The Fascism Thread (1 Viewer)

[MT15]

I’m a little concerned about the GOP/Christian Right and their inability to stop fascist tendencies at the current moment. I saw two great threads on this very subject and this type of content is why I haven’t quit Twitter just yet.

I think these two guys present some salient points. I land more on one side than another, but both are intelligently discussing a topic fraught with emotional responses right now.

First up, Tom Nichols:

 

[MT15]

You can see the rest of his thread, but I think you can see where he is landing here. Next, the rebuttal:









There is more, but I am leaning more toward Sharlet’s view at this moment than Nichols.

 

[MT15]

Nichols also has answered, sort of, with what does concern him at the moment:

 

[MT15]

Anyway, I haven’t read and digested everything these two have said just yet. But I’d love to hear what you all think about these two POV. Right now, it’s hard to argue with the Sharlet view, although I do kind of waffle back and forth. I worry that news media emphasizes the wrong stuff, and we get bogged down in things that just don’t matter while huge problems are going unreported.

Oh, and sorry for the wall of tweets, I don’t generally like to do that. But I felt these were important POV’s and wanted everyone to see them.

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

Milley's walk with Trump to the church was the scariest moment I've ever witnessed as a US citizen.

 

[MT15]

It was scary, no doubt. I never thought that Trump had made any inroads with military leadership, though. I worry far more about the rank and file, and the idea that military bases routinely put Fox “News” on their TVs in common areas is just nuts to me. It should never have happened and it should now be stopped.

 

[BullSheetBuddha]

It was scary, no doubt. I never thought that Trump had made any inroads with military leadership, though. I worry far more about the rank and file, and the idea that military bases routinely put Fox “News” on their TVs in common areas is just nuts to me. It should never have happened and it should now be stopped.

Agree, but imagine if......................

 

[MT15]

That pro-Kremlin social media influencer that was just identified as a very recently discharged US Servicewoman is extremely troubling. She had a security clearance, and started posing as a Russian woman online before she left the service. The story is in the Ukraine thread. I do fear for our armed forces. Something is very wrong there.

Like how does someone like Gen Flynn even happen? How do you abandon your country that you swore to protect for someone like Putin?

 

[MT15]

Sorry for bumping this but I just found this pretty good explainer on fascism, and was dismayed to see how many are contained in the current GOP:

https://www.bremertonschools.org/cms/lib/WA01001541/Centricity/Domain/222/Fourteen%20Defining%20Characteristics%20of%20Fascism%20slides.pdf

 

[MT15]

This is a reasoned response to someone wanting to pass gun safety laws, however, if you look just a little deeper he is describing a fascist takeover. He says he doesn’t feel that the “left” are his fellow countrymen and implies that they must leave and make their own country. Who will make them leave? How will it be accomplished? Maybe they can use boxcars?

 

[zztop]

Neo-Nazis March Through Downtown Nashville in the Middle of Black History Month

“These groups are being given a greenlight by people in suits,” State Rep. Justin Jones told The Daily Beast.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[zztop]

anyone surprised?

Nazis mingle openly at CPAC, spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories and finding allies

The presence of these extremists has been a persistent issue at CPAC, and in previous years conference organizers have ejected well-known Nazis and white supremacists such as Nick Fuentes.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[SamAndreas]

Nichols also has answered, sort of, with what does concern him at the moment:

I was not feeling that either of them were on the mark until Nichols said:

"But here's a source both of my greatest fear and my best confidence: Civil-military relations. Trump tried to capture the loyalties of the U.S. military. He has failed - but the U.S. military, I fear, is getting hit with a lot of propaganda. This *really* worries me. /5"

I clicked and read the rest of that thread, and was pleased to see he went on to cover the rest of the militarized aspects of Fascism that I needed to see. In my mind Classical Fascism has the patent characteristic of most of the men wearing some kind of uniform.

But it's OK to compare classical Fascism to modern Fascism. Capturing the loyalties of the military would be enough for it to be modern Fascism. Just as dangerous.

MT this is a good thread, thanks for starting it.

 

[SamAndreas]

I saw this and was looking for a home for it when I saw this thread:



It goes with this song:

 

[Taurus]

This is a reasoned response to someone wanting to pass gun safety laws, however, if you look just a little deeper he is describing a fascist takeover. He says he doesn’t feel that the “left” are his fellow countrymen and implies that they must leave and make their own country. Who will make them leave? How will it be accomplished? Maybe they can use boxcars?

Man, how I'd love to ask guys like that where they were in 2020 when the cops were brutalizing protesters and picking people off the street in unmarked cars.

That was tyranny on the hoof and these "patriots" cheered it on.

 

[MT15]

Man, how I'd love to ask guys like that where they were in 2020 when the cops were brutalizing protesters and picking people off the street in unmarked cars.

That was tyranny on the hoof and these "patriots" cheered it on.

This is the most troubling thing about the deteriorating GOP. They don’t recognize American ideals any longer. They don’t believe in the idealized American goals that EVERYONE used to at least pay lip service to. CPAC used to deny credentials to neo-Nazis and throw them out if they sneak in, now they are welcomed. Project 2025 is a guide book for stripping away rights that Americans have become accustomed to having, and not just the “others” that the GOP has so ruthlessly identified. No, everyone will lose some rights they currently enjoy.

People will need to wake up and start voting the GOP out of office, everywhere. It’s no longer a party that adheres to American values.

 

[Lapaz]

It was scary, no doubt. I never thought that Trump had made any inroads with military leadership, though. I worry far more about the rank and file, and the idea that military bases routinely put Fox “News” on their TVs in common areas is just nuts to me. It should never have happened and it should now be stopped.

I work at a military base, and it always bothered me that our cafeteria would almost always have Fox on their TVs. It's interesting to notice how many people congregate around the various TVs. I think it's understandable on the one hand to put on Fox, since Republicans traditionally support defense spending, but since Fox has been shown to be so deceptive, that justification was insufficient. I don't know why, but I noticed that some of the TVs started getting tuned to different news outlets, particularly CNN. I don't know if I ever saw one tuned to MSNBC. Nowadays our cafeteria is all but shut down due to low traffic, so it has essentially stopped.

 

[Lapaz]

I'm also concerned that the military will not act due to split loyalties. We should not underestimate the effort that Trump will have to put forth to stay in office, if he manages to get re-elected, because that is the only way he can be sure to avoid jail. Trump didn't have as much of an incentive to remain in office after his first term. He will have a huge motivation if he gets back in to never leave office. The efforts to paralyze and neuter institutions to stay in office, including the military, will be unprecedented.