Are we now in full blown fascist totalitarianism?

[Elixir]

So, you’re admitting that Trump won in 2024 by cheating, yes? Using the same method than leaves no trace like the Democrats did in 2020?

AOK with MAGAts at large. It’s all corrupt, so now it’s survival of the fittest, anything goes and Trump was right about everything.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Or maybe the GOP doesn't go all out on this and only tries to fix the election through the gerrymandering. North Carolina is looking at it again, but they already messed up their map so much, not much left. Ohio is willing to give is dystopian go and limit the Democrats to 2 or so seats, netting three by committing some egregious gerrymandering (something they already tried, but the 4-3 GOP Ohio Supreme Court ruled against it. That court is now 6-1.

Fuck it. Let them gerrymander everything they can as badly as possible. It could backfire massively as it necessarily puts existing districts at greater risk, and without a major 2026 electoral backlash (required for Dems to re-gain control there will be nothing further to be done anyway.

Well in Ohio they did that, but it was ax'd by the state Supreme Court as it was blisteringly gerrymandered. So instead, they tried to force it while looking democratic, and they GOP lost two seats, one to losing a seat in the Census and the other the Dems. If they go back to that other map, they'll win 13 of 15 seats most likely. It was nefariously gerrymandered.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Republicans did nothing but copy the same absent balloting scam the Democrats invented when they stole their election against Trump in 2020. Yet your side has now revealed there will never be an another honest election!

So, you’re admitting that Trump won in 2024 by cheating, yes? Using the same method than leaves no trace like the Democrats did in 2020?

I have no proof of anything. My claim is that neither side trusts the integrity of our voting system I base this on Loren's comment above and the rhetoric coming from the right.

That isn't accurate at all. It is one thing to say that foreign powers influence an electorate via targeted advertising versus the machines are fixed.

Complaining that you know the Republicans are cheating? Do you think that strategy will go anywhere? Or would better ideas improving the way votes are counted help so that both sides would have more confidence?

Well they regerrymandered a heavily gerrymandered state in Texas and in other states as well. So yeah, that'll probably be effective.

 

[Shadowy Man]

The Republicans did nothing but copy the same absent balloting scam the Democrats invented when they stole their election against Trump in 2020. Yet your side has now revealed there will never be an another honest election!

So, you’re admitting that Trump won in 2024 by cheating, yes? Using the same method than leaves no trace like the Democrats did in 2020?

I have no proof of anything.

Sorry. I have a bad habit of taking people’s active language literally. Like the bolded sentence above.

If you meant to say something else you probably should have.

 

[RVonse]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east. It appears Israel and Gaza thinks our fascist regime was worth it for peace!

This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done. No one else could have done this. We can all be thankful that Trump genuinely prefers and likes peace.

 

[laughing dog]

Oh, stop it. A signifying symptom of fascism is that everyone lives in fear of reprisals if they speak out. They make sure all the fish are afraid. That's what the "total-" in "totalitarianism" is about. The funny thing is that USA is probably the least fascist and totalitarian country on the planet.

Dr. Z asks "Has fear of reprisals limited objections to Trump's fascist agenda?"

CERTAINLY YES, if one considers the most important type of objection -- the votes by Republican Congressmen and Senators that have enacted fascist programs. Many of these Congressmen have told their colleagues, both D and R, that they have voted AGAINST their conscience, and knowingly advanced the fascist agenda because they feared violent reprisals against themselves and their families if they failed to vote as Trump dictated.

Just as the "Brownshirts" were not an official organ of the German government, so it is not necessary for ICE or other criminals reporting directly to fascist leaders to perform the violence. Trump and other top fascists sit back laughing while crazed MAGGOTs do the violence. Consider all the jokes made by Fox Liars, MAGA leaders and even the Trump family about the bludgeoning of Paul Pelosi. Jokes. Failing to call these thugs "fascists" can make sense only if you're looking for a stronger word.

