Fascism and right wing Trumpist extremism

"Fascism is identified most commonly with Benito Mussolini’s Italy. It is also used to describe Hitler’s Germany and Franco’s Spain, among others.  (Fascism is threatening American democracy!)

Maine Writer: In my opinion Trupziism=Fascism.

It is characterized by militarism and nationalism, usually with a strong dictatorial leader benefiting from a cult of personality. Fascist regimes are often prejudiced against marginalized groups. Their leaders reject liberal democracy, tend to emphasize social and economic control and are generally not averse to the use of violence," Nicholas Goldberg in the Los Angeles Times.

"Fascism does not merely condone violence, it is violence," George Will in The Washington Post. 

"The Republican Party has embraced American fascism, an anti-democratic ideology that is unique to the US and is engrained deeper in Americans' collective consciousness and history than most of us have been taught," Linette Lopez in Business Insider

Two opinion echo letters published in the Los Angeles Times: 

To the editor: Nicholas Goldberg defined fascism as “a terrifying totalitarian movement that plunged the world into an era of near-cataclysmic violence.” Isn’t the sordid spectacle of the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)- held in  a disconcerting sign of what our future holds? Thousands of predominantly white Republican Christian nationalists worshiping a golden idol in rhapsodic frenzy was not simply “un-American” — this was the U.S. version of the Nuremberg rallies.

From Melissa Verdugo, Rancho Palos Verdes, California

To the editor: My understanding of fascism, as associated with Mussolini’s regime, was a nationalist economic philosophy where the benefits of government, industrial complex and military were aligned to the detriment of the individual. I believe President Eisenhower was trying to warn us about this in his farewell speech.

Since dictators Mussolini and Hitler were the “face” of fascism, their despicable authoritarian policies, racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism overshadowed the economics and became the connotation for “fascist” — in particular to those born after 1945, who only know of World War II from history books.

Gilbert H. Skopp, Calabasas California