卐卐卐 How the GOP went from a Far Right Party into a Neofascist Party under Donald Trump 卍卍卍
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It might sound ludicrous to the accuse the GOP (Republicans) of being fascist, but I'm NOT employing ‘fascism’ in the pejorative sense. If you look at the parallels with historical fascists, their ideology is almost identical. Today's GOP has many commonalities to historical fascist ideology.
However, in this article, I am going to layout the basis that the Republican National Convention (RNC) and Grand Old Party (GOP) have going from a staunchly right wing pro-nationalist part (often misconstrued for "Patriotism") https://youtu.be/U1mlCPMYtPk [NSFW] into a neofascist party under the tutelage of Donald Trump who has become the "Godfather" of this organization. For example, here is a very interesting article with charts that showed have American liberal and conservative divide has become more divided from 1994 to 2014. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/section-1-growing-ideological-consistency/
The FCC used to have a law called the 'Fairness Doctrine' that required news broadcast to allow for opposing viewpoints on the issue they were discussing. This was removed by hard right President Ronald Reagan in 1987.
The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints. In 1987, the FCC abolished the fairness doctrine, prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or congressional legislation. However, later the FCC removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
Then, in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act, which deregulated media networks such as radio and television, which was meant to spur growth of more independent operators. However, it simply resulted in large mass media companies buying up smaller conglomerates.
Was the 1996 Telecommunications Act successful in promoting competition? (Brooking Institute):
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2016/02/08/was-the-1996-telecommunications-act-successful-in-promoting-competition/ (if for some reason this link won't work or is down, you can access the archive via the URL https://archive.ph/ultIT)
📻📻📻 For example, the Media Group, Clear Channel -- aka iHeartRadio -- owns a stagger 858 terrestrial radio stations that broadcast across the United States. They even have DJs in completely different cities broadcasting as if hey are in that city when they are in a city across the country. When the company started in 1972 they owned a total of 6 radio stations. By 1995 they owned 43 radio stations and 17 TV networks. After the deregulation law came into effect, they started buying up radio in every major market they could and today over more than 800.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IHeartMedia#History
Clear Channel leads in radio broadcast station ownership with 858 stations reaching 201 out of 287 markets in the United States. They previously owned over 1000 before financial difficulties.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/603256/iheartmedia-radio-stations/
So what does have to do anything? Although iHeartRadio focuses mostly, music and non-political podcasts, the huge amount of dominance over the airways gives them considerable leverage over what is said on their network, and what music is played - both influencing their audiences point of view as well as decides which music become hits and which ones sink to dusty back box in a vinyl record shop.
Funnily enough, Clear Channel (iHeartRadio) decided to hedge their bets in the 2020 election and donated $240,000 to both the Democratic and Republican parties:
https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/clear-channel-communications/C00279216/summary/2008
This is what the main stream media has done by abusing these legislative oversights to broadcast pure propaganda their audience.
Understanding Neo-fascism
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So what does any of this do with the Republican Party being neo-fascist? The above is just an example about how our lobbying system, corruption in politics, and abuse of laws that they were not meant to be used for can be used to spread a mass message of media (you might even call it propaganda, but I don't listen to terrestrial radio enough to tell you whether Clear Channel/iHeart has a liberal or conversative bent. Google/Startpage/DuckDuckGo your local Clear Channel stations and try listening to them and make up your mind for yourself.
Moving on, in 2016, the American public made an extremely grave error in electing a talk show host, failed real estate tycoon, serial sexual predator.
Wikipedia describes neofascism as:
"Neo-fascism is a post-World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment as well as opposition to liberal democracy, parliamentarianism, liberalism, Marxism, capitalism, communism, and socialism."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-fascism
Enclyopedia.com defines neo-fascism in the following:
卐 卍 卐 NEO-FASCISM
Neo-Fascism lends itself to an exact definition even less than *Fascism, its ideological progenitor. In the postwar world all radical right-wing movements, irrespective of their doctrinal contents and differences – except those explicitly aiming at the restoration of an antisemitic, racialist, Nazi-type dictatorship (see *Neo-Nazism) – are commonly referred to as "neo-Fascist." They share an attitude of extreme, militant nationalism; a belief in authoritarian rather than democratic government; and a total rejection of socialist, particularly Marxist, dogma with its underlying universalist and egalitarian ethos. Inhabiting the social periphery between the middle and the working class, Neo-Fascism appeals mostly to those deprived of their former independent status (as artisans, white-collar workers, small-holders, craftsmen, etc.) by the growth of an urban, industrialized society and driven to xenophobia and hostility toward minority groups, which they believe to have either caused their social and economic decline or contributed to it. Hatreds vary according to demographic conditions. In the United States and Britain, Neo-Fascist movements have a strong anti-color bias, whereas similar French groups in the 1950s and early 1960s were anti-Algerian, and in Switzerland these prejudices inspired agitation against alien workers.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/neo-fascism
💣💣💣 Neofascism share a lot with 'jingoism':
"jingoism, an attitude of belligerent nationalism, or a blind adherence to the rightness or virtue of one’s own nation, society, or group, simply because it is one’s own. The term is the approximate equivalent of chauvinism (in one of its meanings), originally a French word (chauvinisme) denoting excessive or irrational patriotism.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/jingoism
🎖️🎖️🎖️ Jingoism vs. Nationalism
Jingoism is sometimes equated with nationalism, but they have distinctly different meanings. A nationalist is someone who believes citizens owe their loyalty to their nation. (Nationalism can also carry negative connotations of excessive national pride to the point of bigotry and intolerance.) Jingoism would embrace an aspect of nationalism, the fierce loyalty to one’s own nation, but would also incorporate the idea of projecting a very aggressive foreign policy, and even the waging of war, on another nation. So, in a sense, jingoism is nationalism taken to an extreme position with regards to foreign policy."
