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Liberal View: Actually, Trump is a fascist

  

Published 6/24/2018

By John Freivalds

Donald Trump is always telling his supporters he will tell it like it is. So let me tell how, in every dictionary definition I have come across, the president is a fascist. This label is not so much a pejorative as a fact.

Let's first define fascism. Oxford Reference puts it this way: "an authoritarian and nationalistic right wing system of government and social organization." Let's put that another way: Would you invite Trump to a junior high civics class to discuss the concept of separation of powers as embodied in the U.S. Constitution?

 

Most Americans, if not all Minnesotans, have never lived under fascism. Many have died fighting it against the Nazis and Communists (fascists with different labels) and now radical Islamists.

Americans have to decide if they want to introduce this system into their lives like the Germans and Italians did in the 1920s and 1930s. Those peoples were emotionally destitute and thought fascism would make their lives better. It didn't, and they paid the consequences.

How come I know so much about fascism? I immigrated (yep, I'm one of those) to this country from Latvia to escape fascism. I was no different than today's Muslims who want to escape the fascism that rules their countries. When my family escaped, Jews and Catholics weren't being allowed into the U.S. for fear they might "contaminate" this nation. In Trump's parlance, they were "extremely vetted."

Ask yourself, if America is not great anymore, why do people still want to come here? Why not go to Uruguay? How come we won all those gold medals? Why are Apple's iPhones found in all parts of the world? And why is the U.S. dollar the official currency of Zimbabwe, whose leader, Robert Mugabe, said of a U.S. president, "His hands drip with innocent blood"?

The path was convoluted leading to the Republican Party becoming entwined with Trump. Trump wrapped his repugnant views to so many with an aura of respectability the party of Lincoln bestowed upon him.

Minnesota has gone through convoluted elections of its own. A flamboyant TV wrestler prone to wearing pink boas around his neck became governor when the Republican and Democrat candidates basically knocked each other out, allowing the independent Jesse Ventura to sneak in. As governor, he advocated for a unicameral legislature, tax rebates, and light rail to the airport. He now busies himself with conspiracy theories. Ventura once said he would like to be Trump's vice president.

The Republican Party, at its purest form, is for a decentralized system of government under which the states define how the country is run: true federalism. Trump, like many private business people, always has run an autocratic business where he alone makes decisions. There are about 2.7 million federal employees; how do you manage them without delegating?

Trump employed fear-mongering, a time-tested election tactic. He suggested that hordes of Mexicans will cross our southern borders while Islamic radicals fly in under the guise of tourists and political refugees. This was similar to how Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini came to power. They, too, blamed outside forces, namely the Jews, for making their lives miserable.

Trump garnered support convincing a certain segment of people he was telling it "like it is." What he really was saying was how he wanted it. With about $2 billion of free advertising, according to the New York Times, Trump captured people's attention — just like Ventura did with his pink feather boas.

In advertising, a "share of mind is a share of market." And now, with the media turning off his free megaphone, Trump has attacked the very same "crooked" media he previously embraced.

What is really troubling to me is that Trump says his supporters should be monitors at all polling places to make sure he isn't cheated. This smacks of Hitler's playbook with his enlisting of "brown shirts" to intimidate opponents and disrupt elections. This is what my parents told me fascism was like when I was born in Latvia.

John Freivalds of Wayzata, Minn., is the honorary consul for Latvia in Minnesota and is the author of six books. His latest is "Ramblin' Man." His website is jfapress.com.

Here is what the people are saying!!!

No Spellchecking is done on commentary!!

