Second, he has enlisted support from the working classes, who feel threatened, culturally and economically, by modernity and industrial /economic conditions. The latter, incidentally, the result of the activities of their natural oppressors and exploiters, the ownership/business class! Somehow, the sheep have been convinced that the wolves are their friends and must be provided with everything they want lest the enemies of the community steal us all blind.

Forging this alliance has been a remarkable achievement, but it has been made possible only by a conflation of the greed and ruthlessness of one class with the ignorance, fear and anger of the other. In the case of the former, its all about short-term financial gain. They have nothing in particular against foreigners, blacks, women or gays. In the case of the latter, it has required tapping into the hidden power sources of racism and misogyny (as well as homophobia), religious fanaticism, nationalism and the carefully nurtured and promoted idea that WE, the good people, are being robbed, made fools of and betrayed by THEM, those that differ from US. And it has been made possible by tapping into the craving for authoritarian control (disguised as rugged individualism and independence) of the peasant mentality. At the core of all the complaints of the Right, is the fear that others might be humiliating us.

There is little difference between feudalism and fascism, and they are both effective because whatever else they may do, they always promise Law and Order.

I order to maintain this elaborate delusion it has become necessary to convince a substantial portion of our citizens to simply refuse to accept that our leaders are deliberately hostile to entire populations of our own countrymen living peacefully in our midst, colluding with foreign powers and foreign tyrants, and that they are congenital liars, even when there is no discernible need to be.

Its how fascism has always worked. Its an unholy alliance between the sheep and the wolves, and you’re right, it never ends well.

I would never have guessed that an openly racist and misogynist candidate could have won…

I would never have guessed that his open collusion with Russia would be defended by so many of the ‘Patriots’ of the GOP.

I would never have predicted so many would defend the trashing of our alliances.

Nor would I have guessed his followers would ignore the literal thousands of lies he told them…

I always knew the right was filled with amoral, bigoted, idiots… but I had no idea just how traitorous and self destructive they actually were…

No one could have predicted this tragic farce, and no one knows how it will end… my only prediction is it will be worse than we suspect, and those that enabled this atrocity will be reviled by history.