🚀🚀🚀 Examples of Jingoism
"The term jingoism came to America and was used during the 1890s, when some Americans fervently promoted entry into what became the Spanish-American War. The term was also later used to criticize the foreign policy of Theodore Roosevelt.
In early 1946, the term was used in a headline of the New York Times to describe actions being taken by General Douglas MacArthur in Japan. The headline, which read "M'Arthur Purges Japan of Jingoes In Public Office" described how the extreme militarists of Japan were being barred from participating in the postwar government.
The term has never gone completely out of use, and is periodically mentioned to criticize actions seen as bullying or belligerent. For example, an opinion columnist of the New York Times, Frank Bruni, referred to the jingoism of Donald Trump's foreign policy in a column published on October 2, 2018."
Source: https://www.thoughtco.com/jingoism-4691810
Source for article on jingoism in Trump's foreign policy: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/opinion/trumps-economy-job-approval.html
In the modern world, the term jingoism is invoked to mean any aggressive or bullying foreign policy.
⭐ 1. A longing and wishful thinking for how the past was and a nostalgic view of America as it was in “idealization” of the 1950s that never really was. This is what Trump bases his entire ideology on. His grandiose dreams of recreating a ‘Leave it to Beaver’ like in the 1950s society where women had few rights & white men held all the power is one of his foremost goals.
⭐ 2. Xenophobic/racist viewpoints - I don't see how this can be disputed. Mexican children in cages, building a useless wall, describing Hispanic people as “criminals” and on and on and on. There are so many examples of his racism that you'd trip over yourself finding them.
⭐ 3. Using mass propaganda to spread their message (i.e.: Fox News, OANN, NewsMax, etc) – They have carefully studied the tactics of the past ‘inventors of modern propaganda’, such as Josef Goebbels (Propaganda Minster for Nazi Germany), Dmitri Shepilov (Head of Soviet Propaganda under Stalin), Dino Alfieri (head of the Ministry of Popular Culture under Mussolini) and many others. Edward Bernays, often called the father of propaganda, was among the earliest to define propaganda as “a consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of a public to an enterprise, idea, or group" Source: Teaching about Propaganda: An Examination of the Historical Roots of Media Literacy by Renee Hobbs & Sandra McGee - https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle/vol6/iss2/5/ (Full PDF available for download)
Seven Propaganda Devices by Edward Bernays: https://i.ibb.co/JjjY2Tm/Seven-Propaganda-Devices-by-Edward-Bernays-1923.png
Source: Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923) by Edward Bernays - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61364 (PDF, epub, Kindle, HTML & plaintext)
⭐ 4. A violent opposition to those on the left/Marxist/socialists and even liberals - They not only despise these people w/these viewpoints – they have no interest in what each ideology represents or understands or cares what they stand for or what the differences are – but will actively get into street battles with them. These groups have vastly differing viewpoints on how the world and USA should be run. The libertarians and far leftist find more common ground on the uselessness of the Drug War and our right not to be spied on by the government. This is similar to the "street battle movement" similar to the Freikorps or SA (Sturmabteilung) during Weimar Germany, which was the period after the first World War and the Second World War where right wing elements, disenfranchised ex-soldiers, the unemployed and essentially the dredges of society decided to enact violence on anyone they thought were left leaning and were used a paramilitary force by the German government to suppress completely legal marches, demonstrations and protests by elements they considered 'subversive' .
⭐ 5. A Cult of Personality under Trump - This is one of the clearest examples out there. If Trump could build a giant gold statue of himself, like Kim il-Sung (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansu_Hill_Grand_Monument#/media/File:Mansudae-Monument-Bow-2014.jpg), he absolutely would. All politicians on the GOP must agree with Trump & any of his messages or random on the spot pronouncements or just whatever random thoughts he has just pop into his mind are considered sacrosanct & if they don't "kiss the ring" & agree with Trump's ludicrous viewpoints or “ideology”, the Trumpists will turn completely against these candidates or representatives. It’s often hilarious to watch them try his loyal cadres try and justify & rationalize something crazy and seriously stupid Trump said. There is no room for disobeying Trump's orders or not praising him enough & any GOP politician that doesn't follow the orders of Fuhrer Trump will have their feet held to the fire, this includes any active members of Congress who sit in on panels that Trump disagrees with, votes against to his wishes, or anything else he deems them as wrong, journalists, celebrities, or anyone who might be 'well known' disagree or criticize him. The sign of a narcissist personality people of bad character/faith, hurls countless insults and lies at them to try and discredit their entire political career for a simple disagreement. This is not how a Democracy works - this is how a Fascist government work. If this was any other country, Trump would surely have had these people purged.
