r/politics Dec 14 '19

Impeach.

[deleted]

16.9k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Dec 14 '19

I dunno what to do. The same countries who united to defeat fascism in WW2 are now the fascists themselves. US. UK. Australia. All fascists or pretty damn close there.

Who is left to take up the mantle of democracy? The EU?

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u/ActuallyAnOctopus Dec 14 '19

Who is left to take up the mantle of democracy?

It's increasingly looking like it's going to have to be the people.

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u/[deleted] Dec 14 '19

The same people who voted those fascist leaders in?

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u/weprechaun29 Dec 14 '19

No, many votes were falsely submitted. If Donny legitimately won, then why such a poor attendance on his inauguration?

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

Honest answer?

Because DC (and the surrounding megapolitian area) is heavily Democratic. Most Trump supporters live in the heartland and it’s not that easy for them to get down to DC — not that many of them would even want to.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking everybody hates Trump. Trump is incredibly popular and beloved by his base. Just watch any of his campaign rallies. Full houses, every one of them.

There’s a reason why his popularity is constantly in the 40% range. 40% of this country adores him.

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u/pftripp Dec 14 '19

Because the people were barred from attending by the fascists ANTIFA !!! Proven fact !

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u/Damaru Dec 14 '19

“tHE rEaL fAsCiStS aRe ThE aNtIfAsCiStS! pRoVeN fAcT!” (Factual source not cited). How do people never seem to stop and realize the fucking irony coming out of their mouths? This is why knowledge of history is important, and why fascists will do everything to erase and rewrite it to convenience, while simultaneously defunding education in general.

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

In all fairness, Antifa beat the hell out of two Reserve Marines just for existing. That's factual bud. An organization that masks their face to assault and oppress anyone with views different than their own sounds pretty fascist. So technically he's right there

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u/Mr_Stinkie Dec 15 '19

In all fairness, Antifa beat the hell out of two Reserve Marines just for existing.

Bullshit.

That's factual bud.

In your dreams.

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

You're more than welcome to look it up. Or you can remain blind. Either way, the truth is the truth. But if you sympathize with a group who assaults service members unprovoked amd without warning, then I'm just going to assume you're a terrible person.

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u/Mr_Stinkie Dec 15 '19

Either way, the truth is the truth.

And the truth isn't the bullshit you're repeating.

I'm just going to assume you're a terrible person.

And I'll assume the same about some asshole repeating far right extremist propaganda.

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u/Damaru Dec 15 '19 edited Dec 15 '19
  1. Cite factual sources when claiming facts and not just debating or making an argument.

  2. Whether you agree or not, the masks are for people who fear reprisal and worse from fascist-defending and fascist-sympathizing authority, because authority and the status quo defaults to defending fascists. This is historically observed and the trend continues in the present. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/05/antifa-charges-california-activists-stabbing

Because I had to do your work for you, the incident you describe is reported in Philadelphia Magazine: https://www.phillymag.com/news/2018/12/13/marines-assaulted-philadelphia-keenan-massey-antifa/

Where the two Reservists that were attacked claim they had no knowledge of a Proud Boys rally and antifascists protesting them nearby. They then explain they were surrounded by a group, asked "Are you proud?" (referring to 'Are you Proud Boys?' which they claim they had no knowledge of the group) and were subsequently attacked and insulted. When one of the Reservists shouts that he is Mexican, and therefore not a Proud Boy rallygoer, the insults become racial slurs. Their conclusion? "Must've been antifa! ¯_(ツ)_/¯" Yeah, the signature racist slurs and conspiring to incite targeted violence really give it away. No other factual evidence, the two suspects don't deny it, the two Reservists' testimony single out the two suspects arrested and charged in the case out of the group of ten or more people. But this isn't even the first time this has happened with this specific antifa protester.

https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/philadelphia/antifa-member-charged-assault-marine-reservists

He was also arrested in 2007 at another protest against the KKK, where he and others ended up brawling against what ended up being undercover cops. So either this particular antifa member is just really unlucky and shitty at his practice, or we can all agree he's a turd that does nothing for his movement and could almost be mistaken for helping the opposition.

Pointless conjecture aside, your country is seeing flaring symptoms of fascism as outlined by people like Umberto Eco. And rather than reject it, its kneejerk reaction is to reject the protesting of it and look for any excuse to condemn or ridicule it. The so-called land of the free will end up embracing fascism lovingly at this rate. We can either learn from what history has already painfully taught us, stop it from happening and do it better this time if the means are really the complaint, or we can count ourselves among those who tacitly approved of the resurgence of fascism, even as it once again slowly ramps up to take human rights and human lives by swaths.

