Donald Trump is now positioning himself to try for a second term in 2024. Many of his opponents fear he wants to turn US democracy into an autocracy. His supporters see Trump as a defender of democracy, protecting us from voter fraud. Democracy means different things to different groups. To Democrats, Trumpism is like fascism; to REpublicans, democracy is about "vote integrity". Unfortunately, the 2022 and 2024 elections cannot be fought using those terms of fascism (autocracy) v democracy without great care. It is a battlefield full of traps. potholes, and improvised political explosives.
Trump and some of Trump's supporters have also been accused of being fascists. Do they and he deserve to be called that? So abhorrent were the 1930s' dictators, calling someone a fascist is taken as an inflammatory insult. The term " fascism" deserves a cold, hard look to see if Trumpism is a form of modern-day fascism. Then we need to ask ourselves is this the kind of governing we want in America's future. We are at a critical time in America's history. There is good reason to believe that. The choice we are facing is the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential year elections is between what could be called fascism and its opposite, democracy.
However, proponents of democracy, of which I am, have a problem in messaging. The problem is that it is more GOP partisans who think democracy is under attack and the Democrats. as they see autocracy as the real threat to democracy. They both are not even talking with the same definition of terms. .CNN Poll: Most Americans feel democracy is under attack in the US - CNNPolitics That is truly a case of Democrats being asleep at the wheel or tongue tied as they paint Republicans as the anti democracies. The Republicans are too much in the thrall of Trump to grasp the significance of what has happened since November 2020. When Democrats hail democracy and Republicans fear for democracy, they are not even talking about the same reality. It is because most Republicans still believe, in spite of every big of evidence to the contrary and the recent fiasco in the "Arizona forensic audit" conducted by their own that Biden won, that the election was stolen by fraud. Therefore, it follows, they are the ones who support democracy and the Democrats are the one stealing it. Those that think so fear democracy is under attack when in reality the attacker is their own hero, Donald Trump, and his minions. Most still have not come to grips that January 6 was an insurrection, a violent attempt to overturn the certified electoral college count, and they fear Democrats are increasing their electorate majority by being to lax in welcoming brown, black, and Asian immigrants, which are not the ones that look like them, the GOP overwhelmingly white demographic.
The challenge to Democrats then is to always put their views of democracy in context of something meaningful to those who are not hardcore Trumpists Perhaps one context is th"at the GOP does not want your vote to count if you are not suspected of being and looking like their party supporters and they are working hard to keep people from voting. That is not what this country should be about. The current attacks on Trump's anti democratic tendencies have been limited to calling him an "autocrat" .. That is far too gentle an approach, yet calling him a fascist creates its own hysteria, no matter how true it is. Perhaps one way without getting in the weeds is to" tag Trump as a fear and hate rouser who wants to be a one man ruler who tried to use the active military and judges appointments and federal prosecutors and inspiring violent actions to get his way ....and then say that "sounds more like a dictator who wants to complete his agenda That is never what this country is about. Our political future will not be a peaceful one".
Biden's approach has been to support democracy because it can get things done. He is demonstrating it by getting legislation passed which help the middle class and lays the groundwork for a more prosperous future. That is well and good, but it is also backhandedly admitting that "autocracies" can also get it done. That is not enough of a plea to support the kind of democracy we have had for the past 250 years. Trump has always believed that the greatest motivation in politics is "fear". Democrats need to throw that back at him ...that more of him will lead to chaos and conflict, and the loss of popular will expressed in a ballot box with his big lies and restrictive rights for those who oppose him. Is this the kind of America we want for our future?
Getting in the definition of terms weeds still have some value for those with independence from the Trump cult.
