He doesn't have an underlying ideology; just a desire for self-aggrandizement.

fascist movement under the control of more powerful and well planned oligarchy. Trump isn't Hitler or Mussolini but the power he represents is in the same spirit and he's being used by historically well versed others to achieve the same goal.

They are the fascists and can control him. He is basically their fall guy and they know how much the normal people hate him and will be able to lay the blame on him and not themselves. We are in grave danger but not from just him but his goons and family.

...we are slouching towards American Fascism, and the Republican party is reaping the whirlwind. I don't think Ryan and McConnell are fascists; but their party increasingly has the one-party mentality that's a precondition of fascism. God help this country...

...and Funders are. Very much so.

He's their puppet.

He is bulldozing the pretense of democracy. The election of 2000 marked the clear transition to a society controlled by oligarchs. Trump is the reductio ad adsurdum of American democracy. It's a zombie. I believe we are at the point where the majority of Americans will passively accept a trade of their right to representative government for something less demanding and more comfortable.

He needs total control. Pro-nationalist. Anti-socialist and anti-anything that's not nationalist. Anti-global. Racist, misogynistic. Dictatorship. Totalitarian. One party: his. Plays on fears. Uses religion to draw the masses in.

He becomes "the state." All must work for the betterment of the state. Everyone in the world, preferably. Questioning the government (him, the dictator) cannot be tolerated. If you don't see things his way, you're wrong.

Military is to be used to keep the people and rest of the world in line.

He's not a total fascist. He doesn't seem to want to rule the world, although if that opportunity came to him, he'd be delighted with it. He'd smile and say, "Wow! I'm President of the World! I'm President of the World!"

He is following Hitler's playbook and read Hitlers' speeches every night for 10 years, per wife #1. Fascism is corporatism made large, no one can doubt that describes Herr Furror's desires and designs. He is a criminal narcissist as well, that's his personality, his policies, to the extent he has any, are fascist.

born that way.

Here I was thinking it was possible to have more than one pathology. Now I'll have to tell cousin Jimmy he can't eat New York style pizza *and* molest the livestock. Maybe some good will come of it.

during a Klan march. Donald didn't fall far from that tree, and if you analyze his talking points, take apart his logic and look at the whole wormy mess, you see that his monologue, his message, is one of white nationalism. This is why the white nationalists, the American nazis and the Klan love him so much. Why David Duke is positively gushy when talking about him.

Sadly, there is little difference between white nationalists and fascists. To wit: white nationalism is a form of theocracy with the state as God. It usually goes with radical libertarianism - think Charles Koch and the Mercers. This toxic mix is what used to be called fascism.

It is the death of democracy, the death of human dignity, the death of human rights. We become expendable cogs of the state and the state is setting itself up for war, because the capitalists that think they can take the fascist tiger by the tail and control it profit from war.

So, I really hope you're right, because the stated purpose of encouraging private for-profit prisons to spring up everywhere throughout the USA is to house people rounded up by ICE. Think I'm kidding?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/opinion/under-mr-trump-private-prisons-thrive-again.html?mcubz=3
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/politics/private-prison-department-of-justice/index.html
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-deport-20160822-snap-story.html

This is why, when I look at Trump and the criminal enterprise we're loosely calling his administration, see the treason, the blatant self-enrichment using his office, the systematic tearing down of regulations, the appointment of dozens of young right wing federal judges, and beefing up ICE and increasing roundups, what I see is the beginnings of another HOLOCAUST.

So please, all powers that be, let you be right and me be wrong!

demagogue who's positioned with the right funding, direction, and catchphrases.

That said, the past is to be learned from, not a predictor of the future.

And absolute totalitarianism. Other than that, he went along as he got along, and as long as people as liked him, just like Trump.

something that's always been there.

But the majority of Americans are not in that crowd.

30s Germany was much smaller and impoverished. There was the need to survive and a need for something to blame. A perfect storm for a savior like Hitler.
The US is huge comparatively and is like a bunch of countries in one separated by economic and social inequality. Most Americans are abhorred by the idea of fascism, but some are not and many more are vulnerable to being controlled through stupidity or just plain apathy.