You think fascism did not happened under Biden's regime? What about Biden's brownshirts forcing twitter to become his mouthpiece?

Are you posting drunk, because that is ridiculous.

 

[Elixir]

Or maybe the GOP doesn't go all out on this and only tries to fix the election through the gerrymandering. North Carolina is looking at it again, but they already messed up their map so much, not much left. Ohio is willing to give is dystopian go and limit the Democrats to 2 or so seats, netting three by committing some egregious gerrymandering (something they already tried, but the 4-3 GOP Ohio Supreme Court ruled against it. That court is now 6-1.

Fuck it. Let them gerrymander everything they can as badly as possible. It could backfire massively as it necessarily puts existing districts at greater risk, and without a major 2026 electoral backlash (required for Dems to re-gain control there will be nothing further to be done anyway.

Well in Ohio they did that, but it was ax'd by the state Supreme Court as it was blisteringly gerrymandered. So instead, they tried to force it while looking democratic, and they GOP lost two seats, one to losing a seat in the Census and the other the Dems. If they go back to that other map, they'll win 13 of 15 seats most likely. It was nefariously gerrymandered.

Sometimes you fuck with the bull you get the horn.
Dems are going to need a MASSIVE sentiment advantage next year to have a chance though. The cheats will be endless and ruthless.

 

[laughing dog]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east. It appears Israel and Gaza thinks our fascist regime was worth it for peace!

This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done. No one else could have done this. We can all be thankful that Trump genuinely prefers and likes peace.

So the war in Ukraine continues because your idol (who said he’d end it in a day) doesn’t want it done?

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east. It appears Israel and Gaza thinks our fascist regime was worth it for peace!

This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done. No one else could have done this. We can all be thankful that Trump genuinely prefers and likes peace.

So the war in Ukraine continues because your idol (who said he’d end it in a day) doesn’t want it done?

It's hilarious how these dumbasses act like they know the future and that the peace plan will hold.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east. It appears Israel and Gaza thinks our fascist regime was worth it for peace!

This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done. No one else could have done this. We can all be thankful that Trump genuinely prefers and likes peace.

So the war in Ukraine continues because your idol (who said he’d end it in a day) doesn’t want it done?

If he could end it in a day but didn’t then the obvious conclusion is that he didn’t want to.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east.

JFCoaS! What peace?

There was a prisoner/hostage exchange. No peace deal exists yet. Some people signed a basic loosely constructed framework.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Pam Bondi under fire after bragging about social media takedown orders

Attorney General Pam Bondi is under fire for telling Facebook parent company Meta to remove content on the social media site.

Bondi claimed that a Facebook group posts public photos of federal agents, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, that identify them.
...

Chicago Tribune senior journalist Laura N. Rodríguez Presa explained that the page isn't about identifying and doxing ICE agents.

"The page removed practically served as a way for people find out when their loved ones had been taken. Most people shared videos and pictures after ICE agents had already left the area," she wrote.

So are these videos of ICE agents arresting people without warrants, treating them violently, going after legal residents, and citizens going to become state secrets?

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east. It appears Israel and Gaza thinks our fascist regime was worth it for peace!

This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done. No one else could have done this. We can all be thankful that Trump genuinely prefers and likes peace.

So the war in Ukraine continues because your idol (who said he’d end it in a day) doesn’t want it done?

It's hilarious how these dumbasses act like they know the future and that the peace plan will hold.

Of course it's going to last. I'll go so far as to say it will be permanent and history will look at this breathtaking achievement on the part of the Trump administration.

Every agreement has been violated and outright broken for the last 75+ years, but since this is Trump, whose name is synonymous with words like reliability and consistency, we can now rest assured that he has succeeded where all others have failed. Only a truly dignified and universally admired statesman like Donald J. Shitpants could have accomplished a goal that up until now seemed impossible.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Oh, stop it. A signifying symptom of fascism is that everyone lives in fear of reprisals if they speak out. They make sure all the fish are afraid. That's what the "total-" in "totalitarianism" is about. The funny thing is that USA is probably the least fascist and totalitarian country on the planet.

