May 20, 2016

I asked 5 fascism experts whether Donald Trump is a fascist. Here's what they said.

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/12/10/9886152/donald-trump-fascism

Is Donald Trump a fascist?

It's becoming a common question, and prominent neoconservative columnist Robert Kagan is the latest to lob the accusation, declaring, "This is how fascism comes to America, not with jackboots and salutes (although there have been salutes, and a whiff of violence) but with a television huckster, a phony billionaire, a textbook egomaniac 'tapping into' popular resentments and insecurities, and with an entire national political party — out of ambition or blind party loyalty, or simply out of fear — falling into line behind him."

Kagan is wrong. Donald Trump is not a fascist. "Fascism" has been an all-purpose insult for many years now, but it has a real definition, and according to scholars of historical fascism, Trump doesn't qualify. Rather, he's a right-wing populist, or perhaps an "apartheid liberal" in the words of Roger Griffin, author of The Nature of Fascism. He doesn't want to overthrow the existing democratic system. He doesn't want to scrap the Constitution. He doesn't romanticize violence itself as a vital cleansing agent of society. He's simply a racist who wants to keep the current system but deny its benefits to groups he's interested in oppressing.

Griffin, who is a professor of history and political theory at Oxford Brookes University, puts it best: "You can be a total xenophobic racist male chauvinist bastard and still not be a fascist."

Fascism requires the rejection of democracy

But sometimes you have to keep certain parts of the state around
General Photographic Agency/Getty Images
Benito Mussolini addresses the Italian parliament in 1938, long after he'd rendered it irrelevant.
Defining fascism is a notoriously difficult scholarly task. There are enough differences between the relevant fascist regimes — Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Italy, perhaps Francoist Spain — that identifying commonalities that do not in turn implicate plenty of clearly non-fascist regimes is tricky. But there is general agreement about some requirements.

snip


I post this to help people accurately attack Trump and not get blindsided by incorrectly labelling him.

May 18, 2016

Conservative Candidate Leaves Porn Tabs Up On Presentation

It’s important to close your porn tabs before posting screenshots to your Facebook page. Especially when you’re running for office as a family values conservative Republican. Congressional candidate Mike Webb is learning this the hard way. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

"Mike Webb is a conservative candidate for the United States Congress (VA-8) and he’s hoping to bring “responsiveness and accountability” to Washington, D.C. From hiscampaign announcement:

“If we succeed in winning this race as a conservative Republican in the most liberal district in the nation and the most Democratic in the South, that will be a real revolution that will have national implications,” he said in a press release.

He is campaigning with a hands-on approach, insisting he does all of his own social media:

Webb claims that many residents are looking for responsiveness and accountability from their elected and appointed leaders. “One way to do that is to personally respond on social media. Talk and engage with people. Joke and chide. Engage in dialogue. That is what it is all about.”

Unfortunately for Mike Webb, he’s probably now wishing he had someone running his social media. He shared a screenshot of his computer screen while trying to make a point (that was partial conspiracy theory) about trying to find employment and he forgot to close out a couple of tabs…”*

Read more here: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/...

May 17, 2016

perfect example of a Brock-paid pro Hillary, anti Sanders sockpuppet troll

https://twitter.com/bria_rose2


BriaRose
@bria_rose2
southern bell, mother of 3, God first!

Columbus, WI

lol at "southern bell"

Stolen stock image for profile




pushing meme of Jane Sanders going to prison, disgusting, and so common now amongst Hillary shills

https://twitter.com/bria_rose2/status/732399600397508609