Chaos

I still think I'm right about the fascist categorization ... and here's why 99 ...

Because Hillary and Bill and Barry have all been accused of being Marxist Communists and friends of Communists and, and, and, Bill Ayers and Bernadine Doran and the Weather Underground and Crosby, Stills, and Nash ... Won't you please come to Chicago and Hanoi Jane Fonda and Saul Alinsky - c'mon - that's kind of Russian.  So anyway - I grew up thinking the Left were communists and now people are trying to say they are fascists?  Really?  I don't get it.  (I wasn't a Political Science major, obviously.)

These conversations are kind of like the priest telling a gay guy that he, the priest, is SSA but doesn't inhale and then gives him his phone number and tells him to give him a call.  What?  Was that a bad thing to say?

So seriously.

I don't need to be right, I don't have to prove a point, I don't need people to agree with me - and I could even be wrong.  But you people who are so attached to labels and acronyms and party politics and movements and, and, and ... need to get your terms straight.  Yesterday I posted something of a 'profile' for why Trump (may be) is a narcissist.  I linked to a blog post whose author cited an expert who may lack a certain degree of academic credibility - it worked for me nonetheless.  I worked for a guy like Trump once - he was my vice-president.  The narcissist takes advantage of dictatorial powers, must be in control, must never be opposed, and so on.  So, I 'instinctively' recognized the mega-narcissism in Trump.  (Anyone who ever watched The Apprentice could, as well.)

That said, Mr. Vandelay - I mean Sam Vaknin,

a mental health expert and author, has studied over 600 hours of Donald Trump footage and made the harsh conclusion that Donald Trump is not simply a classic narcissist — he is, in fact, a “malignant and, probably, psychopathic narcissist.”

Vaknin says, the diagnosis for Trump is rather easy, although he does qualify that with the fact that no mental health professional can make a true diagnosis without lengthy testing and engaged dialogue with the person being diagnosed. But based on 600 hours of observation, Vaknin feels confident that Trump is a disturbed person. - Finish reading here.

'A disturbed person' - aren't we all lately.  Nevertheless, the traits fit - but who believes in stuff like that unless it supports their agenda?  Psychiatrists differ on such simple questions as, is homosexuality a mental disorder or not?  

Back to Tea With Mussolini.

I think it's because of some of the dowager nobility online (and offline - e.g. Mrs. Schlafly), who have come out for Trump that I was instinctively reminded of Maggie Smith's character, Lady Hester and her admiration for Il Duce, that I connected Trump to Mussolini style Fascism.  I came across a Salon article which helped support my theory.  (I know - I expect I'm not 'supposed' to agree with such articles.  Eyeroll.)

Trump may not be Hitler ... but ...

In an interview with Slate, the historian of fascism Robert Paxton warns against describing Donald Trump as fascist because “it’s almost the most powerful epithet you can use.” But in this case, the shoe fits.

Like Mussolini, Trump rails against intruders (Mexicans) and enemies (Muslims), mocks those perceived as weak, encourages a violent reckoning with those his followers perceive as the enemy within (the roughing up of protesters at his rallies), flouts the rules of civil political discourse (the Megyn Kelly menstruation spat), and promises to restore the nation to its greatness not by a series of policies, but by the force of his own personality (“I will be great for” fill in the blank).

[...]

To be fair, there are many differences between Italian Fascism of interwar Europe and Trumpism of (soon to be) post-Obama America. For one, Mussolini was better read and more articulate than Trump. Starting out as a schoolteacher, the Italian Fascist read voraciously and was heavily influenced by the German and French philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Marie Guyau, respectively. I doubt Trump would know who either of these two people were. According to the Boston Globe, Trump speaks at the level of a fourth grader. - Read more here.

To be really fair - I recognize the bias in the Salon article as well as the Vaknin analysis.  My point is that these articles resonate with me, they clarify for me my caution as regards Trump - which tends to accelerate every time I see crazed fans reaching out for selfies with the guy, or twittering 'hail Trump' tributes online.  People are certainly free to do that of course, but any credibility they had once before with me is diminished.  And if they think Pope Francis is an anti-pope or heretic, that's it - they have moved into right-wingnut territory for me.  We can still be friends of course, because I tend to love crazy people - although the self-righteous-churchy-types are more difficult to be around - ask any pastor.  But I digress.

So - to be fair - and I always am ...

A friend sent me a blog post titled, Wm. Bennett on Trump.  Now Bill Bennett is someone I pay attention to, and give a lot of credence to.  His observations make a lot of sense, especially in the light of what took place in Chicago this weekend - the protests to silence Trump and so on.

What I See Happening In a Trump Presidency

By Bill Bennett

They will kill him before they let him be president. It could be a Republican or a Democrat that instigates the shutting up of Trump.

Don’t be surprised if Trump has an accident. Some people are getting very nervous: Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Jon Corzine, to name just a few.

