Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, authoritarianism expert, just retweeted Jan. 2016 warning about Trump

[highplainsdem]

that compared him to Berlusconi and Putin.

Link to tweet

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-cult-of-per_b_8992650

[malaise]

1. Get thee tot he greatest page

She was correct

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread highplainsdem.

[dalton99a]

3. Many on here saw it coming

August 2015:

[keithbvadu2]

5. Offer up your babies

[Cosmocat]

9. Me!

And Im no genius.

[UpInArms]

4. That just made me ill

Because so many of us knew it was going to be awful …

[keithbvadu2]

6. Trump never wanted to lead or govern. He always wanted to rule.

Trump never wanted to lead or govern. He always wanted to rule.

[pandr32]

16. 100% this

[BlueLucy]

7. Great read. Thank you for posting. No one knew how this would end like Hillary. nt

[Budi]

20. Her warning was drowned out by the 2 media side shows

Oct 11, 2016

[ffr]

28. +1

And the 2016 - 2020 period felt just like an apocalypse.

Madame President

[not fooled]

21. Yeah, and like many other things she said

a lot of people just didn't want to hear it. Rather be fed bigotry and hate by a mentally unfit ahole.

Ignore reality at your peril.

[Hortensis]

8. "Here's the trick to cults of personality: the leader has to embody the people but

also stand above them. He must appear ordinary, to allow people to relate to him. And yet he must also be seen as extraordinary, so that people will grant him permission to be the arbiter of their individual and national destiny.

For instance, they’re not about likeability. Leaders with cults of personality are usually aggressive. They keep audiences on edge with their outbursts and unpredictability. They create a bond that goes beyond agreeing with ideas and policies: people simply want a part of this person.

Yuck to that last.

Political pscyhologists say we all have far, far more that we want in common than not. But the differences between those who'd want any adored leader to be the arbiter of their and their nation's destiny (not just those who could find that leader in tRump!) and those who want a competent executive in the WH are enormous.

[Cosmocat]

10. Hitler and Mussolini

Were nothing special looking or background.

Hitler was a failed artist, Mussolini a "journalist."

Hiltler was weak looking w an odd mustache, I know it wasnt uncommon for the time, but he was promoting the fit, well groomed Arian image. And Mussolini was a short dude w a shaven head.

Neither had a profile of any accomplishments and neither particularly looked the part.

I know a LOT of Rs why had absolutely no good things to say about 45 before he came down the escalator. He is frumpy and the kind of "elitist" they say they hate, but once he started hate talking fell in love w him.

[Hortensis]

13. Agree with that for sure. But all 3 were also charming, charismatic,

and capable of dominating a stage, in addition to possessing that common man feel that people could identify with. Ordinary but extraordinary -- at least to those drawn to charismatic leaders. (At my age, too enthusiastic cheering makes me nervous.)

Sarah Palin and Bernie Sanders are others from our era who also had/have that combination, and with it the almost magical ability to get crowds cheering in excitement and eager to follow.

For all of them, including Hitler and Mussolini, it wasn't their achievements or even their promises that elevated them and riveted those drawn to them, it was that magic, charismatic leader combination. If it could be bottled...but thank everything it can't.

[lunatica]

22. Netflix has a series that may have bottled it

It’s How To Become A Tyrant. It’s kind of tongue in cheek in a serious way. Peter Drinklage, from Game of Thrones, narrates it beautifully and satisfyingly. It’s a limited series with a well known Dictator in each episode. It’s based on the idea of a Tyrant’s manual on how to be a tyrant.

I recommend it. It starts off with the tyrant has to believe he alone can fix the problems and goes from there.

[Hortensis]

32. Thanks, Lunatica. I just pulled it up. "Episode 1: Seize power."

"Absolute power. Come on! You know you want it." ...

Sounds good already.

[Cosmocat]

31. Mostly agree

Except the "common man" part, especially 45.

[Hortensis]

33. Perhaps a difference in imagining what that would be?

I think I see it. For them, somehow his claim of authoritarian strongman superiority, "I alone can fix it," is compatible with the behaviors of a not especially intelligent, refined, educated, mannered or dignified braggart. He talks to them at the level of a not especially smart fourth grader, one given to lapses into foul language and frequent vulgariity and boorishness, and it's not an accident.

[Cosmocat]

36. I will give you that

hes a mean spirited moron.

[riversedge]

11. Indeed.

[Thomas Hurt]

12. The Pig wants to be America's Putin, nationalize a few industries....

hand out gov't contracts to his pet oligarchs, increase the number of cultists who worship him.

The pinnacle of a malignant narcissist's ambition...be a totalitarian strongman.

He would get his "Jong-Un style" birthday parade then.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

14. I looked at my wife the night he won the nomination...

and said, "This will not end well."

[SergeStorms]

15. Charismatic?

Only to the deaf, dumb and blind.

How anyone could be taken in by that cheap carnival barker baffles the heck out of me. The veneer is so thin on that snake-oil-salesman you can read the "Made by Moron" sticker on the other side.

He only appeals to people exactly like him, and those who don't know shit from shinola.

[stopdiggin]

38. I, too, am left totally dumbfounded. Charisma?

You're joking, right?

This is the type of person that you leave a room (or a party) to avoid. This is a part of human nature that just totally escapes me.

[roamer65]

17. Cheeto Benito.

Their facial expressions and posture were even similar.

[multigraincracker]

18. In the elections, he lost his

home town and home state. That says a lot, they know one when they see one.

[Captain Zero]

40. Media NEVER mentioned that election night.

Every election that happens to a Dem it gets mentioned as early in the evening as they can. They make a big deal about losing the home state and discuss what a bad omen it is.

Thanks for bringing it up. Had never thought about it in regard to Cheeto.

[irisblue]

19. Her book is worth finding and reading

Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
Book by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

[Cha]

23. Rt TY, hpd!

[SheltieLover]

24. K&R!

[Locrian]

25. and just like history

a *lot* of people and businesses that make money off trump do. not. care.
They still think this is all fun and games while they rake in $$$, grab more power, etc

[TexasBushwhacker]

26. I'm sure Trump considers being compared to Putin a complement

[ffr]

27. Nail, meet hammer.

That was like looking through a crystal ball.

[Takket]

29. facinating, especially the paradox...

about the cult leader needing to be seen as ordinary and extraordinary at the SAME TIME. Just goes to show the mental gymnastics that the followers of the cult have to leap through to vault the leader to this God-like position in their minds.

[Poiuyt]

30. Ruth Ben-Ghiat knows what she's talking about

She's one of the world's leaders on fascism and authoritarian governments.

[colsohlibgal]

34. So On The Money

It’s so wrong but it seems to me that the impetus for that Orange Thing winning in 2016 was a person of color getting elected not once but twice just before. It made a certain segment of white folks so crazy they pushed that criminal clown over the top, thanks to our outdated Electoral College, where, only in America, you can get millions more votes but lose. So much for our “one person one vote” saying.

[stopdiggin]

39. you're so right. the backlash to Obama

played a big roll (and continues to, in my mind). But that still leaves me utterly incredulous with regard to the adulation and cult following. Where does that come from? Racists, rednecks, Christian fundies - where is the love? I will never understand where these people 'connect' - or where the attraction lies.

[Blue Owl]

35. Little Dicktraitor Donnie

[Evolve Dammit]

37. "I love the un-educated." "I alone can fix it." Kung Flu is a democratic hoax, blah, fucking blah