Vance Makes Hypocritical Demand for Dems to Stop Saying Trump Is Fascist (Psst...He Is)

J.D. Vance whined this week that Democrats use the word "fascist" too much to describe Trump.

Trump, of course, has used the word on multiple occasions to describe and deride Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, I don't think I've ever heard Harris use the word once against Trump, even though it is a correct descriptor for his views.

A search of Rev.com, an online transcription service that keeps up-to-date with the presidential candidates' speeches, finds no transcripts of Harris uttering the word during this past year. Conversely, it shows multiple times that Trump has used the word against her just this past week. 

Vance's complaints are hypocritical. Yes, there are plenty on the left that call Trump a fascist -- that's because Trump IS one (how else would you describe a guy who pushes false xenophobic lines of attacks, who wants to be a dictator, has called for the termination of the Constitution, isn't ruling out creating "camps" for certain people, etc.?). But if Vance wants to remonstrate against Dems for doing so, he should probably tell his boss to knock it off, too.

Image credits: Vance image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr; Harris image via DoD/Public Domain; Trump image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Why It's Important to Talk About Trump's "ROT IN HELL" Christmas Message

I've been working as a professional journalist for quite a few years now, so I feel I can say with some authenticity that a peculiar thing happens this time of year: the news "slows down." That isn't to say that newsworthy stories aren't happening, but rather that there are fewer printings of these stories, or less attention given to them, than in other parts of the year.

This is due to several reasons, including the fact that many journalists (like other workers) take off time during this part of the year. There is also less demand for the types of stories that are more popular at other times of the year, particularly political stories, which I believe happens because we have a desire to be less political overall when we're with family or loved ones during the holidays.

So when a presidential candidate, indeed the likely nominee for the Republican Party in the 2024 election, delivers a Christmas message in which he tells his political opponents to "rot in hell," it might go unnoticed.

That's exactly what Donald Trump did over the weekend.

On Christmas Day, Trump wrote on his fledgling Truth Social site, "Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith," adding that the special counsel charged with overseeing Trump's federal investigations is an "out of control Lunatic" and engaged in a "poorly executed WITCH HUNT against 'TRUMP' and 'MAGA.'"

Trump went on, writing that his Christmas "wishes" went out also to:

Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and “sick” as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA.

"MAY THEY ROT IN HELL," Trump added in all caps. "AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

It's very dangerous to ignore this rhetoric, to normalize it as a person's regular outburst, because the action itself is irregular and should be rejected outright. We wouldn't let our family members talk like this at Christmas dinner, and we certainly shouldn't encourage or celebrate political leaders who do it, either. It should, simply put, be disqualifying in the minds of voters.

But mostly, it should be talked about at great lengths because the demonization of the political "other" in American society is causing huge and lasting rifts, resulting in violence and talk of "national divorce" from the right that would, if followed through, result in the denial of long-recognized human rights that generations of Americans have fought for.

Donald Trump is a straight-up fascist who speaks like Hitler and will enact draconian measures if given the chance to. We know this because he's told us so. We should believe him.

One final thought on this: Anyone who uses the birth of Christ to issue a message of hate is clearly trying to weaponize religion in order to achieve his own fascist-nationalistic ends. With just 11 months until the presidential election, it's far past time we start talking about this more regularly.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
(CC BY SA 2.0 WITH CHANGES)

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Seeds of authoritarianism – Pres. Trump tries to incite anger against the media

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His latest jab: that the media is suppressing news of terrorist attacks

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President Donald Trump is trying to sow doubt in the public’s trust in the news media.

In his latest off-the-script moment, the president asserted that terrorist attacks were frequent all around the world, so much so that the media had simply stopped reporting on them.

From the Washington Post (emphasis in bold added):

“You’ve seen what happened in Paris, and Nice. All over Europe, it’s happening,” he said to the assembled military leaders. “It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported. And in many cases the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that.”

Trump, of course, provided no evidence that the media were purposely suppressing terrorist attacks from their news coverage. Stating that “they have their reasons” also implies that he believes that the press is purposely refusing to report on these events. But the president provided no basis to back his reasoning.

