The modern Republican party is hurtling towards fascism | Robert Reich | The Guardian
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Robert Reich
We are witnessing the logical culmination of win-at-any-cost politics - and Donald Trump has encouraged it
America no longer has two parties devoted to a democratic system of self-government.
We have a Democratic party, which - notwithstanding a few glaring counter-examples, such as what the Democratic National Committee did to Bernie Sanders in 2016 - is still largely committed to democracy.
And we have a Republican party, which is careening at high velocity toward authoritarianism. OK, fascism.
What occurred in Nashville last week is a frightening reminder of the fragility of American democracy when Republicans obtain supermajorities and no longer need to work with Democratic lawmakers.
The two Tennessee Democrats who Republicans expelled from the Tennessee house have been restored to their seats until special elections are held, but the damage to democracy cannot be easily undone.
The two were not accused of criminal wrongdoing or even immoral conduct. Their putative offense was to protest against Tennessee's failure to enact stronger gun controls after a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville left three nine-year-old students and three adults dead.
They were technically in violation of house rules, but the state legislature has never imposed so severe a penalty for rules violations. In fact, over the past few years, several Tennessee legislators have kept their posts even after being charged with serious sexual misconduct. And the two who were expelled last week are Black people, while a third legislator who demonstrated in the same manner but was not expelled is white.
We are witnessing the logical culmination of win-at-any-cost Trump Republican politics - scorched-earth tactics used by Republicans to entrench their power, with no justification other than that they can.
Democracy is about means. Under it, citizens don't have to agree on ends (abortion, healthcare, guns or whatever else we disagree about) as long as we agree on democratic means for handling our disagreements.
But for Trump Republicans, the ends justify whatever means they choose - including expelling lawmakers, rigging elections through gerrymandering, refusing to raise the debt ceiling and denying the outcome of a legitimate presidential election.
Wisconsin may soon offer an even more chilling example. While liberals celebrated the election last Tuesday of Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin supreme court because she will tip the court against the state's extreme gerrymandering (the most extreme in the nation) and its fierce laws against abortion (among the most stringent in America), something else occurred in Wisconsin on election day that may well negate Protasiewicz's victory.
Voters in Wisconsin's eighth senatorial district decided (by a small margin) to send Republican Dan Knodl to the state senate. This gives the Wisconsin Republican party a supermajority - and with it, the power to remove key state officials, including judges, through impeachment.
Several weeks ago, Knodl said he would "certainly consider" impeaching Protasiewicz. Although he was then talking about her role as a county judge, his interest in impeaching her presumably has increased now that she's able to tip the state's highest court.
As in Tennessee, this could be done without any necessity for a public justification. Under Republican authoritarianism, power is its own justification.
Recall that in 2018, after Wisconsin voters elected a Democratic governor and attorney general, the Republican legislature and the lame duck Republican governor responded by significantly cutting back the power of both offices.
Meanwhile, a newly installed Republican supermajority in Florida has given Ron DeSantis unbridled control - with total authority over the board governing Disney, the theme park giant he has fought over his anti-LGBTQ "don't say gay" law; permission to fly migrants from anywhere in the US to destinations of his own choosing, for political purposes, and then send the bill to Florida's taxpayers; and unprecedented prosecutorial power in the form of his newly created, hand-picked office of election "integrity", pursuing supposed cases of voter fraud.
Without two parties committed to democratic means to resolve differences in ends, the party committed to democracy is at a tactical disadvantage. If it is to survive, eventually it, too, will sacrifice democratic means to its own ends.
In these circumstances, partisanship turns to enmity and political divisions morph into hatred. In warfare there are no principles, only wins and losses. America experienced this 160 years ago, when the civil war tore us apart.
Donald Trump is not singularly responsible for this dangerous trend, but he has legitimized and encouraged the ends-justify-the-means viciousness now pushing the GOP toward becoming the American fascist party.
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Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
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Truth!
some republicans have been flirting with fascism since the 30's, now trumpsters are bent over in front of it...
Funny how so many leftists still don't know what fascism is.
funny how so many trumpsters can't recognize it...
Agreed. Republicans have been moving towards fascism and authoritarianism for decades. Trumpism just brings it out of hiding.
Not funny at all. Why should we imagine things when you do it for all of us?
