Yeah, I can’t even really see anything besides the health insurance that his supporters could clearly trace back to him. And the Republicans know it, so it’ll be interesting to see how they finally reconcile their desire to destroy health care and the knowledge that it’s going to bite them on the ass.
Yeah, even before he entered office, people were saying, “beware a ‘Reichstag fire’” - now that his popularity is plummeting, it’s even more relevant, as he needs a disaster to have any kind of support. If the administration can’t allow one to happen through inaction, they’ll fabricate something.
It’s almost like nobody gives a shit about corruption and jobs that will never ever come back and the decline of America so long as some black and Muslim persons get lynched.
Rationality just isn’t a factor here. They just don’t like Hillary as a person, and if someone can present an apparently civic-minded reason for that, they’ll gleefully seize upon it. Meanwhile, if Trump does the same (or worse)…isn’t he such a rascal?!? Don’t you love him for it?
The same has been true of party affiliation, of course, but now we’ve reached this weird, postmodern stage where it’s possible for the president to say literally anything, no matter how obviously counterfactual, and still maintain a reputation for “telling it like it is.” People who have lived under totalitarianism have dealt with this before, but for us it’s uncharted territory.
I wouldn’t hold my breath. I mean, did we have an “election” in 2016? Corrupt FBI director, Russian meddling, the Electoral College leading to a President who literally has no mandate…
Oh let’s just call it for what it is. The GOP via the Tea Party (or perhaps further back, to the Bill Clinton Presidency) evolved into a literally fascist-minded organization. Their supporters are, de facto, fascists. I’m kind of done making excuses for them. There is no saving them. Many people LIKE fascism, it’s why fascists often get elected into power. What we need to do is rally the CLEAR MAJORITY of the population that does NOT like fascism. It is a LARGE majority, when you take into account the fact that non-voting adults tend to lean progressive from everything I’ve ever heard.
The f-word gets thrown around a lot; declaring that everyone who voted for Trump is a “de facto fascist” is nice and dramatic, but no. As with everything there’s a far-right fringe that’s absolutely fascist-minded, and the current administration is doing a terrific job of checking all of those fascist-authoritarian-dictatorship boxes. But the dude in Ohio who just thought Hillary was too “Nurse Ratched” for his tastes and is tired of all the “Mexicans taking jobs around here” and thinks his taxes are too high? Sure, he’s kinda ignorant and kinda racist and kinda selfish. But fascist? Nah.
Agree!!! Half my suburban town 45 minutes from New York voted for Trump. They include my neighbors, teachers, little league coaches. Really when we assume that people voted for him for the most absolute worst reasons it doesn’t do anyone any good.
And I’m sure we could find a lot of reasons why Germans voted for Adolf Hitler and co. I would submit that, as I said, if you vote a fascist into power, make excuses for them over and over, especially when the fascist politicians have RUN on a PLATFORM of FASCISM, I’m going to stick with my thesis that they are de facto fascists. They might not realize it, they might not even know what the word is, but they are de facto fascists if they support the fascists in power. We can agree to disagree. I also don’t think they’re all irredeemable, but I frankly don’t think it’s worth the energy to find and qualify all of the “convertible” Trump supporters, when they are the clear minority of American adults.
None of your points in any way, shape, or form damage my hypothesis. Yes, half of your community are fascists! Just fucking deal with it already. I would submit that people don’t want to deal with this reality, because it is FRIGHTENING, but not because it isn’t true. Just because someone is a nice guy when you run into him at the grocery store, doesn’t mean they don’t support fascism. Are you saying that there was something fundamentally “different” about all of the fascist societies throughout history (and today), and us? We’re so special? Would you consider Vladimir Putin a fascist? How about the head of the Communist Party in Russia? All of the fascist warlords in Africa? I could go on and on. You seem to think that the average “nice American” is somehow inherently different than all of of the people from these other cultures. You are wrong, if you think that. I strongly, strongly encourage people to read the classic Ordinary Men. Hint: It has to do with how nice, normal people joined the SS and committed unspeakable acts. They were NO DIFFERENT than the people you refer to, the only difference is that their leaders “took it that far.” If you really think Trump and his cronies are incapable of “taking it that far,” well, I’d have to question your ability to utilize game theory.
Immediately after the election, Trump’s favorability was at 42%. Please, you don’t need to point out that favorability and job approval are different things. They are close enough since gallup doesn’t measure job approval for a president that isn’t yet on the job.
I’m not talking about every last Trump voter, I’m talking about the LARGE PERCENTAGE of Trump voters who ABSOLUTELY support a lot of the fascist bullshit associated with this administration. They are fine with the fact that his very Presidency violates the Constitution due to Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8. They think it’s fine for our President to be in violation of the, uh, law of the land? Yeah, I’m going to call that “fascist.” They’re fine with supporting racism aimed at minorities, because… Who cares? They’re fine with the administration constantly lying, hell, making up massacres that never even happened? I could go on and on. Yes, if you support all of these things, according to Nicky G’s definition, you are a de facto fascist. shrug
It does make me feel better! What I try to do on a very limited scale (because there’s a trust factor) is talk to people I know and like about why they voted for Trump. When someone says “As a Catholic I am pro-life and this is our best chance of getting Roe v Wade overturned – not a fan of Trump but I want his justices”. Is this guy a fascist?
If the person is willing to vote a wretched obvious fascistic-type into office BECAUSE of these fears and concerns? Yeah, I WOULD call that person a “de facto fascist.” Maybe you’d feel better if I had called such people “idiotic, unwitting supporters of fascists” but I think “de facto” is quicker.
