Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Trump’s Authoritarian Grip Tightens

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/05/22/trumps-authoritarian-grip-tightens
"groundwork laid for the imposition of a much harder form of authoritarianism likely planned for the near future. You just have to step back far enough from the onslaught of outrageous actions to view the pattern. During the presidential campaign, Trump was known to retweet the false claims and hateful utterances of neo-Nazis and so-called white nationalists, who are really just degrees of variation in belief from fascists. In the context of our politics, this was seen as simple, opportunistic base-pleasing—a way to access the media platforms of the far right. And, sure, Trump found their networks useful for carrying his message of making America “great again.” These groups are seen as something unrelated to the white evangelical movement from which Trump draws much of his support—despite his philandering, his stiffing of contractors, his foul mouth, and his inability to tell the truth. But they’re not."