The DSM-5 (Diagnostic Service Manual version 5 - what psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose people with mental/social disorders) describe narcissist personality in the follow way. I'll let you judge for yourself if this applies to Donald Trump.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
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Diagnostic Criteria
301.81 (F60.81)
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).
4. Requires excessive admiration.
5. Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
6. Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.
Source: DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS FIFTH EDITION DSM-5™ American Psychiatric Association Officers 2012-2013 - President Dilip V. Jeste, M.D. - President-Elect Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D. - Treasurer David Fassler, M.D. - Secretary Rcxser Peele, M.D. - Assembly - Speaker R. Scott Benson, M.D. - Speaker-Elect Melinda L. Young, M.D., et al.
⭐ 6. Attempting to circumvent democracy by any means at their disposal, whether that's trying to sabotage the USPS to prevent mail in voting, to force states to do recounts that cost these states millions of dollars, to calling up state representatives (as he did in Georgia) and demanding more votes appear out of the blue like a rabbit out of a magician’s hat. Incidentally, a recent investigation by the AP only found a TOTAL OF 475 fraudulent votes across the battleground states in total. https://thehill.com/homenews/presidential-campaign/585901-ap-finds-fewer-than-475-cases-of-potential-voter-fraud-in-six). Trump will try any and all methods to hold onto any power he has – whether that be through legitimate or illegitimate means. Trump, as has been shown, has absolutely no regard when it comes to himself for any laws that have to do with him - he neglects subpoenas, fails to turn over documents, activity prevents friends, family, and his 'cosa nostra' underlings to testify about him.
⭐ 7. Totalitarian intentions - Trump circumvented the law on many occasions in his presidency, including ignoring subpoenas & telling aids to do the same, failing to uphold the Constitution he swore on. By issuing executive orders to enforce his will to simply bypass Congress, not to mention a love for a call for violence & calls for violent tactics by himself and his cronies that both he and his followers love. His rhetoric is what CLEARLY inspires radical white-supremacist mass shootings. Helpful tip: Any type a right wing politician uses the term "globalists", be aware that is antisemitic code for Jews (Source: Trump called Gary Cohn a ‘globalist.’ Here’s why some people find that offensive. - Washington Post 3/9/18 - Sources is from an archived backup of the full article because the Washington Post is behind a paywall https://archive.ph/XZw7Z). His white nationalist, Neo-Nazi, and ultra nationalist followers desperately want to start a violent insurrection of what they believe is our 243 year running government and believe it is totally corrupted & utterly are convinced that the entire government is absolutely untrustworthy, controlled by the "deep state", QAnon, pedophile rings, etc and believe it should be destroyed. These individuals who have no faith in our democratic institutes do not deserve to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. They are actively trying to subvert the Democratic process as revealed that in Trump's most outrageous act as President, an attempted Putsch of the democratically elected US government on January 6th.
» Definition of putsch:
» a secretly plotted and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government
Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary
⭐ 8. Trump’s follower’s are heavily armed – the right wing fetishism of firearms their need out of fear and to feel more powerful are constantly stockpiling more & more firearms as they hear the false message from the NRA. The NRA, the propaganda arm of gun manufacturers, try and put people in constant fear of attackers, the "high crime rate" and personal and anecdotal stories about individuals who saved themselves from particular intervention from criminals by using their firearms to stop the threat in their print magazines and literature.
Previous versions of this article included a tirade against the NRA and the firearms industrial complex. I have taken that out and moved it to another article which you can read here:
✔️ A Brief Argument About Gun Rights & Laws in the US: https://bitbin.it/qvZSvrAJ/
If you wish to read more, I encourage you to read the Encyclopedia Britannica's "Common characteristics of fascist movements" from the Encyclopedia of Britannica @ https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism/Common-characteristics-of-fascist-movements as well as Umberto Eco (who grew up under fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini) and has written "A List of the 14 Common Features of Fascism": https://www.openculture.com/2016/11/umberto-eco-makes-a-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html
Some of these are common to my points, just worded differently, as well as some points I hadn't even considered.
Thank you and please share this with your friends/family/comrades in arms to expose the evil and corruption of the modern Republican Party (GOP).
If you would like to get in contact with if you found an error, an update, or anything else of importance, you can just public message me or DM me on Twitter as @pogue25, or you can find my email here http://scr.im/poguetwitter and I would prefer if you used a PGP key, which you can find here: https://bitbin.it/vuu4W8xG/
How the GOP went from a Far Right Party into a Neofascist Party under Donald Trump © 2022 by @pogue25 is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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