91 Comments
Nov 13, 2023Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

And his audience cheered.

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Ruth, you are calling it like it is, purely fascist rhetoric. As has been pointed out by others, Trump 2.0 will be much, much worse than his first time in office.

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While the right wing Heritage foundation, which is supposedly a think tank, is writing the playbook, for entering into authoritarianism, we should be writing up our own playbook for a new Constitution that will prevent authoritarianism and fascism in the future.

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We could call this new thrust “Project 2030” and begin it with the first two paragraphs of the declaration of independence.

https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/independenceday/text/declaration.

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Excellent idea.

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Check out project 2076 on this

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That is the plan.

This is the lesson...prevent the constitution from being eradicated .

This nation is still young, many aspects now being pointed out by this insidious 2025 plan show how vague wording can be twisted. How loopholes need closed. How ethics, civics, and history as it happened need reinstated , in a thoroughly revamped education system FOR ALL.

I actually think TFG has done an excellent job of eradicating ‘the thugs’ (and pointing out)..far from over -many yet in trial process, there IS a significant number doing time! This whole mutiny has made a very public expose of who ‘the thugs’ are...Fox and their litter, Heritage Foundation and their like minded puppet masters, rich manipulators using those they’ve disenfranchised to further degrade , props to stands on body after body in no regard or compassion..sound familiar ? The spectacle is on WHATEVER news EVERY TIME they televise him! It’s been an overused plan for 7 years let alone centuries documenting those he and cohorts emulate AND, that we have a willing audience cheering them on -oblivious of being used ...( and who would be the first to suffer as the programs keeping their heads above water WILL BE GONE GONE GONE! )

It’s comical in such a sadly despicable tantrum of selfishness.

💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT, PLEASE💙💙

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Whether Trump likes the Fascist tag or not, it is what it is! Maybe he’d prefer that he be labeled Capone. That fits as well! Lots of similarities - Fascist or Mobster!

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founding

I’m inclined to say both are evidenced in all his behavior. He’s getting worse.

Thank you Ruth for being so timely in your lucid post. Grateful

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Scary to think that you, and your family, will be in danger in a second tRump presidency.

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Who among us will not be in danger? Absolutely a palling that a single bone head among us can be so violent and harmful! Physically and mentally, WE are under attack!

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A bone head who has bone spurs!

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History has shown that a single sociopath/psychopath in power can be a nation killer. We saw this with Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet and tRump.

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Steve, may we insert “…a single [fascist] sociopath …?”

Also, should we add Netanyahu to the list? The Palestinian death toll is now est. at bet 15,000 to 40,000 and will likely be even higher. Full disclosure: 1st, I’m advocating that we all call for a long overdue ceasefire. 2nd, in my opinion, Netanyahu earned the fascist pejorative also long ago.

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Well yes, we can add fascist but keep in mind that fascism is the politics of the sociopathic/psychopathic mind, in nearly all cases. Netanyahu is a known sociopath, so he has a proclivity for fascism. Fascism reflects the sociopathic sickness of sadism, rage, violence, retribution, scapegoating, hate, division, bigotry etc.

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Attacked, I fight!

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There will be no Trump presidency.

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Nov 13, 2023Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

With no surprise, he wants it both ways. He wants to rile his people up but not those who might vote for him, especially if the fascist label were to stick. And being a person of extreme privilege, he's used to having it his way (whether it's Burger King or any other decision he wants to make). But he's smart enough to know that being labeled a fascist is a losing strategy. I suspect he has become aware of the distinction between admiring actions of fascists and dictators and being labeled that and having it stick. I think one strategy is just to keep calling him a fascist. Or as I've said to some folks, "If you want a dictator and not a president, then he'd be the guy. He'd love that." It generally produces a double take, which is what I hope for. Occasionally someone says he's not a dictator and I ask what makes then think that after I tell them that's interesting. Usually, they can't. I don't think we can quickly change people's minds, but we can chip away and complexify with a gentle confrontation in the form of curiosity.

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Agree, chipping away with curiosity, gentle confrontation. Eliciting a double take shows there is, or could be a element of critical thinking emerging. Being curious is important and non-threatening.

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We who know what kind of a sick man Trump is know that he uses projection: He accuses others of what he is. In this case, he, our enemy, is the fascist calling us, his enemies, fascists.

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100% correct!

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I know you are but what am I?

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Huh?

