Mastodawn

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-21-2024

"In an echo of [Sinclair] Lewis’s bestselling 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here, [Dorothy Thompson] wrote in a 1937 column: 'No people ever recognize their dictator in advance…. He always represents himself as the instrument for expressing the Incorporated National Will. When Americans think of dictators they always think of some foreign model.'"

~ Heather Cox Richardson

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/2

October 21, 2024

On Saturday, September 7, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump predicted that his plan to deport 15 to 20 million people currently living in the United States would be “bloody.” He also promised to prosecute his political opponents, including, he wrote, lawyers, political operatives, donors, illegal voters, and election officials.

Letters from an American

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/lets-be-honest-trumps-running-as

"DONALD TRUMP IS RUNNING THE MOST openly fascist campaign ever undertaken by a major-party nominee for president of the United States.

That’s not hype; it’s a textbook application of the term. …

We like to think that fascism can’t happen in America. But it’s happening right now."

~ Will Saletan

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/3

Let’s Be Honest, Trump’s Running As a Fascist

A comprehensive look at recent speeches and interviews underscores just how dark the rhetoric has gotten.

The Bulwark

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653196/caste-by-isabel-wilkerson/

“Germany bears witness to an uncomfortable truth — that evil is not one person but can be easily activated in more people than we would like to believe when the right conditions congeal."

~ Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (NY: Random House, 2020), p. 267

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/4

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson: 9780593230275 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • “An inst...

PenguinRandomhouse.com

http://pegasusbooks.com/books/travelers-in-the-third-reich-9781681777825-hardcover

“Foreign visitors who concerned themselves with the plight of the Jews — and the majority did not — had to deal with an unanswerable question. How is it possible for these warm-hearted, genial people, noted for their work ethic and devotion to family values, to treat so many of their fellow Germans, with such contempt and cruelty?”

~ Julia Boyd, Travelers in the Third Reich, The Rise of Fascism (NY: Pegasus, 2018), p. 372

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/5

Travelers in the Third Reich

“People voted for Hitler as they voted for Putin and Trump, because they didn’t want to give up their own privileges. This isn’t a matter of ignorance. They understand exactly the price of enlightenment: that the equality of humankind means the equality of humankind, and not only after I’ve secured my own comfort."

Susan Neiman, Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019), p. 56, citing Bettina Stangneth

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/6

“What had come out on top in Germany might occur in darkest Russia or the Balkans, but surely not in their law-abiding country. What had happened? That was the question raised on all sides, but no one had an answer."

~ Joachim Fest, Not I: Memoirs of a German Childhood, trans. Martin Chalmers (NY: Other Press, 2012), p. 100

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/7

“A nation, they said, that had produced Goethe, Schiller and Lessing, Bach, Mozart, and so many others, would simply be incapable of barbarism. Griping at the Jews, prejudice, there had always been that, they thought. But not violent persecution.”

~ Ibid., p. 181

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism
/8

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”

~ Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Tolitarianism, p. 474

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #lies #disinformation
/9

“[Bettina Stangneth is] not convinced that Germans have faced the worst fact about the Nazi period: not the ignorant masses, but the educated elites were the driving forces behind the regime. ...

Ir wasn’t an unwashed, unlettered mob, but hundreds of well-off and well-read students, and their professors, who gleefully followed the Nazis’ first orders."

~ Susan Neiman, Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019), pp. 55, 274

#Trump #fascism
/10

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586030/how-fascism-works-by-jason-stanley/

“Regular and repeated obvious lying is part of the process by which fascist politics destroys the information space.”

~ Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (NY: Random House, 2018), p. 57

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #lies #disinformation
/11

How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley: 9780525511854 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

“No single book is as relevant to the present moment.”—Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen “One of the defining books of the decade.&...

PenguinRandomhouse.com

https://snyder.substack.com/p/fascism-on-television

"The kind of government that a Trumpian sort of fascism would bring would not actually address any of the real problems in life. It would only generate the next round
of fake problems the next set of things you should be afraid of and then it will magically declare that those things have been resolved."

~ Timothy Snyder

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #lies #disinformation
/12

Fascism on television

Thoughts from the road #3

Thinking about...

https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/trumps-empty-appeal-to-young-men

"If you asked a hundred or a thousand young men what Trump wants to do that would benefit them, or how the country he wants to create would plausibly be better for them than the one they live in now, I suspect almost none of them would be able to come up with an answer."

