myself, but I would love to hear some.

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