  • Nathan Smith-Why have I never seen the conservative view here? Oh yeah, this is lib country...
    • Joe Haffield-Looney left at it again with propaganda
    • Chuck Frederick Be sure to check out the Lindell column also in today's News Tribune. Today's Opinion cover actually features four pieces on Trump and his visit, two of them conservative and two liberal.
    • Duluth News Tribune The conservative view is posted here: Conservative View: Rest easy, Minnesota; Trump is winning…
    • Joe Haffield Duluth News Tribune. Weird it was posted second and after someone called it out. That's called propaganda and it's as pathetic as CNN
    • William Swartout Duluth News Tribune I think I'll order a new pillow from this guy right now. :-)
    • Jeff Rotenberger Yes when 4 different viewpoints are posted within 10 minutes of each other it's definitely "propaganda".
    • Joe Haffield I’m assuming you mean the posts on Facebook, since the Conservative view was posted first on our website. Order and timing of our Facebook posts is determined by our SocialFlow software. It’s generally not a human decision, except in cases of breaking news.
    • Susan Rhoads Both were together in the printed paper.
    • Kyle Terrio-Johnson CONservatives love to play the victim...
    • Toni David Pine Kyle Terrio-Johnson, libber trolls don't know how to play anything else.
      David
    • George William Kyle Terrio-Johnson To be fair, conservatives are absolute cowards. Afraid of everything, whiny to the point of toddler tantrums, and hypocritical to the extreme.
    • Jeff Hausmann I completely disagree with your assessment of Trump...
  • Patrick James Nelson Rockford I wonder if any of the readers remember when "right-wing" was added to the definition of the word fascist, or remember the definition of the word before "right-wing" was inserted? http://dailycaller.com/.../google-redefines-the-word.../
    • Toni Dunbar You're citing the Daily Caller?!?!?
    • Patrick James Nelson Rockford Toni Dunbar The definition changed. Why should the source matter? If CNN or Fox News tells me it is raining in this or that town should I refute such a claim simply because I am not a fan of the source? Prove to me that the definition of fascism always included "right-wing" and you will have helped me. It is no use attacking the source.
    • Micheal Wilson Toni Dunbar instead of actually acknowledging what he is saying (its true by the way) you decided to deflect and try discrediting the source he chose to use... maybe you need some self reflection
  • Jill Busam And I may add, we are ALL better off right now thanks to Donald Trump. Even the writer of this opinion! We are safer, we are economically better off, there are jobs available again, many can get off and have gotten off welfare, businesses are thriving, money is flowing into our economy, businesses are moving back to the USA and our Military is strong again. Our enemies fear us again, as well they should, and our allies applaud the work President Trump is doing because they are better off too. Now, what exactly is wrong with what’s happening in America? Oh that’s right, nothing!
  • Jill Busam Trump is NOT a fascist. Not by any definition, anywhere. He actually is a man of the people. All the people and their opinions matter to him. He makes decisions based on what’s good for us all. If you look at the definition written here for fascist , it would appear to me that the intolerant, bigoted left are the fascists. They want everything their way or they will call you terrible names, send you hate mail, stalk your kids, write terroristic messages against conservatives on Twitter, kick you out of restaurants and in general try to make the people’s lives who disagree with them, a living hell. Well try as they may, it does not work. They are nothing but bullies and the conservative base may be quiet, but we are here and we are strong. Even in Duluth.
  • Patrick James Nelson Rockford Interestingly, the definition of fascism that the author cites has recently been updated to include "right-wing". The Oxford definition of fascism as recently as 2017 did not include "right-wing" in the definition of the word. https://www.reddit.com/.../oxford_english_dictionary.../
  • Don Januszewski Sad that all i see is anti trump posts by this news org?? Guess time to block this garbage.
  • Dawn Feist Kyrola He nailed it on the head about Trump.
  • Dave G Peel Course that's the liberal View. That being said if you really think Trump is Hitler then why aren't you picking up arms and trying to dispel him from Power. That's what Real Americans are supposed to do. Are they not? While you're at it come after all of us that support Trump. Time to put up or shut up.
    • Patrick James Nelson Rockford People flee from fascist ruled countries. We don not have people crossing the border to flee America, we have people crossing the border to stay in America! Interesting, eh? Ironically, many people planned they were moving to Canada after the election ...See More
    • Dave G Peel I agree wholeheartedly. They want to use the liberal Progressive agenda and socialism to destabilize America so they can leverage us into the global order. They have to make us become like the rest of the world. Then they can capitalize on our top in the world consuming to stabilize their Global markets. That is why we have been getting the short end of the stick on trade. They are systematically trying to destroy us as a Republic. It's been a long drawn-out process that is taking decades just to get to this point because they had had to infiltrate the educational system and indoctrinate the minds of many generations.
  • Micheal Wilson Actually trump I'd the exact opposite of a fascist... his left wing counter parts actually fit the actual description of a fascist
  • Patrick James Nelson Rockford A fascist would never cut government regulations and shrink government. A fascist would increase government regulations and grow government.

Letters & Comments Received at JFA

Great article about facism  in Duluth paper.

Betty Karpen    Silver Bay

Bravo you are my hero!  I agree 100% that Trump is a fascist and a dictator.  He is doing what Hitler did, by trying to convince people that he has all the answers.  Soon he will stop people from voting if they don’t agree with him.  Thank you for putting it in words.  

Dave Sherek, Biwabik, Mn