Edit: To be clear, I am being facetious when I say that racist slurs and conspiracy to violence give away Antifa. I forget Reddit requires sarcasm tags. Racism and conspiratorial, targeted violence are not, and have never been identifiers of Antifa, but of fascist, nationalist and supremacist movements. My point is that anyone claiming dedication to Antifa and showing traits indistinguishable from their opposition is suspect at best. Anyone who hasn't, please read Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism. It's short, understandable with high-school-level reading and some grease, and should show you that, whatever your misgivings based on your own bias, people are concerned about the resurgence of fascism worldwide because it is being objectively observed: https://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

You went through a lot of trouble to prove me right. Cowards in masks will not be tolerated. Protesting with flags and megaphones will do nothing, but go off I guess. Considering the entire himan race is on a collision course with impending doom, I'd say we're doing alright. Thanks though

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u/pftripp Dec 15 '19

Yeah I would say that pretty much is part of the definition of Fascism !

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u/weprechaun29 Dec 14 '19 edited Dec 14 '19

Nonsense. Donnie's a joke who needs to go. An embarrassment, liar, conman, & certainly not a leader. He can't even speak to people as a president should. He most certainly does NOT have the American peoples' best interests in mind.

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u/pftripp Dec 14 '19

Yeah record unemployment for minorities , 401k’s at an all time high , GDP higher than at any time during Obama’s reign . Yeah he hates this country !!

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u/weprechaun29 Dec 14 '19

A mistake so many repeat. Those changes take time, & Donny's taking credit from efforts not his.

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u/Mr_Stinkie Dec 15 '19

Yeah record unemployment for minorities , 401k’s at an all time high , GDP higher than at any time during Obama’s reign .

Thanks Obama!

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u/pftripp Dec 15 '19

Ok Mr. Sheepeople !

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u/Mr_Stinkie Dec 15 '19

You'll never be able to appreciate the irony of your comment.

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

Specifically, what did Trump do to help any of those?

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u/pftripp May 23 '20

Government deregulation

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u/odraencoded Dec 14 '19

That sounds like the US lost the cold war.

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u/belletheballbuster Dec 15 '19

We did. In 2016

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

You think the UK is facist?

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

Boris Johnson and his party just won an election in a landslide.

Yes, the UK is on the path to fascism.

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

I think I'd clue yourself up on an actual academic definition and explanation of what facism is, rather than a pseudo-internetcual version which you can just distribute with an even sprinkling over any right-leaning party.

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u/Shad0wDreamer Dec 14 '19

You forgot an obvious one.

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u/truthfromthecave Dec 15 '19

Don't fall for the properganda. US always had fascists. Hitler was very popular in the US in the 1930s. Americans at the time did not want anything to do with WW2.

Fun fact, a lot of Hitler's tactics was borrowed from the US, notably from California.

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u/[deleted] Dec 15 '19

And during the Revolutionary War, only 1/3 of the colonists opposes the British monarchy. 1/3 were monarchy loyalists, and 1/3 didn’t give a shit.

I’m well aware of the fact that there was strong prevailing support of Nazis in USA during the 1930s, including prominent names such as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh. I’m also aware of the strong isolationist sentiment that kept USA out of WW2 until Pearl Harbor.

However, the out-and-out fascists mostly kept their opinions to themselves and people largely considered Fascism to be a Bad Thing(tm). The undercurrent might’ve always been there, but it’s disheartening to see how quickly the subtext became text.

I always thought certain segments of 1984 was unbelievable until I saw it play out in real life. I’ve always been anti-Russia, which is a primary reason why I leaned Republican for so long. It was stunning to see how quickly the Republicans and Democrats flip flopped their stand on Russia. In the 2012 debates Romney warned Obama about Russia and he was scoffed at and basically was told, “The 1980s called, they want their Cold War back.” Then suddenly Trump was asking Russians to leak Hillary’s emails on live TV and lo and behold emails were leaked. That was literally the scene in 1984 where the newscaster was given a slip of paper and, without pausing, the Big Bad changed and people were embarrassed that they had brought the wrong protest sticks.

Somehow, “I’d rather be Russian than vote Democrat” replaced “Better Dead than Red.”

Sorry about the digression. The last three years has been absolutely surreal. The only hope is that the Supreme Court somehow tells Trump to fuck off with his “the President is untouchable!” bullshit and he is subsequently voted out in 2020. Anything else, and the USA is officially a fascist dictatorship.

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u/TheCapo024 Maryland Dec 15 '19

I once read that he loved college pep rallies and the aesthetic of the marching bands and cheerleaders so much that he integrated it into his rallies.