“[When Fascism comes to America] it will be wrapped in the American flag and heralded as a plea for liberty and the preservation of the Constitution”*.
- James Waterman, “The Christian Century”, 1936
Fascism is a term that is seldom used in reasoned political discourse because it’s extreme and prejudicial due to the inevitable comparisons to Adolf Hitler and Naziism. Usually, when the comparison is made, the recipient expresses outrage and attempts to transfer outrage to the speaker because they dared to make the comparison, which aims to derail the dialog and comparison. This often works because of the cultural view that America is exceptional and that “America is the good guy” and Fascist Germany is the canonical “bad guy”. This post examines the parallels between the current political atmosphere and the characteristics of Fascism. While the comparison is uncomfortable, it is entirely warranted.
There’s an old (1990) internet aphorism for this comparison called “Godwin’s Law”, which says “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” However, in 2023, in a too-absurd-for-fiction moment, Mr. Godwin said that in the case of Mr. Trump, the comparison is warranted. I agree.
The Republican party led by Donald Trump is Fascist, and a vote for Mr. Trump or anyone who supports him is a vote against the rule of law and is anti-democratic, as it has been broadly understood in America. There is overwhelming and voluminous evidence for this position.
To defend the historical American political system, it is important to vote against Mr. Trump’s followers as well Trump himself, so as not to reward those in/seeking official positions for kowtowing to the Fascists. Anything less further risks similar challenges to democracy in the future.
Here are some of the characteristics of Fascists that seem to fit very well, along with recent fascist statements. Fascists tend to:
- Promote a hyper-masculine & misogynistic culture — ”Grab ‘em by the pussy!”, “when you’re rich they let you do it!”, Arnold Palmer was “well endowed”, “Nobody has more respect for women than I do”, “blood coming from her wherever”), “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
- Tell [BIG] lies (“alternate facts”) then demand public followers publicly parrot the line to demonstrate fealty and subservience (“It was the largest inauguration audience ever”, “The Haitians are eating dogs and cats”, “I would have won California if not for the millions of people who voted illegally”, “The election was stolen”), These less often include accusing others of exactly what they do “She’s a fascist”, “when you’re the president, to our power is total”,
- Use the “I’m Rubber, You’re Glue” approach for attacks, claiming that its really their critics are really the ones doing whatever the Fascist is accused of. This is one type of “the big lie”. “I’m not a puppet, you’re the puppet!”
- Promote violence in their cause as righteous (“January 6 was a peaceful protest”, “Can’t you just shoot them [protestors] in the legs or something?‘) while demonizing opposing (imagined) violence (January 6 criminals were “antifa” — literally antifascists), “Fight! Fight! Fight!“
- Denigrate, dehumanize and Demonize and punish all who express any dissent (use the military on “the enemy within”, “I like people who weren’t captured”), “Communists”, “Socialists”, “Fascists” , “she’s a fascist, communist, socialist!’, “Lock her up!”,
- Denigrate, dehumanize and Demonize disfavored minorities (“Bad Hombres”, “shithole countries”), “They’re Poisoning the blood of our country”, “They’re not humans, they are animals”, “it’s all the scum that hate our country”, “Retards”, “She is some sick bastard that Hillary Clinton. What a sick Son of a Bitch” (Where the speaker refers to the MSG event as a “Nazi Rally”),
- Use the legal system to prosecute their political rivals “These people should be indicted. That includes Obama, and it includes Biden”. “Lock her up!”, (And no, the current Trump cases in New York, New York, Florida, DC, DC and Pennsylvania aren’t “the same” — see the “I’m Rubber).
- Take inspiration and comfort from like-minded authoritarian leaders:
- Putin – “This is genius… I mean, he’s taking over a country for two dollars’ worth of sanctions” ,
- Xi – “He’s now president for life, president for life. And he’s great”, “Those Chinese generals would know what to do” [about peaceful protestors] and …
- Hitler— “Hitler did some good things”[multiple times], “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had”,
- Mythologize an imagined golden past “Make America Great Again”, “America First” (a pre-WW II, isolationist, fascist slogan)
- Claim that “our people” are chosen by God (“God looked down on his planned Paradise and said, I need a caretaker. So God gave us Trump.”), while their enemies are “demons”, “Vermin” and “Bad Hombes“, “Antichrist“
- Vilify the independent press (Lügenpresse, literally “press of lies” or “lying press”) and
- Denigrate the very idea that facts are knowable and expertise in government is good. “Climate Change is a hoax”, “The likes of this we’ve never seen before, because it came in as a [Category] 5” (2017), “I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of a Category 5 Hurricane”(2109), “I’ve never heard of a Category 5” (2024) [Cognitive decline or complete disregard for the truth – Why pick just one?]