~ Paul Waldman

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #lies #disinformation #gender #men #MaleVoters
/13

Trump's Empty Appeal to Young Men

He wants to exploit their disaffection. But what exactly is he offering them?

The Cross Section

"If you’re one of those young men excited when he goes on your favorite podcast, so much so that you’re considering voting for the first time? I’ve got some bad news. You’re just another in a long line of marks who fell for Donald Trump’s scams."

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #lies #disinformation #gender #men #MaleVoters
/14

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-military-generals-hitler/680327

"'I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,' Trump said in a private conversation in the White House, according to two people who heard him say this. 'People who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders.'”

~ Jeffrey Goldberg

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #military
/15

Trump: ‘I Need the Kind of Generals That Hitler Had’

The Republican nominee’s preoccupation with dictators, and his disdain for the American military, is deepening.

The Atlantic

"A desire to force U.S. military leaders to be obedient to him and not the Constitution is one of the constant themes of Trump’s military-related discourse."

#Trump #JDVance #Republicans #fascism #military
/16

Sylvie does books Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy i find it amusing that he thinks the military will do his bidding.

@SDParris Egotism and narcissism always make us miscalculate what's going on in the world around us, don't they?

Dave Goldsmith Oct 22, 2024

I hope he gets one like Hitler's General Friedrich Olbricht.

@Dave_Goldsmith Indeed. Not all of Hitler's generals were what the unschooled and unintelligent Trump imagines.

skua Oct 22, 2024

Who was the arsewipe who ran the Gitmo torture program?

He'll know generals who'd stand by Trump.

@skua Yes, I suspect that's right.

Distant Replay Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy
Please stop these intersectional and generational attacks on voter "identity". With only two weeks left there are better ways for you to use your time and your voices.

If Trump wins it will be much as it was in past elections in which he ran. And his support will come overwhelmingly from white people and mostly older white people.

@distantreplay Your @ addresses me and asks me to stop what you regard as intersectional/generational attacks on voter identity.

But you're responding to statements by Paul Waldman.

I find Waldman's analysis well-informed and thoughtful, and I think the question of why younger men are moving in the direction of Trump is important to think about. Misogyny and all the patriarchal attiitudes and practices that undergird it obviously deserve serious attention.

Distant Replay Oct 23, 2024

@wdlindsy Mote and Bailey is unworthy of you. I'm not seeking an argument and I'm truly sorry you are taking it that way.

But I reiterate that the best way forward for all good hearted progressive people is to seek and build community. Blame is a deadly trap.

@distantreplay I believe in building community and in intersectionality. I responded to you courteously because that's a community-building thing to do, though you implicitly accused me of "attacking" others, and I surely have a right to be concerned about such a personal judgment levied against me by someone who doesn't even know me. I continue to say that I find Paul Waldman's commentary very valuable, and I find the discussion of gender matters critically important.

Dan Neuman 🇨🇦Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy If they are white Christian men, then it will be easier to control women. Get a woman pregnant, even against her will, and she is his for life.

If they are white racist men, then they look forward to controlling people with a different skin color and culture. They won't have to hear a foreign language and fear being mocked behind their backs. They won't have to look at reminders of how little they know about the world.

@dan613 That's right. JD Vance has made it very clear that this is his worldview and the society he wants.

Adrian Segar Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy "But if you asked a hundred or a thousand young men what Trump wants to do that would benefit them, or how the country he wants to create would plausibly be better for them than the one they live in now, I suspect almost none of them would be able to come up with an answer."

Oh, they have an answer.

"Trump normalizes the hate I feel for others who are not like me. That benefits me by making me feel better about my hate."

They're just not going to tell you that answer.

@ASegar Very well-stated. Excellent analysis. I totally agree.

Merry Christmas Oct 23, 2024

' Joseph Goebbels that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth.'

@lyndamerry484 Yes. We must never forget.

Pamela Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy This indifference is like a societal cancer. Today we see our society in a relapse with the 33%+ percent we witness daily supporting a platform that targets "others" for hate, rounding up, and deporting or extermination. We can defeat this but we MUST acknowledge there are those among US that would happily participate in this atrocity. Where are you in this, your vote will tell US!!!

@luv_wins Yes, I very much agree. This is good analysis. And the apathy has been deliberately cultivated by a hard-right movement that wants us to feel helpless and hopeless and to opt out of democratic participation.