Completely and utterly false, of course.
those probably aren't the only parallels to fascism that some trumpsters can look forward to. gee, that's too bad...
“Trumpism just brings it out of hiding.”
As inept, ineloquent, and ill-prepared as he was, he was aware of the simple, single fact that those whom became his base, and are still his base, were closeted bigots lurking in the shadows for decades…and he tapped into their fear and ignorance.
He gave them a voice, a cause, and in their warped sense of patriotism, a platform to spew the bitter hatred that had been fomenting for years.
The results are simply frightening.
And as usual your evidence is underwhelming and non-existent.
How would you compare US Repub fascism to China's CCP fascism?
What parallels to fascism do you see with the CCP?
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Tell you what. Since you seem to know what fascism means, how about you give some examples of what Republicans are doing in a fascist manner.
Use your own thoughts...no cut and paste leftist articles, no memes, no dumbass videos that normally tend to show up in HD, Just your opinion.
We'll be waiting.
1.1.12 is for you, too.
... oops, you first. I asked your friends over 2 hours ago. still waiting...
you tell me. you're the only person that wants to talk about china here.
Oh, exactly like all the evidence YOU provided, eh?
LMMFAO!
In this day and age with information at your fingertips, it is so damn sad to see people remaining willfully ignorant about the use and meaning of words.
Carry on!
As predictable as the sun rising in the east!
the dictionary I used was online, the oxford dictionary. I didn't get any results with the keywords tea party/trumpster/fascist dictionary.
And THAT, my friend, should have given you the clue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What's hilarious is when you do a search of "liberal fascism" you get 9,900,000 results, many of them books that have been written about it.
... written by morons that think fascism is left of center.
Try answering a question or offering your own opinion instead of asking a question that the answer received may not be the one you look for.
What question have I failed to answer?
Sorry, I thought that you were interested in discussing fascism in today's world.
think again...
Since I have never seeded anything here your thinking is 100%.
Opened a dictionary to look up ['fascist'.deleted]
Is this the same Reich that wanted $10,000 and a first class airline ticket in the 90"s from the CA State Labor Dept to discuss low wage workers?
bargain basement. trumpski was getting over $25K to put sane people to sleep back then.
Is there nothing under the sun you won't try to drag Trump into?
Does he really have permanent residence in your head rent-free?
not for long.
Still there currently is exactly what you imply.
Isn't it crazy what NYC media will pay.
he was getting $30K per speech when I met him in the early 2000's at a denver motivational speaker and sales seminar. my ticket was paid for by those that thought I should attend, so that my peer group would sign on to be there as well. trump was a jerk back then too.
I think he has been a jerk his entire life.
Lol .... false .....
Giggle - snort.... partisan talking point.
But about what one could expect from a leftist who received an F- on economics from Forbes.
Giggle - snort .... partisan talking point.
But about what one could expect from one who endlessly defends the indefensible.
That was from one writer who 'oddly' praised his own latest tome in the final paragraph ... to paraphrase: "Reich sucks, read me!"
Anybody remember this guy?
Franken was expelled by a political party without a vote.
Robert Reich is trying to convince us that when Republicans are elected then its fascist but when Democrats are elected then its democracy. The thing that Republicans and Democrats have in common is they're elected. By voters. According to Reich the only difference between fascism and democracy depends upon who wins elections.
So, voters are either fascists or defenders of democracy depending upon who they elect.
Franken resigned. He wasn't expelled.
Franken was forced to resign by his own party. The Democratic Party expelled Franken without a vote.
Franken could have stood his ground and not resigned, but he did. He resigned. He wasn't expelled. Was pressure put on him, yes, but he resigned on his own.
welcome to alt-reality...
So...essentially, he was expelled by that unrelenting pressure.
Thank you, WT. Franken is a decent guy and has integrity unlike the gop/gqp.
No, he voluntarily resigned. If he didn't resign, he may have been expelled, but we'll never know because that never happened.
Franken should have stood his ground. Gaetz, Trump, Craig, Jordan and others did. They still stand.
Really, he didn't do a damn thing wrong.
Democrats didn't rally around Franken. The most vocal calls for Franken's resignation came from Democrats. Franken staying in office would have required fighting Democrats. Democrats forced Franken to resign. The Democratic Party expelled Franken. Republicans weren't involved and had no chance to become involved. There wasn't any Senate procedure or vote.