Dr. Z asks "Has fear of reprisals limited objections to Trump's fascist agenda?"

CERTAINLY YES, if one considers the most important type of objection -- the votes by Republican Congressmen and Senators that have enacted fascist programs. Many of these Congressmen have told their colleagues, both D and R, that they have voted AGAINST their conscience, and knowingly advanced the fascist agenda because they feared violent reprisals against themselves and their families if they failed to vote as Trump dictated.

Just as the "Brownshirts" were not an official organ of the German government, so it is not necessary for ICE or other criminals reporting directly to fascist leaders to perform the violence. Trump and other top fascists sit back laughing while crazed MAGGOTs do the violence. Consider all the jokes made by Fox Liars, MAGA leaders and even the Trump family about the bludgeoning of Paul Pelosi. Jokes. Failing to call these thugs "fascists" can make sense only if you're looking for a stronger word.

You think fascism did not happened under Biden's regime? What about Biden's brownshirts forcing twitter to become his mouthpiece?

Are you posting drunk, because that is ridiculous.

That's just being a conservative, not being drunk. Hard to tell the difference, I know.

 

[Playball40]

Maybe Trump is onto something with his fascist totalitarianism. Here is what our ally Israel thinks of Trump and the US right now.



I guess the left feels the fascist US regime would be the only one who can bring peace to the middle east. It appears Israel and Gaza thinks our fascist regime was worth it for peace!

This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done. No one else could have done this. We can all be thankful that Trump genuinely prefers and likes peace.

Are you hiiiiiigggggh Clarice?

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Mussolini promoted some peace deals, too, and even some he signed lasted for many years until they didn't. So, the act of promoting a peace deal or even signing a peace deal is not evidence of not being a fascist. Being a fascist also is more of a domestic feature than an imperialist feature because it is about what you do with your residents/citizens and your government.

Next, RVonse says "This got done because a strong man type dictator wannabe wanted it done." That's Trump's claim and it's good propaganda. However, just because Trump says it doesn't make it a truth and a cause. Hamas has been trying to get a deal a long time and using the hostages to try to free prisoners. Under Biden, an order of magnitude more prisoners were exchanged in temporary peace deals. Much of the time, the Isaeli government chose to engage in bombing rather than to continue peace deals and prisoner swaps. So, this could have been accomplished sooner. It was a choice largely by Netanyahu, not Trump. At the heart of the untrue statement lies a fallacy besides, post hoc ergo propter hoc--this happened BECAUSE this other thing happened when really it happened AFTER this other thing happened. The close proximity of event A and event B make them seem more like one led to the other, but this was a choice by Netanyahu.

Some day, probably decades from now we will also find out what happened behind the scenes to understand better why event A and event B were related. What sweet deals were offered to Hamas and to Netanyahu. I'll go on the record that Trump told Netanyahu ahead of time that he would advocate for Netanyahu's pardon if he pursued a ceasefire deal. Recall Netanyahu has some corruption charges he wants to go away and when Trump went to Israel to speak before the Knesset he requested that Netanyahu be pardoned. He also made up a story pretty much "...people are saying..." Netanyahu should get a pardon. Since this was untrue, as a majority do not support that, it means there was some other reason for Trump to say it. That's where I would put my money were I to place a bet.

Now beyond all that, this peace will not last. The right-wing government of Israel does not want a Palestinian state. There are factions in Palestine that do not want Israel to exist and other factions that do not want a Palestinian state either. So, various unsavory characters such as Netanyahu are willing to pay off some of these even more unsavory characters in Palestine to create problems so that a state is never recognized and war is always on the table.

[/derail]

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Mussolini promoted some peace deals, too, and even some he signed lasted for many years until they didn't. So, the act of promoting a peace deal or even signing a peace deal is not evidence of not being a fascist. Being a fascist also is more of a domestic feature than an imperialist feature because it is about what you do with your residents/citizens and your government.

