‘Modern day presidential’ words from Donald Trump

U.S. President uses social media to spew fascist bile to followers

In the 1930s, radio had come of age empowering the Nazis in Germany by giving global voice to Adolf Hitler. Radio broadcasts played a key role in spreading the Nazi message, which included nationalism, patriotism, loyalty to Hitler, anti-semitism, Aryan pride, etc.

Real and perceived discrimination against ethnic Germans was a major part of the Nazi radio propaganda effort. Their systematic campaign of lies, halftruths and misinformation sought to draw out so-called “race consciousness” among ethnic Germans.

“What the press has been in the 19th century, radio will be for the 20th century," predicted Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda, in 1933.

In the end, Hitler's planned “Thousand-year Reich” lasted 12 incredibly destructive years, causing anywhere from 50 to 80 million deaths.

Turning to the 21st century, contemporary wannabe fascists, such as U.S. President Donald Trump, have chosen social media as their weapon of choice to spew out their message of hate, discord, destruction and chaos.

“My use of social media is not Presidential, it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL” tweeted Trump, boasting that he can circumvent the “fake media” and go straight to the “100 million people” following him on social media.

Trump once retweeted a quote attributed to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as sheep,” he said, in Feb. 2016.

“Mussolini was Mussolini... What difference does it make?” added Trump, when asked about the retweet on NBC'S Meet The Press. “It got your attention, didn't it?”

Fascism is a virus, and like most viruses it adapts to changing environments. We should not expect it to look the same as it was in the 1930s, as the world struggled with the aftermath of World War I and the onset of the Great Depression.

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters,” said a confident Trump, at a campaign rally in Iowa, in Jan. 2016.

What we recently witnessed in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12 was the latest sick and violent manifestation of fascism in the Trump era, which has been fueled, in part, by the twitter-in chief’s frequent dog whistles to his diehard followers.

An Ohio man was accused of driving a car into a crowd of people protesting the “alt-right” rally, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 19 others.

“We are determined to take our country back,” said white supremacist leader, David Duke at the Charlottesville rally, calling it a “turning point.”

“We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump,” added Duke. “That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”

Turning from domestic to foreign affairs, Trump’s latest incendiary rhetoric has reached a fever pitch, threatening North Korea with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it doesn’t behave.

On Aug. 11, Trump tweeted that U.S. “military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.”

Trump’s hardcore supporters seem to agree with his belligerent and bellicose approach, with some saying he has God’s blessing.

Texas pastor Robert Jeffress, one of the president’s “evangelical advisers” who preached the morning of his inauguration, said Trump has the moral authority to “take out” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“When it comes to how we should deal with evildoers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil,” said Jeffress. “In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un.”

Others are less sanguine and selfrighteous than the pastor and wonder if the blowhard president will blow up Asia by unleashing nuclear weapons, with unfathomable consequences to the region and the world.

Even if there are no nuclear weapons used, conflict on the Korean Peninsula would be catastrophic and cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives, according to the experts.

Some are calling on Twitter to suspend Trump’s account, saying his recent inflammatory statements on North Korea are threats that violate the social media platform’s terms of service.

Those of us who are students of history or who have soberly studied the horrific accounts of the last two world wars know full well what may unfold, if Trump is left unchecked.

We must vigorously defend the principles of democracy and social equality by standing up to this Trump era horror show, before it is too late.

To remain silent and do nothing is no longer an option.