On this D-Day anniversary we are reminded of the courage and resilience of the United States and its Allies in defeating Nazi Germany in 1945.The effort was the result of many nations joining together to prevent the destruction of western civilization by fascists and their anti-democratic allies.<\/p>\n
In contrast, we find Americans today unable to find common ground in resisting the domestic evil posed by a narcissistic president, the Republican party and its followers. Neither conservative nor libertarian, the MAGA forces embrace the ideological tenets and behavior of fascism we defeated 81 years ago. Today the threat to democracy and constitutional government comes not from abroad but from home grown and long depressed forces hostile to liberal democracy and free market capitalism.<\/p>\n
Each day brings new revelations and evidence that the present administration is preoccupied with changing American culture and politics as well as constitutional government. No president has ever attempted to affect such comprehensive changes in American society. No president in my lifetime has publicly endorsed disunity and political polarization. I fear that we will become the engine of our own destruction if we continue on this inexplicable path.<\/p>\n
Like Nazi Germany, the outrageous has become ho-hum, the despicable ignored, the unconstitutional accepted, and the avarice and corruption overshadowed by patriotic jingoism.<\/p>\n
Read the signs: the Administration strives to regulate business, seeks stakes in corporations, censors opposition, and rewards loyal supporters. Its notorious tariff policy is a cudgel for Trump\u2019s self-serving delusions about economics.<\/p>\n
The attacks on the media, the courts, and the legal system are reminiscent of fascist politics from Mussolini\u2019s Italy to Pinochet\u2019s Chile. Look at the ongoing effort to defund traditional humanities and history departments in favor of \u201dnew, more patriotic\u201d narratives approved by the Trump government.<\/p>\n
And remember the attempted coup d\u2019etat<\/em> instigated by Trump. Fortunately the assault on the Capitol on Jan 6th, like the \u201cBeer Hall Putsch,\u201d failed, but make no mistake that it was an effort to prevent the lawful transfer of power in favor of Trump. The difference is that Adolph Hitler went to jail.<\/p>\n The actions of U.S.Immigration, Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) in the Minneapolis tragedy clearly showed the willingness of the Administration to use \u201cstorm trooper\u201d tactics to control its citizens. Played out on television, the behavior of ICE agents revealed a xenophobic, racist and raw contempt for law and order that would appeal to Heinrich Himmler. The inexcusable deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti provide incontrovertible evidence of a mindset of an Administration determined to have its way regardless of circumstances.<\/p>\n Most recently, we see Trump as his own Albert Speer (Hitler\u2019s architect) in his effort to redesign official Washington. Trump\u2019s preoccupation with building a new ballroom and triumphal arch and other changes reveals his megalomaniacal need to leave a legacy of power.<\/p>\n There is, of course, much more that could be mentioned, including the recent slush fund to reward loyalists, the corruption of the Trump family and associates, the betrayal of allies and the insidious efforts to restrict voting rights to name several, all familiar to students of fascism.<\/p>\n As a final observation, I have included the dictionary definition of fascism for our understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cFascism<\/strong>. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic control, suppression of opposition through terror and censorship and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.\u201d The American Heritage Dictionary<\/em> of the English Language<\/em>, Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On this D-Day anniversary we are reminded of the courage and resilience of the United States and its Allies in defeating Nazi Germany in 1945.The effort was the result of many nations joining together to prevent the destruction of western civilization by fascists and their anti-democratic allies. In contrast, we find Americans today unable to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-robert-fischer"],"yoast_head":"\n