Trumplicans and Trumpziism and Trumpism and Nazis

We’ll get to the Nazi flags in a moment.

Thank you Leonard Pitts, for the echo opinion published in The Eastern New Mexico News!

First, however, let us turn to Merriam-Webster for clarification of a point I recently made in a column that left a few of you vexed. 

American Fascism: It Has Happened Here

It came in a passage that noted the right wing’s attempted takeover of state voting apparatuses and contended that because of it, 2024, could be the last meaningful election we ever have.

“Fascism is on our doorstep,” I wrote. It seemed a self-evident truth, but it didn’t sit well with some on the right.

“You have become more hysterical and hyperbolic,” said “Jack.”

“A great example of why Dems aren’t taken seriously any more,” said “Eric.”

“[Fascism] would be the mask and vaccine mandates,” said “James.”

Hence, the recourse to Merriam-Webster, where we learn that fascism is, in fact, “a political philosophy, movement, or regime ... that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader ... and forcible suppression of opposition.”

So let’s parse that, shall we? Who do we know who exalts nation (“I am a nationalist, OK?”) and race (“I want [President Obama] to show his birth certificate.”)?

Who can we think of who admires centralized, autocratic government (“[Kim Jong Un] is the head of a country, and I mean, he is the strong head. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”)

What recent president so believes in forcible suppression of the opposition that protesters in Washington were gassed and beaten so he could walk through Lafayette Square, while those in Portland, Oregon, were dumped into unmarked vans for unstated reasons by unidentified federal agents?

The answer, of course, is Donald Trump, to whom much of the right swears fealty above the Constitution itself. Twenty months after Joe Biden won the presidency in an election that was not close, most of them still insist he did not. As noted previously, a number of those election deniers are seeking -- or already hold -- offices allowing them to oversee voting in battleground states. And Jonathan Swan of Axios recently reported that supporters of the disgraced former president are planning to fire thousands of career civil servants from government posts and replace them with loyalists should he ooze his way back into office.

Friends, these are structures of fascism. The word describes not “mask mandates,” but strongman rule -- think Putin, Kim or Castro -- in which “Dear Leader” is unbound by such trivialities as the laws, the courts or the ballot. This is what Trump desires to have -- and the political right aspires to give him. The rest of us would do well to understand this, given the mortal threat it poses.

And that brings us to the story of the swastika flags -- which offers an eloquent rebuke to the denialism so prevalent on the right. It seems Hitler’s banners were carried by demonstrators who turned up outside a conservative gathering this month in Tampa. The Florida Holocaust Museum was, not surprisingly, appalled and Turning Point USA, sponsor of said gathering promptly distanced itself. “We have no idea who they are or why they’re here,” said spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

Which was naïve, if not downright disingenuous, for the representative of a convention whose attendees worship Trump like Jesus. But then, he might have choked on the likely truth. Namely, that the Nazis simply sought the company of like-minded people.

And knew just where to find it.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald. Readers may contact him at:  lpitts@miamiherald.com

Thank you General Mark Milley for reognizing how your expression of regret is a leadership skill

Wall Street Journal:  Top General Apologizes for Being at Trump Church Photo Shoot: "My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics".

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon.

Top Pentagon general apologizes for role in Donald Trump's photo during protests a National Public Radio (NPR) echo:
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/11/875047527/top-general-apologizes-for-role-in-trumps-photo-during-protests

General Mark Milley, a top military official at the Pentagon, has apologized for participating in President Trump's walk to St. John's Episcopal Church, near the White House, after law enforcement forcibly cleared the protesters.

The divide between the Pentagon and the White House grows ever deeper. In a video commencement address to the National Defense University, the nation's top military officer, General Mark Milley, said he was sorry. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff apologized for being part of the entourage that accompanied Donald Trump across Lafayette Square in Washington DC, from the White House, over to a nearby church for a photo op.

National Public Radio's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman joined Rachel Martin:

MARTIN: So what exactly did General Milley say here?

BOWMAN: Well, it was really extraordinary. He said, I should not have been there at Lafayette Square in front of the church - and said his presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As you recall, president posed for a photo op at the church after authorities had used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.

Milley himself was highly visible that day, wearing battle fatigues as he walked through the square. Now, his officials at the Pentagon said, well, he dresses that way because he was going to go to the operations center so that's not really a big deal. But it did cause consternation, you know, among retired officers and others. And listen, here's what else he had to say at NDU today.

"General Mark Milley: As many of you saw, the result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week - that sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society. I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. As a commissioned, uniformed officer, it was a mistake that I have learned from. And I sincerely hope we all can learn from it."

BOWMAN: And he went on to say, Rachel, that - to these graduates who will be the future admirals and generals, that they must hold dear the principle of an apolitical military. And this comes in the wake of Defense Secretary Mark Esper's distancing himself from the White House, saying he didn't agree that active troops should have been used or could have been used in the - against the protesters, although the president was basically saying, I'm going to use the military to dominate. He said he was against that.

MARTIN: I mean, it's sort of an understatement to say that the president's relationship with the military he oversees has been complicated - and now this. I mean, help us understand the significance of this apology in this broader relationship.

BOWMAN: Well, it's very significant. And General Milley's basically sending the message to the troops - listen, you know, we can't get involved in politics. This is the wrong thing to do. But you have a president who has really no knowledge of the military talking about my generals, as he has in the past, or going to military bases and saying, I know you soldiers support me. This is clearly a pushback from - at the White House. You can't get involved in these kinds of things with active-duty military. And again, I think is basically standing up to the White House is what we're seeing here.

But the big thing, again, is General Milley wants to tell the troops, listen, I made a mistake. We can't get involved in politics; we have to stay apolitical.

MARTIN: And we have to acknowledge that this is all happening in the backdrop of another debate over the symbolism of Confederate statues, Confederate flags and the renaming, perhaps, of American military bases that have been named after Confederate generals. And this is just another issue where the president and the military disagree, the military at least wanting to have that conversation.

BOWMAN: Yeah. They want to have their conversation, and basically, President Trump's saying, will not happen. This is part of American heritage.

MARTIN: NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Thank you so much, Tom.

BOWMAN: You're welcome, Rachel.