WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH POSSIBLE AMERICAN FASCISM. WE MUST
RESIST.
ANY WHO WANT A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
MUST RESIST.
MUST RESIST.
ANY WHO WANT A LIBERAL
CULTURE OF BROAD TOLERANCE AND RESPECT FOR ALL
MUST RESIST!
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Salon article: Nixon was more like a proto-Trump |
Backstory: Ever since Nixon's
appeal to the backlash against greater racial equality, the Republican Party,
the party of the wealthy/powerful elite, has increasingly appealed to hatred
and anger against racial minorities, women, and now more than any time since
the early 20th century, immigrants – and thereby has divided America more
and more, demolishing a center (e.g., Independents, ticket-splitting).
Starting with Reagan, the Republican agenda to protect billionaires and the profit of powerful corporations has become more obvious – for example, by reforming the tax code thereby putting more burden on the bottom 99.99%, and attacking regulations (put in place to protect the lower 99.99%) by using the wealthy propaganda myth of the “free market”.
To begin with, the Republicans captured the religious fundamentalist vote by flipping on cultural issues starting with a woman's right to an abortion (Reagan). But the fundamentalist vote and the economically Conservative vote was not enough in 2008.
As a result, the wealthy elite created the “virtual” Tea Party to build a larger angry white constituency – angry about a feeling of economic precariousness. And Americans should feel greater economic vulnerability – before the G.W. Bush “Great Recession” starting in 2008, median family income had been stagnant for more than three decades (even with more family members working more jobs) and job and retirement pension security was being progressively diminished for the almost all workers.
The Here & Now: Trump is not only illiberal
but anti-democratic, questioning and challenging Constitutional constraints on the
Executive and chilling any criticism by individuals or by the media (i.e. the 1st
Amendment right to free speech) by veiled and not so veiled threats of violence
by his supporters or retaliation by himself (e.g. restricting the libel law).
Twentieth century Americans do know something about how speech was chilled
during the McCarthy era – Trump's threats during the primary campaign are
consistent with his on-going twitters etc. and threaten to chill speech in a
much more profound way - indeed, more similar to fascist regimes.
"In the interim, there are a slate of policies on his docket that would entrench not only his kleptocratic interests, but also allow him, together with the GOP, to create an internal empire less responsive to the plurality of voters and more responsive to wealthy and regressive special interests. "(From The warning signs of fascism that Americans should be watching for under president Donald Trump, by Casey Michel)
No surprise then that a lightning-rod-of-hate-and-anger demagogue like Trump could divide America as much as it was in the Civil War era. Trump's "MO" is:
- spouting a message that he could bring all the (better paying?) jobs back
- saying only he could fix things & “make America great again”
- bring back traditional values
- modeling illiberal behavior
- unapologetically demeaning women
- unapologetically demeaning ethnic, and national minorities
- unapologetically demeaning any critics
But Trump is not only illiberal but anti-democratic, questioning/challenging Constitutional constraints on the Executive and chilling any criticism by individuals or by the media (i.e. the 1st Amendment right to free speech). His challenges are by veiled and not so veiled threats of violence by his supporters or retaliation by himself (e.g. restricting the libel law).
Twentieth century Americans do know something about how speech was chilled during the McCarthy era.Trump's threats during the primary campaign are consistent with his on-going, headline making tweets, etc., and threaten to chill speech in a much more profound way - indeed, more similar to fascist regimes.
WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH POSSIBLE AMERICAN FASCISM. WE MUST RESIST.
ANY WHO WANT A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY MUST RESIST.
ANY WHO WANT A LIBERAL CULTURE OF BROAD TOLERANCE AND RESPECT FOR ALL
MUST RESIST!
#TheResistance
#TheResistance