Maybe because he wasn't expelled. He was pressured to resign and he did.
So, pressure is how democracy is supposed to work? Rules and procedure count for nothing; they're unimportant. Democracy rests in the hands of the mob that can intimidate, coerce, and pressure.
Apply all the nuance that can be drummed up. Franken was expelled by the Democratic Party. The ends justified the means. The Democratic Party overturned a hard fought election to push Franken out of office -- by applying pressure. Democrats scored a political point that didn't really matter.
PD&D
Franken resigned on his own. Whether he had support from the Democrats is irrelevant. He could have stood his ground and not resigned. He made a choice. As for Republicans, I never mentioned them so your comment relating to them is also irrelevant.
Robert Reich doesn't have any problem mentioning Republicans. That's the centerpiece of Reich's opinion and, not coincidentally, a central topic of discussion.
Reich portrays the expulsions by the Tennessee legislature as being fascist. Reich doesn't bother to mention the rules, procedures, and vote of a democratic process. Perhaps the expulsions were an overreaction. But even that ignores that Johnson, Jones, and Pearson did not disrupt the chamber; they led a mob into the gallery to disrupt the chamber. The so called Tennessee Three attempted to use the power of the mob to coerce the legislature. That's considerably more than just breaking the rules of decorum.
Franken was removed from office; expelled by the Democratic Party. But Franken's removal did not utilize rules, procedures, or vote of a democratic process. Franken was removed from office by the power of the mob to coerce a resignation.
So, Republicans using rules, procedures, and vote of a democratic process to expel Jones and Pearson is fascist. But Democrats forcing Franken out of office through coercion is democracy. And the difference between the two events is that Jones and Pearson have returned to the legislature while Franken doesn't have many chances of returning to office.
Jones and Pearson are heroes among Democrats for leading a mob. And Franken has been forgotten because the mob turned against him.
Franken was not removed from office. He resigned. He was not expelled by the Democratic Party. He resigned. Whether or not he was being pushed to resign by Democrats is irrelevant. He resigned. No matter how you try to spin it, Franken resigned.
As for the Tennessee Legislature, the got their comeuppance when the expelled Democrats were re-appointed to their positions.
Shows the democrat party has a higher moral code than the GOP.
Said absolutely no one honestly ever.
Maybe. Also shows that Democrats have more faith in the power of the mob than faith in democracy.
Yeah. Hands one foot away from a flak vest worn by a...............conservative woman. What ever in the hell that is.
Mob? So, "Hang Mike Pence" and "We Love Trump" was what?
" They were technically in violation of house rules".
No, they were in violation of house rules. Although I don't agree with the punishment it seems they were within their rights to administer it as they did. Just as people were within their rights to bring them back based on the rules in place.
They were actually in violation of the Tennessee constitution.
So many people who don't know what real fascism is.
So many here still using the word incorrectly.
So many people still believing what their party tells them without thought.
Will this type of ridiculous accusation ever truly stop, or will Democrats insist on lying about fascism?
It's interesting.
Many people use the term to describe what they believe is right wing dictatorship.
But the part of that phrase they object to isn't "dictatorship".
Some are enthusiastically supportive of dictatorship, as long as it's one they agree with.
Interesting?
Maybe from a human interest perspective on people insisting they know what fascism is when clearly they never had a clue.
I find it all rather sad.
In the purely academic sense of the word.
When did working with Facebook and Twitter to censor people become "committed to democracy"?
When did having the AG target parents "committed to democracy"?
I guess paying the consequences for inciting a riot was too much. On the other hand, this could mean an "impeachment" and accusations around January 6th are now negated.
Several people on here, who associate with the right wing politically, having no knowledge about the meaning of fascism, its history or how it can work its way into a society, constantly pretend like they are correcting others and disparaging them when they properly and appropriately make use of the term.
When will their incessant and incorrect carping end?
When will they finally either become educated or stop their pretense?
People with education and knowledge about the topic universally understand that Reich is absolutely correct:
"...we have a Republican party, which is careening at high velocity toward authoritarianism. OK, fascism."
If the gop hates being called fascist they should stop being so damn fascisty. Or, is it fascistie?
They surely do squal when they get called on it!
Or, maybe, just maybe, some folks will finally learn to use the word fascism properly.
