Donald Trump is not a fascist.
Two camps wrongly accuse him of being one.
Camp # 1: the leftists. Their claim is psychopathological. Leftists operate exclusively on FEELINGS and HOSTILITY. They are hostile to anyone or anything who disagrees with them. They FEEL that President Trump is a controlling fascist because he’s in a very powerful office, he’s brash and he’s confrontational. They are not used to opposition anything like this. They’re used to fawning, dishonest milquetoasts like Mitt Romney and the utterly pliable Bushes. They don’t like having to live in a world where people disagree with them, especially as defiantly as Donald Trump. They consider it an affront to their feelings and — therefore — to their rights.
Because most leftists live in their heads, almost exclusively in the world of feelings, they see it as a violation of their rights to have someone as President who disagrees with them. Hence the unending temper tantrum. Hence the unfriending on social media, the threats to boycott people who support Donald Trump, and all the rest. If Republicans hold Congress and Trump wins reelection, you will see screams of hostility and outrage like this country has never seen. Cries and screams are really all the Democrats have left.
Camp # 2: The Never Trumpers. These are the libertarians, conservatives and establishment Republicans who will never accept Donald Trump as President, not even as the best option available. The only way they know how to justify this position? By calling him a fascist. But he’s not a fascist. He might not be what they want; but he’s not a fascist. And they know it, because they never offer any evidence that he is. Although intelligent and rational in many other respects, when it comes to Donald Trump they live in their heads and feelings just like their leftist counterparts.
Donald Trump is a pragmatic and conservative Republican with a strong interest in protecting the United States. He’s basically Ronald Reagan. He is not a libertarian and he is not the advocate of unfettered, laissez-faire capitalism and individual rights that people like myself would ideally like to see. The country is not ready for that and simply will not accept it yet. President Trump supports lower taxes and fewer regulations, as all Republicans do — verbally — and almost no Republicans do once in office. He has strengthened the U.S. military. He has whipped ISIS, which buys us time until the next Islamic group of hate and violence comes along. He is trying to focus on the single most important Constitutional duty of a President, which is to defend the country. That’s reason enough to support him! Especially after eight years of a “Commander-in-Chief” who wanted America to lose.
Yes, he supports tariffs, which many Republicans do not support and certainly no libertarians like. However, Democrats support tariffs as well. Other Republican presidents have supported tariffs. No Democratic or Republican President has asked what President Trump has asked of Europeans and Canadians — to repeal all their tariffs on American goods, and America will do the same. Of course that will never happen because Europeans and Canadians need tariffs to keep their unlimited social insurance programs going. But at least President Trump is right about the ultimate goal — an unfettered and unregulated free market — and is brave enough to say it. And even if his particular tariffs are not a good idea, supporting tariffs does not make you a fascist. By the way, the real victimizers with tariffs are the socialist European and Canadian nations, not President Trump.
Fascists do things like outlaw elections, and shut down private media. President Trump actually has done the reverse. He got rid of the fascist attempt of the Obama administration to take over the Internet via the Orwellian “net neutrality”. Trump restored the free market for the Internet. Fascists also wish to disarm the population — not just criminals, but the population. Democrats have all but come out against the Second Amendment, and many Republicans are now squeamish about it too. President Trump is the strongest defender of the Second Amendment we have seen in the White House in a long time.
Fascists do things like support Obamacare, a government takeover of the semi-private health insurance industry. That’s the strict meaning of fascism — nominal private companies essentially run by the government. That’s what Obamacare did to health care in America. President Trump tried to get Obamacare repealed, but fascist Republicans like John McCain would not permit it. Several weeks ago, President Trump did something no Republican or Democrat would ever do, which is sign legislation loosening the grip of the FDA on the ability of terminally ill patients to get new treatments. He’s getting the government off our backs, at least partially. Anyone who claims Hillary Clinton and her policies would have been a better alternative is simply, patently wrong.
Leftists call President Trump a fascist because they’re frankly emotionally insane, at least when it comes to politics and government. Never Trumpers call President Trump a fascist because they do not like him personally — for whatever reasons — and instead of owning up to that fact, they dishonestly call him something he is not, without any evidence.
Call President Trump what you like, if you don’t like him. Criticize his style and all the rest. Good luck trying to ever get another milquetoast Bush or Romney elected President in a culture where media and academia are overwhelmingly Democratic.
But don’t call him a fascist, because he’s not one.
Fascists seek to tighten the noose of government control over the lives of individual citizens. President Trump has mostly — if not exclusively — been loosening it. We need to do way, way more loosening than has happened so far, if America is to flourish and survive long-term. But for the first time in many years, we’re going in the right direction, in many respects.
And if the Never Trumpers had their wish, and Hillary Clinton were President now, we would most likely be a fascist nation for sure.
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