Explaining libs to my MAGA friends

 What I am picking up on in other FB sites is the horror of ordinary people who are Trump supporters is" how horrible it is the libs are comparing Trump to Hitler and other dictators of the 1930s." Modern dictators do not need ovens; they just need enemies to fear and hate so they can get more power to "save" the country from them. Modern dictators do not need to jam foreign media, they need to convince enough people that the media, TV. Radio, social..they favor is only the truth teller, their version of the truth, however... and all others are liars. Modern dictators do not need to rewrite the laws and constitutions of their countries; they just fill all positions with loyalists to decide which laws they will obey and which they will just ignore. There is no one, no court of law, no parliament to stop them, because they are either too afraid of the abusive, unstoppable power to punish them, or were appointed because they were ideological and political allies in the first place. If all of this fails, they just send in the troops to put down any protest or arrest or to grab ballot boxes on a cooked-up pretext of some unevidenced crime, and elections in the future are meaningless. unfair and unsecured.. The form of democracy exists, but the form is a farce; a skeleton without the flesh, muscle, and brains. Examples of this kind of dictatorship is Hungary, run by Viktor Orban. and to some extent, Turkey. So, who is it that is trying to achieve this kind of dictatorship in the US? The Conservative Action Pac, CPAC, has been holding meetings in Hungary for the past couple of years in promotion of the Hungarian brand. Plan 2025 and its authors have been supporting the replacement of all federal employees, who are appointed to powerful personnel positions, ending most career service posts, mass firings, closing down whole agencies, and, if replacing positions, filling them with those screened to be loyal to their ideology as personified by Donald Trump. The key is control of the message by the wannabe dictator, delicensing, fear of government action like denial of mergers or losing contracts, or gerrymandering to threaten any in the legislature that do not march to the strong man's beat. They are not sent to gulags, but lose power and sustenance. Exaggerating hatred and fear, and showing an old film in which blue government cities are on fire and need military intervention, but only the low-information voters fall for that one. In the meantime, so fearful or so admiring of the great man are the supporters of this that they ignore and excuse immoral behavior, corruption, and greed, and denial of human and civil rights. What history has shown time and time again, those who once supported the strong man, they, too, become the victims. Once riding that tiger of a powerful, strong man, they fear to dismount and be eaten in the revenge and retribution of the strong tiger. In time, ordinary people who may object to such treatment learn to shut up and just take it, and the powerful friends of the strong man, and those who get rich and powerful by fawning over the strong man, ride off gleefully with their booty. That is what the "libs" oppose and see happening; be careful, my MAGA friends, what you wish.

What about that nasty word: fascism. Is using it justified, but a poor political strategy? One way to challenge someone in a debate over whether Trump or his regime is fascist, ask them what parts of a definition of what is fascism vs some other form of dictatorship or strong man leader. Ask them what part of the definition does not apply. There are books after books defining it, but recently, a Facebook friend sent me a very learned and succinct definition of fascism and made the case that the Supreme Court was Trump's enabler to become a fascist dictator.  There are all kinds of dictators: Roman, blood thirsty Pol Pots, to Communist, but fascist is a particular kind.  I am reproducing that here without attribution but with permission.  It is compelling. It would be at least a conversation starter.

What is Fascism?

Fascism historically refers to political movements such as Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. These movements showed several defining traits:

·         Strongman leadership – One leader claiming to be the only voice of the “true nation.”

·         Rejection of democratic limits – Undermining elections, courts, the press, and other checks.

·         Nationalism with grievance – Messaging built on humiliation, decline, or betrayal by “enemies within.”

·         Use of scapegoats – Minorities, immigrants, opponents, or institutions blamed for national problems.

·         Glorification of force and loyalty – Political violence is excused or encouraged, and dissent is seen as disloyalty.

·         Fusion of state and identity – The idea that the leader and the nation are indistinguishable.

 Also see: MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: A case can be made that the Supreme Court is replacing democracy with fascism