- Hold Contempt for Democracy. “That doesn’t mean he’s the winner. He’s just going to say he’s the winner”(Bannon), “The election was stolen”, “I’ll be a dictator on day one”, “[the stolen election] allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,”
- Demand fealty to the leader verses allegiance to the constitution with his transition lead saying “[W]e’re going to give people the role based on their capacity — and their fidelity and loyalty to the policy, as well as to the man” [Federal officials take an oath it uphold the constitution, not officials],
And of course only a single strong leader can “return” us to prosperity (“I alone can fix it”).
I’m not saying that Donald Trump is the same as Adolf Hitler, but there are important — and all-too-relevant — parallels, which would previously have effectively disqualified Mr. Trump from public office.
I don’t know that Donald Trump will be the end of democracy in the United States if he takes office on January 20th as it was in Germany (Hitler was also duly legally elected by a minority and promised to be a dictator btw), but I am confident it will not bode poorly for long-term prospects of the United States, it’s citizens and the world.
If you’ve read this far and think that the 2020 (or 2024) election was/is stolen, VP Harris is a communist, Biden and AG Garland are criminals, this is the worst economy America has ever had and that the Russians are the virtuous power in Ukraine, I know I’m not going to change your mind, so please mark this with an “Angry Emoji” so everyone knows where you stand, but also read below about the connection between MAGA and Nazi voters below.
Otherwise, I hope you will consider this as you weigh who to vote for on November 5th, and not vote for anyone who gives cover to a fascist movement, which includes just about every Republican Congressional and Gubernatorial candidate.
PostScript:
I didn’t publish this because I think speaking out will convert anyone, but because staying silent would change me. Importantly I also know that it’s fruitless to blame 45% of the population for voting as they honestly think best, and I harbor no animosity toward them.
I also know that my background doesn’t matter to those who won’t honestly weigh these words – neither my degrees in History nor Public Policy nor my 35 years of experience as a Federal official I think background in both science and technology and national security, nor my fairly extensive reading on the topic, but I am still compelled to point that I have some qualifications behind these opinions. To my reading, the conclusion is incontrovertible from the evidence.
Thinking this through also gave me a new perspective on pre-war Germany — How much blame do we put on those who sympathize with MAGA views? I think it’s important to understand that most Trump/enableer voters are doing what they think best after “doing their research” and they are angry at a system they think is unfair and has screwed them. I agree with them-The system is rigged against them, and they are right to be angry at their leaders, with some blame apportioned to each party in the duopoly. That makes it all the harder for me to judge Trump “rank and file” admirers harshly. The people who “control” this system where Mr. Trump could be re-elected more immediately are at fault, because they could have stopped it at several critical points but chose not to (chiefly through Impeachment and bar from re-election). They and others have convinced Trump followers that this is the best course because it’s the best course for those leaders. Those people are almost uniformly Republicans. (RFK Jr notwithstanding)
Watching the last decade of politics in America, and reading about that era for comparison, I have a much better appreciation of how they and we got here. Almost 40% of the German people voted for the Nazi Party, led by Hitler in the last German election before WWII, having laid out most of his vision very clearly. What were they thinking in 1933 when they voted for the Nazis? What were they thinking when their fellow Germans were denied a livelihood, turned out of their houses, arrested and shipped off to concentration camps? Watching Mr. Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party gives me a better understanding, but in some sense I still don’t understand either group, though I’m related to members of both groups (WWII era Germans and MAGA). In both cases, the constituencies were/are mostly composed of rural voters and lower middle class constituencies which were insecure about their economic place in society after several decades that were hard economic times for both groups. The phrase I keep thinking of applying to both groups is “forgive them, for they know not what they do.” If Mr. Trump is elected, I predict our children will look back and ask many of the questions we asked about the German people in the 1930s, including “How could they do that?”.
Anyway, good luck to everyone on Election Day. I know we all hope it turns out well, though we don’t all agree on what a good outcome looks like.
(Yes, this is longer and wordier than I’d like).
*[That’s the origin of the aphorism “when fashion comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying across”, which is mis-attributed to Sinclair Lewis.]