Comparison is not unfair

Professor Jay Bergman has called any analogy of the U.S. and Nazi Germany false, unconscionable libel, and a moral obscenity. I fear this is a case where truth is a defense against libel and obscenity is in the eye of the beholder.

There are disturbing parallels in the behavior of Donald Trump, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. And it is fair to characterize all three as fascistic leaders. A majority of mainstream scholars would agree that fascism is characterized by the following traits: anti-egalitarianism; an aggrieved past; cult of the leader; ethnonationalism; violence and propaganda; reactionary modernism. Trump’s tenure fits the preceding criteria. By word and deed, it is clear that he does not consider all people are equal, and it is clear who he thinks is on top.

Trump’s 2016 speech accepting the nomination hit points 2 and 3, claiming that the U.S. was in disarray at home and humiliated abroad and that he “alone could fix it.” Trump’s presidency has made loyalty to Trump the No. 1 priority. The president’s demonization of immigrants and support of white nationalist groups highlights the ethno-nationalism that has characterized his term. He has supported violence against protesters at his rallies and forcibly removed peaceful protesters for a photoop. By mid-April Trump has made 18,000 lies, most of which were repeated on conservative radio and Fox News.

Trump is a master of propaganda, as his use of Twitter indicates. Trump’s tweets help him fulfill the last characteristic. He points to a glorious past while using modern technology to achieve his goals — much in the way Hitler used radio and airplanes. Professor Berman may not like it, but Trump meets the criteria of a fascist leader. The real moral obscenity is Republican silence.

Troy Paddock Hamden