I think we are missing too much by looking at the Hitler model rather than the father of Fascism Benito Mussolini.
I have been watching a series about the rise of Mussolini called "M: Son of the Century." It focuses on Mussolini's personality and personal reactions to events as he cobbled his political movement together. Nevertheless it really (intentionally) reflects well the dynamics we are seeing unfolding here and now.
The single most important driver of fascist "success" was neither policy nor real social or economic results. It was action. The undoing of liberal democracy was its inability to deliver anything through the political parties. The attraction of the fascists was they were seen as "doing things." Overriding the constitution of Italy was not important. It was the action itself that mattered. They even called themselves anti-political and did not believe parties served any good purpose except feeding corrupt elites. Eventually enough Italians agreed and welcomed the liberation from politics that Il Duce offered. Better than pretending they had any agency through their ability to vote.
Of course, action for the sake of action to keep a single individual in power eventually becomes its own undoing. But liberal democracy did not undo Mussolini. It took liberation from outside by the Allied Forces, and armed resistance by Italian civilians, to unravel the mess. That liberation is still celebrated throughout Italy and still keeps any residual goodwill that Italians have for Americans alive.
I hate to tell you this but an occupied territory is one occupied by troops of a certain nationality. American troops can’t actually occupy America. What we should do is occupy Israel but that’s not happening 😂
First. Where is the media? Despite its reduced influence the mainstream press remains an important source of information, especially for Baby Boomers. Why then is the legacy media more focused on who’s winning in the shutdown stand off and the Epstein files rather than pointing out, the unprecedented nature of what’s going down in Illinois? Why aren’t they making it clear that no other president in American history has ever declared war on American cities, or his political opponents? Why isn’t the press sketching out for the public just how this president and his henchmen are orchestrating a scenario in which they get around the Possee Comitatus Act in order to implement the Insurrection Act?
Second. Why are America’s former generals and admirals remaining silent? I can appreciate those still serving being quiet, but what about the rest of them? John Kelly called Trump out for being a fascist. Where is he now when we actually need him?
Third. What will happen if the president, or the secretary of defense, orders the military to fire on civilians? Will the officers refuse en masse to carry out that order? What will the troops do if that is the case, will they obey and mutiny or they bow to the dictates of our deranged commander-in-chief? These are weighty issues but one would never know that if they read the New York Times, listen to NPR, or watch PBS. All three continue to sane wash this administration cover this administration as though it is behaving normally.
What's really disheartening here isn't just that he's doing it. It's the entirely muted reaction from everyone - the public, Democrats, career officials...
Yes. The Republicans, whether they are horrified or just saying it, do nothing. And the Democrats, like the NY Times are mostly stuck in the past and assume this is just something that will be worked out in the mid-terms. The mid-terms matter but the violence will still happen. Indeed it was always going to come to this given his rhetoric and his campaign of nonstop threats. It was only a matter of time before he decided to act on what he said, or someone else around him like Stephen miller did. At this point we should assume it will get a lot worse.
In a very real sense we are living on borrowed time and our political class does not get it.
TRUMP ACTIVATES "CODE RED" TO PLACE HIS GENERALS ON HIGH ALERT.
In what appeared to be an isolated hair-brained egotistical stunt earlier this week by Trump and his sidekick (Hegseth) to assemble all of their generals to self-indulgently display their authority and power over them, I believe that there was a far more cunning and sinister purpose for this meeting. It was to read them the riot act.
What is Trump's end-game? It is to wage war.
And how does he intend to wage this war? By first making it clear to his generals that they are part of a war machine, and not simply a defense machine, hence the new Department of War, and that anyone who refuses to buy-in to his mandate will be fired.
And who does he intend to wage war against? Trump's own words could not be clearer: As he proclaimed in his campaign, "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.... The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within”. And as Trump exhorted his generals earlier this week, "We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms",
These are all war cries in which Trump is ordering his troops into battle against his perceived domestic enemies.
And how will Trump order his military to proceed? The escalating events over the past few weeks reveal his strategy. Trump is fabricating a non-existent need to deploy armed troops within cities of blue States throughout the U.S., presumably to quell rioters that Trump claims are unable to be controlled locally, such as Washington D.C., Memphis, Portland and just yesterday Chicago, when he informed the Governor that he intends to activate their National Guard.
The activation of their National Guards instead of sending in armed uniformed federal soldiers is designed by Trump to make it appear that these are local soldiers policing themselves when in fact they will be under the control of Donald J. Trump, the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces.
By attempting to activate the National Guards in cities that are largely Democratic in population, Trump knows, expects and intends that the deployment of his armed uniformed soldiers will in fact only provoke their populations to conduct large scale protests which he will then use as a pretext to send in federal troops.
This is a classic strategy, known as a "false flag" maneuver, that has been used throughout history to create a pretext for war by making it appear that a self-inflicted offense against itself was committed by an enemy. The Nazi's utilized this strategy in 1933 to set fire to their own Reichstag which they then blamed on the Communists. They used it again in 1939 when Nazi operatives staged an attack on a German radio station, dressed as Polish soldiers, to fabricate a Polish assault and justify invading Poland to beginWorld War II.
Needless to say, this strategy to deploy our own military against ourselves to impose an iron grip on our population to coerce, intimidate and blackmail us into submitting to Trump's will violates our Constitution, the laws of our land and our democratic principles.
I'd like to add an insight on this topic:
https://youtu.be/eWIzVR-s8E4?si=o3iAiUjD9RAovRJV
The rule of law is not beaten yet.
I think we are missing too much by looking at the Hitler model rather than the father of Fascism Benito Mussolini.
