The proof is in the pudding folks

Part of the issue is that Donald Trump isn’t using these words in any factual sense, but in a purely rhetorical sense. He is utilizing them as boogeyman terms to scare people away from Harris. It doesn’t matter that’s it’s not factually correct because average people don’t know otherwise.

That brings me to the other part of the issue, which is fascism is notoriously difficult to pin down. Umberto Eco talks about this in his essay Ur-Fascism. He notes that fascism isn’t actually dependent on one or two attributes, such as complete totalitarianism, or support of capital, and doesn’t necessarily have a single religious philosophy. He notes historical examples of things like anticapitalist fascism, religious fascism, atheist fascism, etc.

Still he notes 14 qualities that are typically associated with fascism

• The Cult of Tradition
• Rejection of Modernism
• The Cult of Action for Action’s Sake
• Disagreement is Treason
• Fear of Difference
• Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class
• Obsession with a Plot
• The Enemy is Both Strong and Weak
• Pacifism is Trafficking with the Enemy
• Contempt for the Weak
• Everybody is Educated to Become a Hero
• Machismo
• Selective Populism
• Newspeak

Much of these are relevant to Trump’s campaign, even more than I had anticipated. Definitely give it a listen or check out the Wikipedia page, it’s a worthwhile half hour just to hear the perspective of someone who actually lived through Italian fascism.

Full disclosure I haven’t watched the speech, but I can believe it was in good faith, no doubt pro-labor/anti-capitalist. (btw, it’s crazy how bad the Democratic party has alienated the working class)

What I can’t believe is these disturbing-ass memes you’re posting lmao…I hate them very much and wish I could unsee. Good job!

That’s insane.

Like, no 401k or Roth IRA? Dang. I’m fuckin hard.

If you aren’t comfortable doing that then you aren’t comfortable “working on” your car.

You’ve written a whole lotta junk to essentially end on, “if you can’t jack up your car and remove the wheel, you shouldn’t be changing your headlight in the first place.”

Which is quite a dumb take.

I mean, you’re totally right until the last paragraph. I don’t think Biden locking them up by executive order would shut them up. I think it’s more likely that would spark the civil war they’re so desperate to have. They’re like Kyle Rittenhouse, just waiting for an excuse to shoot a leftist.

As all should

Yeah I’m just an absolute idiot, that is what’s going on with that comment lmao. You’re right

Still, if you are comfortable with where Biden’s campaign is at this point, if you’re confident that he can win given his current approval and polls…you’re at least lot more confident than me, and a lot more confident than many democratic lawmakers

Approval ratings at the end of first term:

• Harry S. Truman: 32%
• Dwight D. Eisenhower: 59%
• Lyndon B. Johnson: 49%
• Richard Nixon: 24%
• Gerald Ford: 53%
• Jimmy Carter: 34%
• Ronald Reagan: 63%
• George Bush: 56%
• William J. Clinton: 66%
• George W. Bush: 34%
• Barack Obama: 59%
• Donald Trump: 34%
• Joe Biden: 36%

Idk dude, of the four below 40%, 3 of them did not see a second term.

Sources:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/final-presidential-job-approval-ratings

Edit: Anyone upvoting this comment is now cursed by my stupidity

Difference is, no republican cares if Trump is mentally fit to be president, nor will being mentally unfit cause him to lose the election.

Democrats and Biden on the other hand…

I believe the meme should say “approval rating at 35%”

Edit: the OP corrected me below

Don’t listen to these people who call you some sort of Russian bot. They want to shut their eyes and pretend like nothing is wrong, while we are on the verge of an authoritarian Trump presidency.

Edit: for the record, if Joe Biden is the nominee, you still gotta vote for him. I’m not saying otherwise

Still has a hidden card or two? Sounds pretty absurd to me. Honestly – and I don’t want to sound like a dick, so I really do apologize – but this comment sounds like a deluded sports fan in denial that their team is not going to make it out of the playoffs.

I don’t think the ship sailed if so many top Democrats and donors called for him to step aside. Evidently they didn’t think the ship had sailed yet, so I’m apt to believe them more than a superfan.

But right now, it’s looking like the snowball did not gain enough momentum to become an avalanche, and Biden will still be the candidate in all likelihood.

Would you cancel a trip with your family that was already booked, that your mom completely planned out each activity in depth, that you already paid for, that you’ve been looking forward to, collectively, for over a year, because you found out you’d be contributing to a systemic problem for a week day?

You just might be a better person than me, at the end of the day.

I wasn’t sure whether hotels had already been booked or whether they cheaped out, that’s why I worded it like that. Could be.

No no you’re good, I didn’t take it that way. I think saying “next time” instead of “you should have” is a good way to help people realize that what they are doing might be destructive, without condemning them to the eternal pits of hell, so I appreciate you saying it that way.

I didn’t plan the trip myself, and I think there was some reason or another they chose AirBNB instead of a hotel. But yeah, if I ever do a trip like this again (unlikely), fuck an AirBNB

I’m going to Barcelona this week on a family trip. We’re staying in an AirBnb for a day. I think they’ve got a legitimate cause to spray people like me, who pretty much across the board don’t realize how much their privilege hurts regular working people.

Yeah, I agree, although I suspect both of us are wrong rather than neither of us being wrong haha

Gotcha about the ad buys though. We’ll just have to see what happens I guess. Bottom line though, vote blue no matter who.

Are you saying the all congressional Democrats, and all liberal voters across the US who’ve called for new party leadership are somehow secret conservatives?

Where is this coming from? I literally just want the best chance of beating Trump and Biden ain’t it.