If we are going to throw terms like fascism and democracy around, we should have some pretty clear definitions of what they mean. When we peel back the cover of political oratory, a case can be made that Trumpism does share many aspirational and policy characteristics with the 1930s European fascists and more recent South American dictators. Even his opponents have steered away from terms like a dictator and cloaked the designation of Trump's tendencies in the less inflammatory "autocrat", a general term for the governmental rule by a person. The founders of our country called such rulers kings and tyrants because that is who they revolted against. They had not yet experienced the 1930's fascists, but the description is similar. If it looks like a rose and smells like a rose, it is a rose. A significant part of Americans is either in favor of the direction Trump wants to take us where ever or whatever it is called or do not care but are inspired by their devotion to Donald Trump. Others are asleep at the wheel with other matters on their minds ..
Fascism is a political philosophy, a technique to seize and keep power, and a method of governing., There are many shades of fascism and not all fascists try to exterminate those who they deemed an undesirable race in ovens, but they try to control and suppress them by other means . What is clear is what fascism is not. It is not "democracy" which is derived from Greek for rule by the people, who,, in our founders/ terms, are acting as individuals " to form a more perfect union". There are many definitions of fascism, but generally, all are in agreement on some basics. Fascism is the all-powerful governmental rule by either the majority or the minority party led by an individual "strong man". . It is coupled with the oppression of opponents. It is giving a strong leader a grip on all of the reins of power, judiciary, industrialists, legislature, and able to ignore and control the will of the people. . Use of the active military to enforce the leaders' wishes in domestic politics is permitted and usual. Violence and intimidation may happen. Who rules is not decided in fair and free elections in future years, though they often gain control initially via elections, as well as by coups and revolutions. They consolidate and keep power slowly through appointments of loyalists to positions, demagoguery and lies, and threats and acts of violence and suppression... When lies go unchallenged, the unaware public can take fantasies and theories as truth and be manipulated. That is why control of media by the government is essential to autocrats, /fascists/ and dictators gaining and keeping their power.. Many of fascism's dictatorial characteristics are also shared by communists, right-wing, non-ideological power-seekers,, and others on the far left, as well as totalitarianism of the type of the dear leader in North Korea. It is also like other dictatorships that often rise to power and stay in power by exploiting racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious conflicts or fear of some invading alien force. However, what sets fascism apart from other kinds of dictatorships is capitalism and its preservation and coziness with businesses and corporations or tycoons and oligarchs.
A democracy practiced as it is preached is one in which the results of elections are honored, respected, and reflect the majority views in peaceful governance and in transitions to power. Those participating in a democracy believe they have an agreement with friends and political foes alike to be subject and obey the intent and rule of laws passed by duly elected representatives,, and co not succumb to the whims of the ruling party or a single leader who determines how the laws should be interpreted, what the laws will be, and against whom they will be enforced. American democracy, in particular, is a way of giving power to the majority while protecting the rights of the minority to make its case to voters, giving it a chance to rise to power peacefully through the ballot box by the Bill of Rights and derivative civil rights legislation. To reflect the will of the people, equal accessibility to the voting box for everyone is essential. However, those seeking more power than they would normally gain from open and free elections, have also tried to keep opponents from voting via a variety of techniques by making it difficult and expensive for certain demographics suspected full of opponents to vote. .That may be seen as a clever political strategy, but it certainly is not in the spirit of democracy where all voters can have a say.
- How most forms of fascism become successful is the use and abuse of some democratic framework that is not an abrupt power grab by a military coup. It may take several years of manipulating the rules of democracy. It depends in lulling to sleep those who like democracy by using the vocallbulary of democracy such as "vote integrity" while devising ways to subvert the voting process to favor their fellow travelers.
- The manipulation of public opinion is key in the rise of fascists to power. The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich is a study of how mass psychology contributed to the rise of fascism in the 1930s.. The clearest parallel with the 1930 fascists and the current breed and how they are attempting to rise to power is the use of demagogic oratory and media to hype the fear of some racial or religious minorities taking over. Some even call this " replacing the existing ruling group". , Others blame some immigrants or "others" to blame for their threatened or actual loss of power. These are themes consistent with fascism from the 1930s to current times from Turkey to Hungary.