What if all it takes is a few changes to the judicial system to control the majority? The will is already there in the likes of Arpaio, Clarke, all the racial profilers. They thrive on the authoritarianism that is the rethug party. And now they control the SCOTUS, too. If tRump weren't such a bumbling idiot I'd be really worried. I think that's why a lot of people are concerned about Pence becoming prezident; he is not such a bumbling idiot and much more insidious.

Yeah, this may be borderline tinfoil hat territory, but it doesn't hurt to keep a lookout.

in the current state of our electoral processes. That's been a fait accompli for years.

Most of my friends and family are not political. They vote, but that's about it, so most of the time, they don't pay much attention to political matters. They got all fired up after the election & through the women's march, but already I can see that the normalization of this extreme administration is working on those not politically engaged on a daily basis. There is also a lot of "It Can't Happen Here" attitude.

It can happen here. It is happening here, just not quite overnight. A few days ago, I made a post about how people were desensitized to aberrant behavior by this administration. Some disagreed, but I still contend that the majority of this country are like your friends and family (they just don't want to deal with politics). The difference between the Obama admin and this admin are day and night. However, after only eight months of constant bombardment of lies, misinformation, outlandish/boorish behavior, etc, nothing is shocking anymore. We should not let this be normalized, yet the news cycle is so rapid now that, before one horrible thing has time to sink in, it's off to the next horrible thing.

for lack of a better word.
and to pack the Federal court system.
He is doing this now.
The Kochs and Mercers and etc who actually pull the strings are happy to let the crazy Freedom Caucus
and the Right wing religious fundies help spread the plan, using a combination of chaos ( like Bannon) and stealthy state level officials cement the plans into place.
They want a Constitutional Convention, that has been known for many years. What is not widely known is how close they are to getting it, now that the majority of states have Repub. Governors.

I have to admire the long patient continuous effort they are doing, Dems do not seem to do as well with that.

When the right wing crazies are of no further use, they will be tossed out.

and control of enough Gov. systems, news, banks...much like now, and a willingness get rough with the opposition.
It's been done before. Denial of the populace allows it.

We did not quite notice in this country when ALEC started taking over state Gov., pushing the Koch gang plans to attack the schools, support systems, feed police brutality.
they are about 2 states away from calling a constitutional Convention where they can re-write those pesky amendments.

A lot of what currently passes for conventional wisdom helps to create and sustain that passivity. When somebody says "government is the problem" or "all politicians are crooked", I hear "I don't have to vote" or "It's ok if I base my vote on my skin color."

I see a lot of drug commercials during news, documentaries and baseball games.

It's the rise of stupidity & blaming society for ills or perceived ills. Donald trump is only a symptom.

In January, one of them surprised me when he said, "Well, I gotta go run inside and watch the Presidential parade."
Last year he asked me if I wanted a calendar, and I said, sure. It was a Ronald Reagan calendar.
The other neighbor, a retired plumber, gave me the impression that he'd voted for Trump.

But yesterday, as our conversation wound down, we were talking about how the hurricane may hit Trump's hotel.
The "calendar" guy quipped: well, now Trump will have a reason to visit the hurricane destruction," and laughed.
The retired plumber laughed and said, "It's Hillary's fault."

I was surprised they both changed sides, and I gained respect for them. They were able to look at the bull coming through a lot of media sites, and make a decision for themselves. I think—and hope—there are more out there like them.

from my favorite author.

le Carre book. The movie, with Hurt, Oldman, Strong, Hardy.....and just too many more great actors to mention in one post, is one of the best spy flicks ever made. I bought a copy, and I guarantee I've watched it 20 times, at a minimum.
I'm almost 70 yrs. old and an admitted movie buff, so that's not faint praise.

Erik Larson's book about the rise of Hitler, and William Dodd, the American Ambassador to Germany appointed by Roosevelt. It was written in 2011 but the parallels between the early-to-mid '30s in Germany and the present situation in the U.S. is....terrifying.

Reading that I felt sorry for Dodd at times. He was so unsuited for the job. He just seemed clueless

Scary how many parallels are now present.
And, how the trumpettes are totally clueless.

I'm a history buff and like Larson's writing.