Pamela Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy I've also noted those hurling the "Woke" label as an insult are really wanting US not to be "aware"! They've co opted our Media into scrubbing clean Trumpie 's 'hate speak' into palatable sound bites his uninformed cultists can blare out without getting the overt retaliation it deserves!!!

#uspol #cdnpoli #fascism #NeverVoteConservative #NeverVoteGOP

@luv_wins Yes, you're exactly right.

LM Little Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy Pay attention #democracy defenders everywhere. #Poilievre in #Canada is singing from the same songbook.

MaybeMyMonkeys Oct 22, 2024

@miki_lou @wdlindsy #poilievre is a copy cat with no originality

Robert H Oct 22, 2024

I am proud to have been a citizen of this experiment in democracty, No world wars since 1945. No conscription since 1973. The highest standard of living at any time and in any country.

The experiment could end in two weeks. It makes me sad for those who follow me.

It took 248 years to build this country and its constitution. It could all be over in months.

@Stinson_108 I'm with you. I can point to at least 20 some ancestors who participated in the American Revolution, some dying in battle or due to wounds in battle. It's sad to think that what they gave their lives for may soon be null and void — because of decisions made by many of their own descendants.

Robert H Oct 23, 2024

You may be eligible for membership in the the Society of the Cincinnatus -- descendents of officers who fought in the Revolution.

Oct 24, 2024

@Stinson_108 I suppose that might be true, since at least two of my Revolutionary ancestors who died, one in battle and the another as a result of wounds he received in battle, were officers. I've truly never been much of a joiner and haven't ever been interested in joining the SAR. If nothing else, the acquiescence of too many of my Revolutionary ancestors to the system of enslaving other human beings gives me pause to think as I celebrate their battle for freedom — for some.

Robert H Oct 25, 2024

No, not the SAR. The Society of the Cincinnati. It has a lovely mansion in Dupont Circle. You'll always have a room when you visit Washington D.C..

Oct 25, 2024

@Stinson_108 Yes, I knew that was the group you meant. I mentioned SAR just to say that I haven't ever been much of a joiner of groups like that, though I know they gather good information that helps a lot of us researching family history.

Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊Oct 22, 2024

https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/lewiss-itcanthappenhere/lewiss-itcanthappenhere-00-h.html

Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here remains a stunning portrayal of just how it can, and is in the public domain in Canada, so I can happily push this link, though of course do not visit or view the site if you're not in Canada, for Reasons. We can't go about having books about the rise of fascism distributed freely, after all.

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, from Project Gutenberg Canada

@theogrin Thank you. Isn't it interesting how attacks on free circulation of books and libraries — and now Internet Archive — are with us all over again as fascism marches everywhere?

Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊Oct 22, 2024

Interesting, yes. Surprising, no.

I swear, every single godsbedamned politician yelling their lungs out about 'free speech' is working, openly or otherwise, to shut down every library in the world.

@theogrin Surprising, no. Interesting, yes.

Kim Scheinberg Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy
I've reread 'Who Goes Nazi' every year for the last decade. It says something (not flattering) about me that I knew nothing about the context in which it was written. (I'd also watched Casablanca a dozen times before noticing it was made in 1942. It's a very different film knowing it was written before anyone knew how the war would end.)

Thanks for sharing this. It's probably a good time to revisit my two lists:

1. Who will hide me in an attic
2. Who will gleefully turn me in

@kims It's heinous that we have to ask those questions, isn't it? That we have to live in fear that our own neighbors or family members might turn us in? And have to wonder who will shelter us? I go through these questions, too, as an openly gay man who has tried to make his voice heard against political and religious oppression, who knows full well from what was done to the Jewish people in the Nazi period that things can turn on a dime.

Kim Scheinberg Oct 22, 2024

@wdlindsy
I don't keep that list out of fear. I keep it as a means of updating my address book. It has cost me more than a few friends of many years, and brought me closer to those I once thought of as acquaintances

The fear that keeps me awake at night isn't about wondering who will hide me in an attic. It's the worry that my attic is too small for all the people — friends and strangers alike — that I am prepared to hide

With apologies to Spielberg, "We're gonna need a bigger attic..."

@kims I understand. Same for me. It's more a matter of asking, "Which of my neighbors may turn out to be very different from the person I think he/she is, in either a shocking or a consoling sense?" It's a matter of remembering that people can turn out to be not at all who we imagine them to be. I think this has been a central feature of the Trump era for many us, the unmasking of people (as they unmask themselves), and the recognition that many people we thought we knew are now alien to us.

chandlerkyle93 Oct 22, 2024