- Does Trump resemble any of the fascists? He began his political life with "birtherism" to try to delegitimize the first African American president, calling immigrants rapists and murderers and terrorists from the beginning of his campaign and praising white nationalists and militia hate groups as patriots and fine people.., This culminated in January 6 violence mostly fueled by those carrying confederate flags, and neo Nazi symbolistic insignia and banners, Instead of brown shirts of Nazis, in Charlottesville, they were dressed in polo shirts and recently in Arizona crowds awaited the "forensic audit" dressed in mail order camo, waiving weapons of war accompanied by military-like trained dogs., These are who Trump has called patriots and fine people. This is the kind of governance Trump likes and praises. , This is the future of America he favors. He made strides in his first term. Should he be given another chance to take us further down that path?
- Are those who support Trump fascists, too? Take the test.
- I have seen is one provided in 2013, well before Trump's political rise and before the term was applied to Trump supporters orto Donald Trump himself. . Dr. Lawrence Britt, an Australian political scientist wrote "14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism":[ Those who wonder if they are ideological fascists or object to being called one, take the test and see how many with which you agree. If the shoe fits wear it
- Nationalism:
saying one's own country is better than other countries
- Disdain
for human rights
- Scapegoating: blaming someone else for the
country's problems
- Putting
the military first
- Sexism: saying
men are better than women
- Control
of mass media:
telling newspapers and other sources of news what they can and cannot tell
the people
- Focus
on national security
- Close
ties between religion and government
- Protection
of businesses and corporations
- Suppression
of labor power: preventing labor unions from
becoming powerful
- Disdain
for intellectuals and the arts: telling people not to listen to
scientists, scholars, and artists
- Focus
on crime and
crimefighting
- Corruption
- .Fraudulent elections: Even if the people vote, the votes are either not counted or otherwise abused. In some fascist governments, leaders will have their opponents killed. .
A case can be made that the shoe fits. At least it fits so far in Trump's attempts in his four years in power, supporting most of these initiatives and policies that tilt in that direction of fascism. He is not done yet. He failed to overturn the 2020 election thanks to judges even he appointed tossing his claims of voter fraud out of their courts for lack of evidence, countless "audits", including the recent "forensic audit" supported by the Arizona GOP itself His attempt at to scare the members of Congress into supporting the overturn of the electoral college vote also failed thanks to the heroic effort of capitol police. We are learning more about January 6's attempted violent coup. What was going on behind the scenes in the Oval Office is still an open book awaiting sworn testimony in Congressional hearings. . His vice president Mike Pence refused to overturn the electoral college vote which also could have, thrown the election into the House which, per constitutional provisions, one vote one state would have decertified the election and reinstated Trump, In spite of an attempt to replace civilian positions in the defense department,, General Mark Milley refused to use the military to intervene in domestic political matters. . All of that could change if Trump would be elected in 2024. He is now positioning himself to try for a second term in 2024 to complete his turning the US into a modern form of fascism. This is the opposite of democracy in which the results of elections are honored and respected, giving the strong leader a grip on all of the reins of power, judiciary, industrialists, legislature, able to ignore and control the will of the people expressed in the ballot box.
www.pri.org/stories/2018-04-25/madeleine-albright-thinks-its-time-set-alarm-fascism. Former secretary of state Maeleine Albright points to the right-wing president of Hungary, Viktor Orban, as a case study in her book.. He was able to rise to power supported by populist fear of Syrian refugees threatening their nation's ethnic/religious purity. He now controls nearly all of the media in that country and has come under fire by the international press for lining the purse, building a "palace", and rewarding certain preferred business associates. Tucker Carlson, FOX News personality, not only visited Orban, he has been beating the drum extolling his virtues, especially that he is a strong leader.
Opinion | Our constitutional crisis is already here - The Washington Post
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