Great writer, great man.

a couple of days ago. It was a fascinating and rational take down of, not just Trump, but the whole modern "Know Nothing" movement and the danger it poses to society. You can listen here: http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2017/09/05/548666363/fresh-air-for-september-5-2017?showDate=2017-09-05

one whose concerns really needs to be heeded. His first-hand experience with the Russians gives him a unique perspective. Thanks for posting this link.

was fascinating and tragic. He certainly knows what he's talking about when it comes to a preening, sociopathic bullshitter like Trump.

I have taken a zero-tolerance approach to Tumps media bashing and holding my so-called friends accountable, too.

I have to choose my battles, but I will not budge one iota on this. anyone who harps on the media as a scapegoat regrets having me around.

Better they regret it now than later if the Nazis prevail.

Make a decent reply in English is far beyond my capacities. It calls to refer to various notions. My vocabulary is too poor to answer without being almost unreadable.

There are similiraties with the 1930s but also huge differencies. I would like to develop.

Most of us don't hear it, but many do.

Sad to say. I shake my head.

What is the dog whistle? French or what I would like to develop?

About dogs, how is the lady doing ?

Elle est la plus belle chienne du monde. Et elle adore fromage.

The dog whistle is a gadget inaudible to human ears, but dogs can hear it and return home. We use the term a lot now because Trump is sending out inaudible messages of hate to "his base" to prompt them into violence.

What sad, sorry times we live in. Trump has been relatively subdued the past day or two because of the panic over Hurricane Irma.

nous serons ravi de prendre note de vos reflexions.

je suis francais-americain, habite aux etats-unis et malheureusement, le clavier de mon ordinateur n'est pas configure pour taper les accents 😁😁

Ca me traumatise. Quand j'etait gamin, le maitre d'ecole nous torturait si on oubliait les accents .. 😲😲
Il va faloir que je configure mon clavier pour le francais si je veux poster dans le groupe francophone...

Je m'y retrouverai sans les accents

Pour ma part, comme j'écris aussi en arabe, mais pas assez souvent que pour configurer mon clavier, j'ai recours aux claviers virtuels.

Ca peut être une solution pour les accents.

We beat them once and look how Mussolini and Hitler turned out.....we will beat them again....

He's definitely a narcissist, though, and most of his core supporters definitely are fascists.

One of the more insidious things about fascism always seemed the amount of thought put into it. Books and journals and a large body of (completely evil) academic work. Hitler had an actual professional philosopher in his cabinet, like a press secretary or chief of staff, to help justify his ever-more-evil actions. Trump can barely even read. (He'd probably be a fascist if he knew what it was, though, or had the ability to understand it)

very interesting comments.

don't come to mind in the early-mid 20th century. I think people are far more connected and educated and would shut down their government if it ever got anywhere near getting that bad again.

Le Carré said that the US was going through one of its periods of insanity. He was correct and we haven't recovered yet. I'm just bitter that the majority of my life is blighted by living during the "presidencies" of MFers like raygun, the bushes, and now dump.

I recently read an interesting biography of Hitler that suggested that as a politician he was quite skilled, and in fact deftly manipulated people like Franz Von Papen and certainly the (seriously declining) Hindenberg.

Hitler had a country struggling in severe economic conditions that were not of his making, and an increasingly desperate population, a population that was relatively homogeneous ethnically and thus open to racist appeals.

Trump, by contrast, is seriously incompetent, nearly insane, useless, inexperienced failure who has skated into a position of power on the back of ignorance.

He's a racist, almost certainly a neo-nazi, and the defacto leader of a party with a consistent history of relying on racist innuendo. However white male ignoramuses and their equally dopey wives and girlfriends are no longer the dominant demographic in this country.

The reality of racist ignoramus rhetoric is coming home to roost, particularly as Texans and Floridians become instantly socialists as there are few libertarian free marketeers in disasters. And let's be clear, the free market isn't going to fix either Texas or Florida.

Knock on wood, even if it's unlikely to be necessary, he's a short termer, a consistent failure for whom everything he touches, including the State of Florida apparently, turns to shit.

Our country will suffer great damage from his tenure, no matter how short, but I seriously believe he will die in prison, if not in chains.