How Trump Exploited The Legal Infrastructure To Advance Fascism In America

The debate over whether Donald Trump is a fascist is no longer confined to a narrow segment of the far left. It is now out in the open. Even mainstream columnists like the New York Times’ Michelle Goldbergand the Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor and influential Democratic politicians, such as Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, have come to use the “F” word to describe our 45th commander in chief.

Although it is an emotionally loaded and often misused term, fascism is as real today as a political and cultural force, a set of core beliefs, and a mode of governance as it was when Benito Mussolini founded the Italian Fascist Party in 1919 and declared himself dictator six years later.

Nor is fascism a foreign phenomenon restricted to South American banana republics or failed European states. As University of London professor Sarah Churchwell explained in a June 22 essay published in the New York Review of Books, fascism has deep roots in the United States, spanning the decades from the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s to the rise of the German-American Bund in the 1930s, the ascendance of Depression-era demagogues like Huey Long, and the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Continue reading.

‘Straight up fascism’: Trump’s disturbing propaganda meme draws sharp blowback‘Straight up fascism’: Trump’s disturbing propaganda meme draws sharp blowback

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump once again is under fire, this time after posting an old, dark meme that’s appeared on literally hundreds of web pages on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit.

Oddly, it’s not the first time Trump has posted this meme. He did so the day the House impeached him.

The text reads: “In reality they’re not after me they’re after you. I’m just in the way.” Continue reading.

The return of fascism — Who will stand up and fight it? Lawrence Wittner

Back in 1941, the year of my birth, fascism stood on the brink of conquering the world.

During the preceding decades, movements of the Radical Right — mobilized by demagogues into a cult of virulent nationalism, racial and religious hatred, and militarism — had made great strides in nations around the globe. By the end of 1941, fascist Germany, Italy and Japan, having launched massive military invasions of other lands, had conquered much of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

It was a grim time.

Fortunately, though, an enormous movement arose to resist the fascist juggernaut. Led by liberals and assorted leftists around the world and eventually bolstered by the alliance of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States, this resistance movement ultimately prevailed. Continue reading.

Trump brags he’s all about getting revenge on those who failed to ‘kill the king’

AlterNet logoEvery day of the Senate trial, Adam Schiff made the cases that Donald Trump is not a king. He’s not free to use the weaponry of the state as his personal tool, and not exempt from the consequences of his actions. He’s a citizen, constrained by law like the rest of us.

But of course, Republicans disagreed. And on Saturday morning Donald Trump made it clear that not only does he consider himself a king, he intends to make the remainder of his rule all about “grievance, persecution and resentment.”

Trump based his morning tweets on a two-week old article from The New York Times which looked at Trump’s post-impeachment actions. Susan Collins may have claimed that Trump was going to be chastened by the hearings, impeachment,  and trial. Continue reading.

Trump is running a circus of fascism — but don’t miss the destruction he’s causing behind closed doors

AlterNet logoOver the past week, President Trump’s Circus Maximus of American fascism reached full bloom.

In ancient Rome, the Circus Maximus was the largest coliseum. It hosted chariot races, gladiatorial combat, hunts of wild animals, sporting events, parades and other grand happenings.

Like the Roman Empire in its decline, the United States is now vomiting up grotesque spectacles.  Continue reading.