6. Ur-Fascism derives from individual or social frustration. That is why one of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups. In our time, when the old “proletarians” are becoming petty bourgeois (and the lumpen are largely excluded from the political scene), the fascism of tomorrow will find its audience in this new majority.

Wow.

Note, Rudy is neither a right winger nor a doctrinaire communist, he has always considered himself a Liberal, left of center, like most Cubans of the middle class, the ones with some formal education past public school, whose families owned businesses, or worked as professionals or administrators, managers or skilled workers. His father had owned smd operated a small private school. He loathes communism.

But Rudy knows how fascists take over, how they sneak up on you. He witnessed it himself, although in his case the fascism came from the Left, not the Right. He is terrified right now, when he calls me he asks; “Don’t Americans see this, its as plain as day. This is just how it began in Cuba. Why don’t you (me and my countrymen) DO something? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?” And I don’t now how to answer him.

I tell him; “Tis not a banana republic, we don’t shoot or arrest or exile unpopular leaders, we are a nation of laws.” And he answers; “Trump doesn’t care anything about the law, and nothing seems to happen.” And I don’t know how to answer him. All I can say is “The Cuban people never stopped Castro, either.”

We have gone through all our options, and none has worked. All that remains is the November election. If that fails, we will be stuck with the Trumps and Gingriches and Barrs and Millers and Bannons forever.

Only aqssasination, war or revolution will dislodge them, and those three never turn out the way you hope they will.

“La historia me absolvera”
-Fidel Castro

https://eand.co/we-dont-know-how-to-warn-you-any-harder-america-is-dying-26ff80912391

Germany had an independent press. It was destroyed. Sinclair Broadcasting is doing the same thing. Small daily newspapers are disappearing, bought by big companies and gutted.

People who spoke out were disappeared. We have federal police, unmarked, tossing people into rented vans.

There are more rallies planned by the Red Hats. What are his rallies?

This is how it happens. Not all at once. That wouldn’t work. It is gradual. The watched pot does boil.

POTUS wants to be a dictator. He has said he wants more than two terms. He is tutored by tyrants.

As I’ve said before, the Good Germans swept ashes of human beings off the sidewalk and were happy to have a sidewalk to sweep.

If you haven’t, do read Umberto Eco’s essay on Ur-fascism.

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/

Sometimes Nazi comparisons are justified. And they are becoming more justified with this administration by the hour.

That should scare the hell out of you.

And it succeeded because, from the start, the “good Germans” failed to fully recognize it and call it out for what it was. Just like you are doing right now. Later on, there was room for them at the camps, too.

You couldn’t be more wrong. It started out here just like it did there, using the same play book, following the same rhythm. This isn’t just a few crazies, or a ‘necessary evil’ to stop the Communists, the labor unions and the racially inferior. The Right has lost control of their Frankenstein monster. It has become self-aware and self-sufficient. And it is only interested in its own self-preservation.

No, I’m not saying we’ll wind up just like Nazi Germany. History never repeats itself exactly. But the same patterns and
personalities are in place, built up on the same pre-existing conditions and you fail to recognize them at our peril.

What we are seeing now is a manifestation of an evil that exists in all nations, but has always been particularly strong in ours. But it has never been stronger than it is now, and it has never flourished as much here as it is right now. If Trump wins in November, the process will be irreversible, and by 2024 it will be complete.

You have grossly underestimated the price some “good Americans” are willing to pay for a tax cut, the end of regulations on business, a stop to abortions, a dismantling of the safety net and unrestricted trade and circulation of firearms.

Stop making excuses for these bastards.

You are entitled to your response, but I will not discuss this any further. It is clear by now that it is pointless.

In Nazi Germany, press couldn’t shine a light on dark matters. They can and do here.

There’s a reason a second Charlottesville rally never happened. We’re facing cowards, not organised blocks, and when you push back, they scatter. There’s a reason racists are afraid.

Republican House candidate and QAnon follower Marjorie Taylor Greene posted a photo of herself holding a rifle next to images of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).

“Squad’s worst nightmare,” Greene wrote on the Facebook caption Friday, referring to the three progressive lawmakers. “Hate America leftists want to take this country down. Our country is on the line. America needs fighters who speak the truth. We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart. Americans must take our country back. SAVE AMERICA. STOP SOCIALISM. DEFEAT THE DEMOCRATS!”

Rep. Omar tweeted about the image, calling the post “incitement.”

“Posting a photo with an assault rifle next to the faces of three women of color is not advertising. It’s incitement,” Omar tweeted. “There are already death threats in response to this post.”