Is The GOP About to Cross the Rubicon?

[Newest Reality]

Last edited Wed Aug 28, 2019, 10:11 AM - Edit history (1)

We see many terms used sensationally. They get tossed hither and yon with wild abandon like, communist, Hitler, Nazi, etc.

However, the behavior of the acting President is now becoming a march across the Rubicon for the GOP. If we put aside our emotional reactions to the gradual ratcheting-up of Trump's rhetoric, it is clearly and undeniably leaning into Fascist territory now.

If the GOP continues to support and enable a leader who is blatantly promoting a Fascist agenda, then they are about to own a very dark and potentially irreversible descent into a looming destruction of our country as a republic and a democracy. Let it be made perfectly clear that Fascism is a clear and present threat to our political system and it is actually incompatible with it, in an either/or sense.

It is time to call this out and use the correct term that will apply if no action is taken and the Trump debacle continues unabated, unchallenged and enabled for ulterior motives. Supporting or remaining passive in the shadow of a Fascist Tyrant, an aspiring dictator, a demagogue, can leave us with the undeniable realization that the GOP is accepting a deserved moniker as a certifiably Fascist party, which then puts them at odds with everything that the United States has stood for to date, no matter how imperfectly we have stayed the course of those key values.

The time has come, for all good people to come to the aid of the country. The mantra in my mind, after noting and observing the facts is, "For everyone's sake, this has to stop...NOW!" It is evident that, as long as this descent and destruction continue as an armchair event or a spectator sport, we are collectively sliding down a bone chilling slope that the Trump Administration is lubricating every day now.

Since you could easily vote Trump as the most dangerous man alive, all things considered, this is clearly not just about our country. Future generations and our World are at stake and the GOP's blind eye, obstructions and enabling are aiding and abetting a tragic turn for the worse.

EARLY WARNING SIGNS OF FASCISM

1. Powerful and continuing nationalism
2. Disdain for human rights
3. Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
4. Rampant sexism
5. Controlled mass media
6. Obsession with national security
7. Religion and government intertwined
8. Corporate power protected
9. Labor power suppressed
10. Disdain for intellectual and the arts
11. Obsession with crime and punishment
12. Rampant cronyism and corruption

(Note: we are a bit past "early" now.)

[Eyeball_Kid]

1. Nice article. But fascism has been on the rise in the US since 1980.

The same "warning signs" existed then. Please see "Friendly Fascism", 1980, written by Bertram Gross.

[Newest Reality]

2. Thanks.

Yes, for the sake of brevity, I didn't illustrate that, so thanks for providing a footnote.

My key point is that is appears to now be at a demonstrably critical juncture, all things considered. There is the gradual, subtle, step-by-step aspects of it and that may have all directly contributed to this current crises as more of a giant leap with far more deleterious implications down the road.

So, the lite version is now on the verge of the boot, in the Orwellian sense. I would add that from what I have discovered about Pence, if Trump makes a huge, chaotic mess, then you could say that Pence is poised to take advantage of that, but that's a whole other issue.

[pangaia]

5. And the great danger, one of them anyway, is that of trump IS gotten rid of..

too many will say "WHEW! We avoided disaster."


A BIG, BIG mistake,

[vlyons]

3. I have been calling Repubs "Fascists" for a very long time.

It is no accident that some of the first people to financially support Hitler's (and Mussolini's) rise to power were industrialists, who wanted to control the economy, get big government contracts, and establish monopolies in their industry. The real problem that enables Fascists to corrupt our democracy is the insatiable greed of dark money. If we don't fix that problem, nothing will ever be fair again.

[ecstatic]

4. It is imperative that every single one of them is forced to go on record

with a formal impeachment vote. For history's sake, it needs to be clear where everyone stood.

[CrispyQ]

7. This, so much this!

If we don't force them to go on record, when everything Trump does goes to shit, the repubs will campaign on, "I would have voted to impeach but the dems never started the process." Count on it.

[CrispyQ]

6. We are way past early & are perched on a precipice.

We could topple either way. I think we'll find out next year.

[DBoon]

8. I would say "Crossing the Rhine"

[Newest Reality]

10. Aha!

[world wide wally]

9. You can check off every box on that list already

[Newest Reality]

11. Yup!

And what seems significant is that there is now a bona fide figurehead that presents an incarnation of Fascism, no holds barred.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. "Fascism is a clear and present threat"

Because the news media and 1 in 3 Americans has decided that it's a viable option.

[Newest Reality]

13. Yeah...

The complacency and ignorance are rife in the media and body politic.

I think it is safe to say that Fascism is anti-progressive and anti-liberal as well, and that, in a modern context is going to prove to be extremely maladaptive overall, much to my chagrin. It is in that flaw that I see some potential glimmers of a reversal if we can avert the crimson tide and provide a firm and substantial response in time.