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You said Trump uses projection. Yes big time 100%. He does it constantly. Its part of his defense. He's like 'I know you are but what am I?' School yard mentality but that's what he has always done. He calls it counter punching. Or as Goebbels would say " always accuse the other side of that which you are guilty".

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yes

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Yes, Karen Key and I have been saying this since 2015.

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Please insert a link so we can share these insightful and urgent conversations on THREADS.NET

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Reminds me of the Rwandan genocide. The Hutu called the Tutsi cockroaches, a dehumanizing term.

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Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 13, 2023

I don't know why everybody isn't labeling Trump as INSANE, for denying the election was stolen. Maybe it's because RAPIST and FRAUDSTER haven't done the trick.

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Nov 13, 2023Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Our news media needs to have more psychologists/psychiatrists on their platform to discuss what is wrong with tRump. There are differing opinions about his disorder though; but if it is said that he has a Cluster B disorder, ASPD, secondary psychopathy or sadism, it still should be made clear that he is a very sick man....... and dangerous.

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Steve: I recommend Bandy X. Lee’s work. As you know, she’s a psychiatrist and former Yale professor, “… [who] edited The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump[: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts’ Assess a President.] a collection of essays warning about the dangers of Trump's mental instability that became a [NYT’s] bestseller.” Because of the warning from afar, she was fired by Yale. Dr. Lee sued, but did not prevail. It was her position, and that of many other mental health providers, that she had a duty to warn—a no-brainer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org › wiki

Bandy X. Lee - Wikipedia

PS

Above, my reply to Mansur might be related to this one as well. I thank you both for saying well what needs to be often said .

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Nov 16, 2023Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Bandy is a true patriot, taking the risk to notify Americans of the risk of Trump. She went aganist the Goldwater Rule and got smacked down for it, but the Goldwater Rule needs to be eliminated. Her case is a great example of why it needs to go.

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So frustrating, but you are exactly correct, agh!

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Mansur: The media has been complicit in the rise of fascist trump, mainly with the inordinate free publicity and the usage of Orwellian euphemisms; too numerous to list here. Much, if not most, of the media is now owned by oligarchs who benefit—short term—from trump’s penchant for tax cuts for the rich, deregulation and oligarchy. They seem unable to think long term; trump’s Hatred for the media and the fact that oligarchy usually if not always morphs into fascism.

The media needs our feedback . . .

As evidence of trump’s insanity, it would be helpful to refer to Dr. Bandy X. Lee’s work. I referred to her below, in my reply to Steve.

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I really hope America rejects this. So so scary 💔😢

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Headline: BINGO!!! B

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Thank you for sharing truth!

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Nov 13, 2023Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

RBG - Trump appears to not be a reader of history or anything else. His only talents seem to be media & crowd manipulation and fascist ideology. How do you think he became such a talented fascist while being such an ignoramus in everything else?

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I'm not RBG, but I've read that trump kept a book of Hitler's speeches on his bedside table. His first wife, Ivana, said he read it often.

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exactly

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they have similar personalities and similar impulses (power, wealth)

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Nov 13, 2023Liked by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Excellent Ruthian insight....may I add that Biden AND surrogates must face this head on & not tip toe around this existential threat by Joe simply saying D will give tax breaks to rich or other kitchhen table issues. Joe MUST educate young Americans about what happened in 1930's Germany...that in an instant Hitler buried their constitution & assumed a dictatorship. He must talk about how the Nazis referred to the Jews as rats/vermin. Taking away rights such as voting, female Healthcare & rights to protest are being stripped and is a harbinger of an authoritarian Putin like State.

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In addition to the GOP's overt fandom of Victor Orban via CPAC conferences in Hungary & inviting him to US, love letters to Kim Jong-un, cozied up to Bin-Salman the murderous Saudi prince, etc

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The depth of the wannabe authoritarianism is astounding huh? I wonder if Russia is behind this global authoritarian push?

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I think yes on the russia thing, but the fossil fuel guys fingerprints are over this too =/

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True.

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They are.

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Your readers might be interested in my article "Mouthfuls of Blood" which explores the important relationship between Trump's serial lying, the rhetoric of violence, and the culture of cruelty it legitimizes along with the actual violence it enables.

https://truthout.org/articles/mouths-full-of-blood-trump-and-his-backers-spread-lies-violence-and-fascism/

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An excellent and comprehensive piece, Henry.

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Tremendous article - I have it bookmarked for immediate reference. Thank you for your scholarship!!

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Thank you Henry. Your work is always on point.

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Yes. His cult is cruelty. He wants to be deified. But now what?

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