When it first began, Donald Trump's presidential campaign seemed like a joke. It is fast becoming a menace: He is the closest thing the U.S. has seen to a genuine fascist in generations.
True, a decade ago posters depicting George W. Bush as Hitler were popular among the liberal proletariat, and essays such as Naomi Wolf's "Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps" were popular among the liberal intelligentsia. But those silly, supercilious comparisons cheapened the coin of fascism; they were little more than primal-scream therapy for the petulant left. As soon as a Democrat reclaimed the Oval Office, liberals regained their love affair with unbridled power.
Trump is something else again—and it is remarkable how many of the touchstones of fascism the Trump phenomenon embraces.
It is, to begin with, a cult of personality built around the Strong Man. When asked how he will achieve what he promises, Trump's primary answer is that, well, he is Donald Trump: a "really smart person" and a "great manager" who "beats China all the time"; who has "millions of followers"; who will flat-out dictate oil prices to OPEC ("we have nobody in Washington that sits back and said, 'you're not going to raise that f***ing price' "); who "will be the greatest jobs president God ever created" because he is not a "loser" or a "moron" like the rest of you; etc. etc. Trump does not have plans; he is the plan.
https://reason.com/archives/2015/12/14/dear-gop-dump-trump
True, a decade ago posters depicting George W. Bush as Hitler were popular among the liberal proletariat, and essays such as Naomi Wolf's "Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps" were popular among the liberal intelligentsia. But those silly, supercilious comparisons cheapened the coin of fascism; they were little more than primal-scream therapy for the petulant left. As soon as a Democrat reclaimed the Oval Office, liberals regained their love affair with unbridled power.
Trump is something else again—and it is remarkable how many of the touchstones of fascism the Trump phenomenon embraces.
It is, to begin with, a cult of personality built around the Strong Man. When asked how he will achieve what he promises, Trump's primary answer is that, well, he is Donald Trump: a "really smart person" and a "great manager" who "beats China all the time"; who has "millions of followers"; who will flat-out dictate oil prices to OPEC ("we have nobody in Washington that sits back and said, 'you're not going to raise that f***ing price' "); who "will be the greatest jobs president God ever created" because he is not a "loser" or a "moron" like the rest of you; etc. etc. Trump does not have plans; he is the plan.
https://reason.com/archives/2015/12/14/dear-gop-dump-trump
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