Sometimes it is a drag being correct

[Dill]

(06-04-2019, 09:59 AM)Beaker Wrote: Trump is an absolute moron and an embarrassment, but those who call him fascist are way off base and don't actually know what true fascism is.

I wouldn't say WAY off base.  All the general criteria for right-wing authoritarian leadership are there for Trump, including the backing of a mass right-wing populist base ready to embrace all manner of illiberal politics.
 
“Classical" fascism might place more emphasis on national rebirth. We don't see Trumpists adopting uniforms and marching in the streets. Every fascist leader I can think of had no problem executing party "traitors", whereas Trump can't even fire people face-to-face. And I can't think of any fascist leader who was as manipulable as Trump is. He more or less reacts opportunistically to his crowd and to Fox prompts. Where fascist leaders led their masses, Trump is led by his. While he judges people "weak" or "strong," as did fascist leaders, he himself shows little sign of their steely resolve to crush opposition, to project power.
 
Still, we should be careful that historical labels, whether accepted or rejected, don’t prevent us from considering political innovation.  Back in 1919, when disgruntled German veterans gathered in Munich beer halls to organize opposition to their liberal government and to MGGA, they clearly thought their politics something new, but had no idea what to name themselves. This was three years before the Fascisti marched on Rome to "drain the swamp." European political parties in 1919 were either conservative (nationalist) or liberal or socialist or communist. 
 
Like the conservatives, this new German party were strong, even hyper nationalists who hated liberals, but they were forward-looking and despised conservative tradition; they were not part of the "establishment."  Like the socialists, they supported state health care and hated communists, but unlike the socialists, they were not internationally oriented or focused on class politics. They wanted to secure borders and expel foreigners and deny citizenship to people who had lived in Germany all their lives. Germany for Germans. No foreigners taking jobs and depressing wages and misdirecting public assistance away from true Germans.
 
So they went with "National Socialism." And set about undermining the legitimacy of the liberal government and the free press foundational to liberal politics. They pushed “national truth” based on national-racial feelings and opposed liberal lying press facts with their own nationalist media alternative facts.
 
It wasn't till years later that people recognized this as a NEW political form, emerging in Spain, Romania, Italy and other European countries, only failing (e.g. Great Britain, Poland, France) where they failed to undermine the press and the leading liberal/conservative parties.

But whether Trumpism is “really” fascism or becoming some new, as-yet-unnamed authoritarian "ism" of the 21st century, it is bad either way, right? Little matter what it is called.