It might take a full-blown miracle though!
Exactly... the Dems are guilty of all those signs
So, most of the same things Democrats have done throughout the years, only now it is a perceived problem because you imagine Republicans doing what Democrats have done.
it should be simple for you and your friend to refute each and every point then...
Fascisty? Fascistie? Squal?
You just listed everything the left IS DOING RIGHT NOW.
OK here goes...
Disdain for human rights.....Leftists believe the minority population of this country should stay on the democratic plantation, or they will be cancelled and demeaned in every single way possible.
Identification of enemies and scapegoats....FBI and DOJ catholic churches and deemed parents domestic terrorists. Biden himself blames everyone, including Trump, for his failures...and there are many.
Supremacy of the military. Most that enlist are from southern states, and most identify as conservative. The majority of the left hate the military. If that is your idea of supremacy, well, then, you got one right.
Rampant sexism.... You mean like demeaning every conservative woman under the sun, but cry like little bitches when a leftist woman is criticized, like screaming misogyny? That's a leftist trait
Obsession with national security....well, if you believe in the Constitution, then you are correct. That is the right
Religion and government is intertwined.....Liberalism is a religion...a cult. Leftist cities/states closed down churches during COVID, nd fined them if they tried to open.
Corporate power is protected....Not corporate power...corporate freedom. The left does everything they can to run corporations out of business. Most leftists hate success, and even more so, individuals that brought that success.
Labor power is suppressed..........Being in a labor union is up to the workers, not the few whiny leftists at Starbucks that demand free shit like free tuition.
Disdain for intellectuals and the arts......It's not the right that hate people like Elon Musk.....but if by the "arts", you mean the great artist Hunter Biden, then yea,,,,you are right there.
Obsession with crime and punishment.....you commit the crime, you should pay the consequences, unlike the left that believe criminals should get a pat on the ass and and sent back to mommy's basement, or back to the street to commit more crimes.
Rampant cronyism and corruption.......This goes both ways, but I can point out leftists like Nancy Pelosi that used the power of Congress and speaker to enrich herself through insider trading.
Fraudulent elections..........Maybe you can point to some fraudulent elections that republicans won. Be careful with your answer, because no matter who you attempt to identify, you will be known as an election denier, and that is a death knell to loon leftists.
Now.. you are welcome to counter anything, but I suspect silence will prevail....or maybe a dumbass video on HD as your response.
IF----and ONLY IF---you had actually made some sort of semi-sensible "point" to begin with, it MIGHT be possible to refute.
But why bother to refute outright lies?
tell you what, since you seem to know what fascism means, how about you give some examples of what leftists are doing in a fascist manner.
use your own thoughts...no cut and paste rwnj articles, no memes, no dumbass videos that you normally tend to watch in HD and whine about in meta, just your opinion.
we'll be waiting.
You could have just admitted you couldn't do the very simple task.
Too easy....this is my response....my own thoughts...on your challenge debunk your dumbass meme you put up
K here goes...
Disdain for human rights.....Leftists believe the minority population of this country should stay on the democratic plantation, or they will be cancelled and demeaned in every single way possible.
Identification of enemies and scapegoats....FBI and DOJ catholic churches and deemed parents domestic terrorists. Biden himself blames everyone, including Trump, for his failures...and there are many.
Supremacy of the military. Most that enlist are from southern states, and most identify as conservative. The majority of the left hate the military. If that is your idea of supremacy, well, then, you got one right.
Rampant sexism.... You mean like demeaning every conservative woman under the sun, but cry like little bitches when a leftist woman is criticized, like screaming misogyny? That's a leftist trait
Obsession with national security....well, if you believe in the Constitution, then you are correct. That is the right
Religion and government is intertwined.....Liberalism is a religion...a cult. Leftist cities/states closed down churches during COVID, nd fined them if they tried to open.
Corporate power is protected....Not corporate power...corporate freedom. The left does everything they can to run corporations out of business. Most leftists hate success, and even more so, individuals that brought that success.
Labor power is suppressed..........Being in a labor union is up to the workers, not the few whiny leftists at Starbucks that demand free shit like free tuition.
Disdain for intellectuals and the arts......It's not the right that hate people like Elon Musk.....but if by the "arts", you mean the great artist Hunter Biden, then yea,,,,you are right there.