It’s about the unholy dynamics between big government, big business, and big media. They all benefit by the billions of dollars from this partnership, and it’s in all of their interests to protect one another. It’s one for all and all for one. - Source

Again - this resonates with me and is why I posted a photo of Trump with the Clintons last week or the week before.  Instinctively I have had the impression that there is little difference between Dems and Republicans - that it is a big machine.  Why else do you think abortion is still a civil right, that it is still legal?  But I digress.

(Bill Bennett continued...)

It’s a heck of a filthy relationship that makes everyone filthy rich, everyone except the American people. We get ripped off. We’re the patsies. But for once, the powerful socialist cabal and the corrupt crony capitalists are scared. The over-the-top reaction to Trump by politicians of both parties, the media, and the biggest corporations of America has been so swift and insanely angry that it suggests they are all threatened and frightened.

Donald Trump can self-fund. No matter how much they say to the contrary, the media, business, and political elite understand that Trump is no joke. He could actually win and upset their nice cozy apple cart. It’s no coincidence that everyone has gotten together to destroy The Donald. It’s because most of the other politicians are part of the a good old boys club. They talk big, but they won’t change a thing. They are all beholden to big-money donors. They are all owned by lobbyists, unions, lawyers, gigantic environmental organizations, and multinational corporations – like Big Pharmacy or Big Oil. Or they are owned lock, stock, and barrel by foreigners like George Soros owns Obama or foreign governments own Hillary and their Clinton Foundation donations. - Source

And the following echoes the sense of what I said above, as to why abortion is a sacred rite in our country:

Don’t you ever wonder why the GOP has never tried to impeach Obama? Don’t you wonder why John Boehner and Mitch McConnell talk a big game, but never actually try to stop Obama? Don’t you wonder why Congress holds the purse strings, yet has never tried to de-fund Obamacare or Obama’s clearly illegal executive action on amnesty for illegal aliens? Bizarre, right? It defies logic, right? - Source

*Ed. note:  First correction, 3/13/16 @4:36pm.

It turns out Bill Bennett did not say or write the above.  A reader posted a link to Truth or Fiction indicating the attribution is unfounded.  In fact - and thank God this is true, Bennett said he would not be okay with a Trump candidacy.

HANNITY: So you OK with a Donald Trump candidacy?
BENNETT: No, I’m not OK at all!
HANNITY: Why not?
BENNETT: Because I look at a man and the totality of his acts and his record and the things he has and stood for. And I think, probably, he’s not very principled in terms of his convictions anyway, except he, you know, is a businessman who does things his way, his own idiosyncratic way.

My apologies - I should have vetted the transcript I used.  The part about the 'establishment' just worked so well with what I was trying to say.

Note to self: Double check your sources.

Yeah, so ...

Chaos, indeed.

So this is what I can do.

Stop pretending.

I think everyone needs to do that.

I read a thing at Renew America, a priest suggesting Trump could change and become like Reagan - since people are already comparing him to Reagan - I guess...  The priest calls it hope.  It's strange to me because I've long not placed hope in any man, any political party, and certainly not in any Supreme Court justice - and this is where I come from, suggesting that the GOP has held pro-life Americans captive for years with their false promises.  Again I digress.

From Matt Abbott's reprint of the Ohio priest's essay:

Many have compared this consummate capitalist-candidate to former president Ronald Reagan (may he rest in peace), who himself was seen as 'too much,' or even extreme, in the course of his candidacy.

It appears that many, even among those of a conservative bent, have subconsciously relinquished much of their personal capitalistic, work ethic-related convictions. They have despairingly felt that our nation has crossed a line, or has gone beyond the point of no return, and that to restore a society which would basically recognize St. Paul's words that 'Those that do not work, should not eat' (2 Thess. 3:10) is hopelessly harsh and no longer sustainable. Hence, we see the fear that Trump causes in the hearts of such voters.

There have been disturbing and legitimate Catholic concerns relative to Trump's affirmations of the work of Planned Parenthood and ambivalence relative to the attacks on the sacrament of matrimony, let alone toward sodomy-based lifestyles. Yet let us not be cynical toward the possibility of an evolving enlightenment of a candidate toward a more pro-life stance.

After all, Reagan, while then governor of the hyper-progressive state of California, had signed into law in 1967 that state's abortion law. Yet he went on to become the nation's most pro-life president ever.

Trump has adamantly promised to end the half-billion dollar annual funding of Planned Parenthood, has shown support for the First Amendment Defense Act (restoring religious freedom), and supports the repeal of socialized medicine (Obamacare), among other positive stances.

So let's pray that Trump's enlightenment will continue in this promising direction. The general election is still many months away! - Source

Been there, done that. I did the same justification with Bill Clinton - I was as sincere as this priest.  You are trusting in men when you do that.  I think we are easily manipulated and misguided.  Go ahead - pray for Trump and all the politicians.  Pray for God's will to be done.  Vote for Trump if you want to.  It's all good.

Just remember: 

A king is not saved by his army,
nor a warrior preserved by his strength.
A vain hope for safety is the horse;
despite its power it cannot save.

As Dawn French might say:  "I'll never be a good conservative - but I might be a martyr if they killed me quick."



h/t to Ray for the Wm. Bennett piece.