I have been watching a series about the rise of Mussolini called "M: Son of the Century." It focuses on Mussolini's personality and personal reactions to events as he cobbled his political movement together. Nevertheless it really (intentionally) reflects well the dynamics we are seeing unfolding here and now.
The single most important driver of fascist "success" was neither policy nor real social or economic results. It was action. The undoing of liberal democracy was its inability to deliver anything through the political parties. The attraction of the fascists was they were seen as "doing things." Overriding the constitution of Italy was not important. It was the action itself that mattered. They even called themselves anti-political and did not believe parties served any good purpose except feeding corrupt elites. Eventually enough Italians agreed and welcomed the liberation from politics that Il Duce offered. Better than pretending they had any agency through their ability to vote.
Of course, action for the sake of action to keep a single individual in power eventually becomes its own undoing. But liberal democracy did not undo Mussolini. It took liberation from outside by the Allied Forces, and armed resistance by Italian civilians, to unravel the mess. That liberation is still celebrated throughout Italy and still keeps any residual goodwill that Italians have for Americans alive.
I hate to tell you this but an occupied territory is one occupied by troops of a certain nationality. American troops can’t actually occupy America. What we should do is occupy Israel but that’s not happening 😂
Some thoughts on professor Edleson’s article.
First. Where is the media? Despite its reduced influence the mainstream press remains an important source of information, especially for Baby Boomers. Why then is the legacy media more focused on who’s winning in the shutdown stand off and the Epstein files rather than pointing out, the unprecedented nature of what’s going down in Illinois? Why aren’t they making it clear that no other president in American history has ever declared war on American cities, or his political opponents? Why isn’t the press sketching out for the public just how this president and his henchmen are orchestrating a scenario in which they get around the Possee Comitatus Act in order to implement the Insurrection Act?
Second. Why are America’s former generals and admirals remaining silent? I can appreciate those still serving being quiet, but what about the rest of them? John Kelly called Trump out for being a fascist. Where is he now when we actually need him?
Third. What will happen if the president, or the secretary of defense, orders the military to fire on civilians? Will the officers refuse en masse to carry out that order? What will the troops do if that is the case, will they obey and mutiny or they bow to the dictates of our deranged commander-in-chief? These are weighty issues but one would never know that if they read the New York Times, listen to NPR, or watch PBS. All three continue to sane wash this administration cover this administration as though it is behaving normally.
Interesting take and not hyperbolic one lil bit.
What's really disheartening here isn't just that he's doing it. It's the entirely muted reaction from everyone - the public, Democrats, career officials...
You missed what’s happening in Chicago dude. Forget occupying Portland, they will only ride bikes naked 😬Chicago can and will kick ass man!
Yes. The Republicans, whether they are horrified or just saying it, do nothing. And the Democrats, like the NY Times are mostly stuck in the past and assume this is just something that will be worked out in the mid-terms. The mid-terms matter but the violence will still happen. Indeed it was always going to come to this given his rhetoric and his campaign of nonstop threats. It was only a matter of time before he decided to act on what he said, or someone else around him like Stephen miller did. At this point we should assume it will get a lot worse.
In a very real sense we are living on borrowed time and our political class does not get it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/publis324843/p/we-live-on-borrowed-time
He is also amassing millions!
TRUMP ACTIVATES "CODE RED" TO PLACE HIS GENERALS ON HIGH ALERT.
In what appeared to be an isolated hair-brained egotistical stunt earlier this week by Trump and his sidekick (Hegseth) to assemble all of their generals to self-indulgently display their authority and power over them, I believe that there was a far more cunning and sinister purpose for this meeting. It was to read them the riot act.
What is Trump's end-game? It is to wage war.
And how does he intend to wage this war? By first making it clear to his generals that they are part of a war machine, and not simply a defense machine, hence the new Department of War, and that anyone who refuses to buy-in to his mandate will be fired.
And who does he intend to wage war against? Trump's own words could not be clearer: As he proclaimed in his campaign, "We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.... The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within”. And as Trump exhorted his generals earlier this week, "We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms",
These are all war cries in which Trump is ordering his troops into battle against his perceived domestic enemies.
And how will Trump order his military to proceed? The escalating events over the past few weeks reveal his strategy. Trump is fabricating a non-existent need to deploy armed troops within cities of blue States throughout the U.S., presumably to quell rioters that Trump claims are unable to be controlled locally, such as Washington D.C., Memphis, Portland and just yesterday Chicago, when he informed the Governor that he intends to activate their National Guard.
The activation of their National Guards instead of sending in armed uniformed federal soldiers is designed by Trump to make it appear that these are local soldiers policing themselves when in fact they will be under the control of Donald J. Trump, the Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces.
By attempting to activate the National Guards in cities that are largely Democratic in population, Trump knows, expects and intends that the deployment of his armed uniformed soldiers will in fact only provoke their populations to conduct large scale protests which he will then use as a pretext to send in federal troops.
This is a classic strategy, known as a "false flag" maneuver, that has been used throughout history to create a pretext for war by making it appear that a self-inflicted offense against itself was committed by an enemy. The Nazi's utilized this strategy in 1933 to set fire to their own Reichstag which they then blamed on the Communists. They used it again in 1939 when Nazi operatives staged an attack on a German radio station, dressed as Polish soldiers, to fabricate a Polish assault and justify invading Poland to beginWorld War II.
Needless to say, this strategy to deploy our own military against ourselves to impose an iron grip on our population to coerce, intimidate and blackmail us into submitting to Trump's will violates our Constitution, the laws of our land and our democratic principles.
And don't forget the Russian soldiers in generic uniforms who infiltrated and occupied parts of Ukraine BEFORE the actual war began.
That sounds crazy and it is. The morons in this administration are obviously setting themselves up for failure 😣