Obsession with crime and punishment.....you commit the crime, you should pay the consequences, unlike the left that believe criminals should get a pat on the ass and and sent back to mommy's basement, or back to the street to commit more crimes.
Rampant cronyism and corruption.......This goes both ways, but I can point out leftists like Nancy Pelosi that used the power of Congress and speaker to enrich herself through insider trading.
Fraudulent elections..........Maybe you can point to some fraudulent elections that republicans won. Be careful with your answer, because no matter who you attempt to identify, you will be known as an election denier, and that is a death knell to loon leftists.
Now.. you are welcome to counter anything, but I suspect silence will prevail....or maybe a dumbass video on HD as your response.
I've been saying this for years.
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You are wasting your time.
You’ll get little intellectual honesty from that one.
Perhaps an enlightened understanding of fascism can explain how strengthening decentralized government and weakening centralized government is authoritarian. Please, explain how forcing an autocratic court to return decisions to voters is authoritarian or fascist. Please, explain how undermining an unelected bureaucracy's autocratic authority is authoritarian or fascist. Please, explain why electing dictators to wield government as a threat against the population has anything to do with democracy.
You know, breaking windows on the street was a favorite pastime for Brownshirts. Real fascists took to the streets to intimidate, coerce, and threaten people where they lived. Real fascists destroyed businesses, attacked the police, and claimed to be victims long before they obtained control over government. Real fascists claimed violence against a civilian population was acceptable political speech. Real fascism is backed by the power of the mob and not by elections or any sort of democratic process.
So, tell us how everyone is wrong about the meaning of fascism.
WOW! That was a post worthy of Professor Irwin Corey himself.
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Sounds almost a perfect description of the Summer of Love. 2020 and they sure as hell weren't anything to do with MAGA. You seem confused..................
When the Big Meteor hits
when they get their tongues pruned...
So when is the left going to stop with the incessant and incorrect carping? You want to claim people don't know what the definition is, then lets look at the definition:
what party supports, and for the most part is still supporting, the J6 insurrectionists and associated instigators, and as an alleged american, how do you rank the level of criminality of that incident, compared to all those you've listed?
About two hundred out of 1000 charged have been incarcerated with an average sentence of 16 months. Five sentences of 120 months, 90 months, 87, months, 87 months and 86 months have skewed the average sentence to the right. The median sentence is 60 days.
So you can't answer my questions. Not like I expected you to. I will give you credit in your attempt to save gsquared with inane comments.
meh, I just like to watch morons that have painted themselves into corners, walk thru the paint...
So why do you paint yourself into corners?
let's see...
military oath - defend constitution - trump vote - insurrectionist support - trump defense
Why did your hero Donald Trump just announce that when he is elected he will install political tests for every government employee? Could this be construed as a corner in your vernacular?
What is a corner in one’s vernacular?
Why don't you ask him? He made the announcement.
For the moment anyway. Putin and Trump still stands. When the Putin Regime collapses it is highly possible that the new people in charge will 'rip the guts out' of the right wing governments in the world, especially in the US.
I hope the first one to go is Hungary (?) that is where that Orban (?) is the current dictatator. Sorry for asking stupid quesstions. Busy morning fried my already crispy brain
Lukashenko in Belarus is standing on shaky ground. He pulled a (US Jan 6th) and with Russian aid succeeded. He is not popular. When Putin goes he has nowhere to flee. He is done.
the US needs to lead that effort...
Dream on, dream on, dream on
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream on, dream on, dream on
Dream until your dreams come true
Dream on, dream on, dream on
Dream on, dream on, dream on
Dream on, ah
Songwriters: Steven Victor Tallarico
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hurtling towards? the GOP has had a very friendly relationship with it since prior to WWII
Didn't FDR early on call Mussolini “admirable” and that he was “deeply impressed by what he has accomplished.”
In his review of FDR's 1933 book Looking Forward, Mussolini wrote, “Reminiscent of Fascism is the principle that the state no longer leaves the economy to its own devices.… Without question, the mood accompanying this sea change resembles that of Fascism.”
The chief Nazi newspaper, Volkischer Beobachter, frequently praised “Roosevelt’s adoption of National Socialist concepts in his economic and social policies and “the development toward an authoritarian state” based on the “demand that collective good be put before individual self‐interest.”