Trump’s rhetoric is getting more and more dangerous. The more he criticizes the press, the more clear it is he is hoping to control them, or at least control where their coverage is directed towards.

This is the sort of behavior that is often seen within authoritarian regimes. Indeed, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. lists “Controlled Mass Media” as one of the warning signs of fascism.

via Washington Monthly

Whether fascist or not, Trump is showing his preference to become an authoritarian leader. I recently wrote in the Capital Times that,

I am still hesitant to call Trump an authoritarian. But the signs are there, and the seeds have been planted for a further defiance of the rule of law.

I wrote that op-ed in response to Trump’s refusal to follow a court order that ruled against his implementation of his contentious executive order aimed at preventing immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. In his latest unscripted outburst, the “seeds” that are being planted are his attempts to control the direction that the media takes in the years ahead.

The news media need to hold their own against these attacks. They mustn’t succumb to Trump’s wishes, to acceding to his frames and lies on what the world around him looks like (or rather, what he'd like us to think it looks like).

There is certainly room to debate the merits of what is printed, and Trump is well within his rights to defend himself against what he may perceive as unfair press coverage. He is wrong, however, to assert that the media is maliciously preventing the American public from knowing about terrorist attacks occurring around the globe.

Trump is clearly trying to manipulate the public into distrusting the media. And that should trouble every American.

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Doonesbury once again voice of reason: reject hostile conservative discourse

A recent Doonesbury cartoon by Garry Trudeau recently made my day.

A veteran political cartoon artist, Trudeau has been drawing Doonesbury for decades. His comics entertain thousands of readers daily through contemporary political humor, and some consider his comic to be an American institution.

Yesterday, reading Doonesbury in the Capital Times, I was once again moved by Trudeau's imagery and words of insight.

The comic began with a thought bubble emanating from the White House: "Remaking America is tougher than I thought..."

The next five frames shifted dramatically towards images of Hitler at a Nazi rally, book burnings, World War II battles, a Holocaust death camp, and a field of graves, the result of the war to end all wars. Words were juxtaposed within each frame, detailing the horrific scenery:

"The Nazis created a brutal, repressive society, left half the world in flames, and methodically murdered millions. They were the most evil force in history."

The final frame brought home the thesis of this week's comic. The narrator's caption read, "Understandably, current parallels are frightening." Below that caption, an adviser said to Obama, "The bill is stalled, sir." The president responded: "That DOES it -- I'm giving a SPEECH!"

The cartoon shows how absurd it is to compare Obama to Hitler or any other fascist elements. Hitler killed millions of people; imprisoned millions more; waged a war against the world; and had the ultimate goal of making the German race the rulers of the globe. Obama, on the other hand, wants to provide health care coverage to Americans who can't afford it.

Somebody, quick: call The Hague!

The previous president, too, unfairly received comparison of being Hitleresque and promoting a fascist state. Such comparisons were unnecessary, demeaning, and disrespectful to the office of the president. George W. Bush may have been an incompetent and immoral leader in the eyes of many, but labeling him a Nazi did little good for the discourse of this nation.

And so it's true, too, for Barack Obama.

It's disheartening to see these characterizations currently being placed upon the sitting president. Obama has done very little to deserve this treatment -- no political freedoms have been infringed upon thus far during his nine months in office. Some criticisms may be reasonable to make by conservatives, who see the president as going against everything they hold to be true. However, promoting seminars that promote getting your guns ready for revolution, and labeling Obama as a fascist/socialist/communist/dictator isn't just incorrect logically, but it's also wrong morally.

What message do we teach our children when we characterize people in this way? How do false accusations and belittling of character help us win a debate legitimately? Why are we content to scare people into accepting a position rather than utilizing the facts before us? We should be better than this. Our nation suffers when we disregard the real problems and instead invent false ones to worry over.

These characterizations need to end. When you spot someone call another politician a "fascist" or anything similar to that, call them out on that. Even if they're your political ally, their views are wrong on this and need to be corrected. This is something that needs to stop, and will help our country move forward when it does.