Just like how the fact that Hitler was a vegetarian, doesn't mean he was a kind and loving person.

 

[Politesse]

Now beyond all that, this peace will not last. The right-wing government of Israel does not want a Palestinian state. There are factions in Palestine that do not want Israel to exist and other factions that do not want a Palestinian state either. So, various unsavory characters such as Netanyahu are willing to pay off some of these even more unsavory characters in Palestine to create problems so that a state is never recognized and war is always on the table.

Pessimism has overtaken Palestinian and Israeli alike. There is no trust in any solution proposed by outside powers, but extremists lead domestic policy on all fronts. I have no idea how these wounds can be healed.

 

[Swammerdami]

It may seem off-topic, but I love this poem:

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

This poem has about Thirty words missing from dictionaries when Prof. Dodgson wrote, and yet I feel like I understand the emotions and events conveyed.

NOT SO with the word "Fascism." DrZ linked to  Definitions of Fascism, which presented us with 34 definitions to choose from.

Here are the two most recent of five quotations that Wiktionary offers to clarify its first definition:

• 1978, Walter Laqueur, Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography:
  Despite the three decades that have passed since the end of the second world war, fascism remains a subject of much heated argument. […] It also continues to be a subject of controversy, partly because it collides with so many preconceived ideological notions, partly because generalizations are made difficult by the fact that there was not one fascism but several fascisms.
• 1995 June 22, Umberto Eco, “Ur-Fascism”, in The New York Review of Books‎<a rel="nofollow" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170131155837/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/">[1]</a>, archived from the original on 31 January 2017:
  Fascism became an all-purpose term because one can eliminate from a fascist regime one or more features, and it will still be recognizable as fascist. Take away imperialism from fascism and you still have Franco and Salazar. Take away colonialism and you still have the Balkan fascism of the Ustashes.

It's too bad we have so few supporters of Trump and the Project 2025 agenda here. One who consistently sides with the MAGGOTs tells us he never even voted for Trump, though he saves his invective to attack the REAL threat to America -- uppity bitches like AOC.

Another, our distinguished climatologist, offers nothing but the rolling-eye emoji.

The most vociferous opponents of the Enlightenment seem at odds with each other:

Oh, stop it. A signifying symptom of fascism is that everyone lives in fear of reprisals if they speak out. They make sure all the fish are afraid. That's what the "total-" in "totalitarianism" is about. The funny thing is that USA is probably the least fascist and totalitarian country on the planet.

Just as the "Brownshirts" were not an official organ of the German government, so it is not necessary for ICE or other criminals reporting directly to fascist leaders to perform the violence. Trump and other top fascists sit back laughing while crazed MAGGOTs do the violence. Consider all the jokes made by Fox Liars, MAGA leaders and even the Trump family about the bludgeoning of Paul Pelosi. Jokes. Failing to call these thugs "fascists" can make sense only if you're looking for a stronger word.

You think fascism did not happened under Biden's regime? What about Biden's brownshirts forcing twitter to become his mouthpiece?

@RVonse -- So Biden was a fascist? Do you agree with DrZ that Trump is NOT a fascist?
@DrZoidberg -- So Trump is not a fascist? Do you agree with RVonse that Biden WAS a fascist?

Can you two get together and help us understand what "fascism" even means in your respective anti-Enlightenment dialects?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Now beyond all that, this peace will not last. The right-wing government of Israel does not want a Palestinian state. There are factions in Palestine that do not want Israel to exist and other factions that do not want a Palestinian state either. So, various unsavory characters such as Netanyahu are willing to pay off some of these even more unsavory characters in Palestine to create problems so that a state is never recognized and war is always on the table.

Pessimism has overtaken Palestinian and Israeli alike. There is no trust in any solution proposed by outside powers, but extremists lead domestic policy on all fronts. I have no idea how these wounds can be healed.

Shrewd diplomacy. Camp David wasn't exactly a picnic with all the parties being willing to create a peace agreement.