Trump Is So a Fascist

Jacob Sullum, whom I respect highly for his clear thinking and analysis, as well as for his pro-liberty outlook, wrote a column for Reason magazine taking the position that Trump is not thoughtful enough to be a fascist. Mr. Sullum does not praise Donald Trump, nor deny his authoritarian impulses, and does regard the Narcissistic Personality Disorder poster boy as a public menace, but he maintains that pronouncements that arise merely from Trump’s ego and gut feelings of the moment do not make him an actual fascist.

I disagree. There have been fascist intellectuals, but it is not necessary to be an intellectual, or even to be capable of reading and understanding the writings of a fascist intellectual, in order to be a fascist. A thick-witted, uneducated lout can manage it, if he has a particular set of prejudices and loyalties. Such a lout is typically loyal to his country, and may be loudly religious, although this does not keep from taking a dim view of clergy who hold the wrong political views, or who remind the laity that people of all factions are sinners. The lout favors being tough on crime, except crimes committed by himself and his fellow brownshirts or Ku Kluxers, and is contemptuous of concern for due process of law, and letting those accused of real crimes or of political dissent receive fair trials.

The lout’s proclaimed patriotism and love of his fellow citizens does not extend to those compatriots who are of the wrong ethnicity, or who, while loving their country, are not fans of the Glorious Leader, or who practice the wrong religion. The lout is contemptuous of pointy-headed intellectuals, who lack manliness and point out inconvenient truths that challenge his view of the world. The lout is anti-Communist (someone with similar faults can be a Communist, but then his political classification is other than fascist), but is not in favor of free enterprise, which often lets the wrong people become rich and influential. Instead, he wants the government to direct industry to serve the country, and to serve the right kind of people; he may hope to given a business seized from a Jew, or want the government to bankrupt billionaires who support the opposition.

Someone does not need an IQ above 85 to be a fascist foot soldier of this kind, or even to be the leader of a fascist movement, as Donald Trump is.

Jeffrey Epstein on Donald Trump

I wasn’t planning on a second post tonight, but I followed a link to what the late and unlamented Jeffrey Epstein said about Donald Trump. If you have a favorable opinion of Mr. Trump’s moral character, you may be shocked, simply shocked, by these allegations.

I remember that when Jeffrey Epstein died in prison (it was ruled a suicide) then-President Trump said that he had likely been murdered on the orders of Hillary Clinton. I pointed out on my weblog that while I did not know what had happened, if anyone was responsible for ordering Epstein to be murdered, it would likely be Donald Trump. The Bureau of Prisons was not run by a Clinton appointee, and it was possible that Epstein had beans to spill about Trump’s behavior, in particular, sex with underage girls. I had and have no proof that Trump or some myrmidon of his had Epstein permanently silenced, but Trump does have a habit of accusing his enemies of the very faults of which he is himself guilty.

Maybe the verdict of suicide was correct, and maybe no one even suggested to the guards that they could slack off and not check Epstein’s cell too often to make sure he was not ending his own life. I do think that the chance of Epstein having been killed on Trump’s orders looks a bit higher than it did last week.