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211
There Is No Precedent for Something Like This in American History (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 1 month ago by silence7 to c/politics@lemmy.world
14 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Presidential rhetoric corresponds to presidential action; it precedes and defines it. What a candidate says on the campaign trail connects to what he (or she) will do in office. And if Trump has had a single consistent message, it is that he’ll use the violent arm of the state to cleanse the nation of “scum” and “vermin,” whether immigrants and refugees or dissenters and political opponents like Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi.

Americans who want to stop this — three things to do:

top 14 comments
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[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 70 points 1 month ago (3 children)

It is simply extraordinary that the nation’s top general would tell anyone, much less one of the most famous reporters in the world, that the former president of the United States was a “fascist” — a “fascist to the core,” even — and a threat to the constitutional order. There is no precedent for such a thing in American history — no example of another time when a high-ranking leader of the nation’s armed forces felt compelled to warn the public of the danger posed by its once and perhaps future chief executive.

Yeah, it is extraordinary that this person would say it to that person, but Trump's fascism has been glaringly obvious since he ran in 2016: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-scholar-of-fascism-sees-a-lot-thats-familiar-with-trump

[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 42 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

If only some group of people who were against fascism were loudly warning about the signs a decade ago and how we needed to band together and stomp out the embers before they became flames. If only a group like that existed surely they would have been listened to. Perhaps they could have labeled themselves Oppose Fascism or something catchier . . . /s

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Look bro. The billionaires and corporations require that line goes up.

Issues like "imminent fascist dictatorship" and "genocidal terrorists seizing control of the most advanced surveillance apparatus in history" are all secondary to line goes up...

[–] yesman@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What you say is necessary, but not sufficient to answer the question of why capitalists prefer conservatism and tolerate fascism. The problem is there is no anti-capitalist party, or even a threat of one. Democrats want line go up too.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

The Democrats are just as much a front for the shadow plutocracy that finances 90% of candidates at the state and federal level.

The only difference is one is a continuation of the "democracy" charade, while the other rips the mask off and officially kills it.

[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 month ago

Please support my diverse, robust group of policies such as 'line go up' and 'rate at which line go up go up'

[–] SGGeorwell@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

Yes, a friend and I sat in a bar in late 2015 and went through the various definitions of fascism on Wikipedia and compared them to trump. It was a shocking nine years ago. By now we’re numb to it. The man is surely a fascist. Then and now.

[–] Ferrous@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I don't think this take is entirely fair.

Leftists were claiming Trump was a fascist right at the beginning of his campaign. Immediately, liberals started rejecting this notion due to "reductionism". To liberals, the idea of a fascists rising to become a viable candidate was unthinkable. How could our civil, enlightened system allow for such a candidate? Liberals didn't answer this question, and instead just rejected the idea of rising fascism wholesale.

For years, leftists have been sounding alarm bells about Trumpist fascism, only to be answered by asinine mainstream media pieces denying the claim. And now that liberals have sat on their asses and let fascism fester, theyve started pointing fingers inwards and to the left. Liberals are now blaming American fascism on leftists who refuse to vote for genocide. It could not be more in line with the historical blueprint: fascism takes rise, liberals start casting off leftists first to burn.

Google: trump fascism before:2016-01-01

Why you should stop calling Donald Trump a fascist. December 4, 2015

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/04/why-you-should-stop-calling-donald-trump-a-fascist/

Donald Trump Isn’t a Fascist; He’s a Media-Savvy Know-Nothing. December 28, 2015

https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-isnt-a-fascist-hes-a-media-savvy-know-nothing

Whose Fascism Is This, Anyway? Dec. 15, 2015

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/16/opinion/whose-fascism-is-this-anyway.html

Is Donald Trump leading a proto-fascist movement? August 28, 2015

https://theweek.com/articles/574097/donald-trump-leading-protofascist-movement

Trump May Be a Loudmouthed Demagogue, but Is He a Fascist? Donald Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric has his opponents likening him to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Such comparisons may be misplaced.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/09/trump-may-be-a-loudmouthed-demagogue-but-is-he-a-fascist/

Is Donald Trump a Fascist?

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-fascist-354690

So I'm not sure whether your comment was coming from a leftists perspective or a liberal one, but to say that liberals knew all along about the impending threat of fascism is wrong. Leftists did, however.

Edit: typo

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It was coming from me, because it was plainly obvious to me at the time. Like so glaringly obvious that the articles about how 'Trump isn't a real fascist' were obviously downplaying his obvious fascism by comparing him to 1943 Hitler instead of when Hitler was rising to power.

[–] PrimeMinisterKeyes@lemmy.world 34 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

From the other side of the pond, I find it very worrying and, indeed, disconnected from reality that Americans on Lemmy discuss the body odor or groping or even raping connected to one man that could and, given the chance, absolutely will completely unhinge their entire country at once.
You might think it smug, but many people all over the world have experienced a tyranny, or are currently experiencing it. There is no second warning, nor will there be a deadline; one day, the disappearings just start, and they will become increasingly random. You will not be in control of the process anymore.
Or, in the words of Andrew Mack, albeit about the failed Vietnam War: "The American experience [is] in no sense unique, except to Americans."
I understand people need to vent, but what I would really hope to see would be discussions on how easy, or how difficult, it is to uproot one's live and emigrate; how to go about getting a visa, or asylum, or a job in a different country; how long it takes to become fluent in a foreign language; or how long it would take Canada to close its borders once huge waves of refugees set in.
Today's "too alarmist" is tomorrow's "wasn't alarmist enough."
/offmychest

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This article only briefly mentions the main problem. It's not that a Presidential candidate is a fascist. It's that over 60 million people in the USA know he is a fascist, yet will vote for him anyway.

[–] BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

I think that number is a little generous. Most of his supporters probably know he's a fascist but I think millions are probably just stuck in the sinkhole of disinformation. Bad news is more compelling than good news and the right-wing is very good at reporting bad news, it's just all made up. Long-term I think there needs to be some kind of "Journalist Integrity Act" wherein the status of news organization comes with specific duties and ethics like a medical professional would have to follow.

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 18 points 1 month ago

If any Magoo apologizes for voting for him after he goes full Nazi I hope every one of us will tell them to fuck right off or preferably punch them in the face. I have no sympathy for a piece of shit that refuses to listen to anyone other than their favorite propagandist until it hurts them personally.

Fucking selfish ignorant cunts the lot of em.