Post

I think you mean "called." "Culled" is what I wish would happen.

His moral alignment is clearly along class and racial lines. People who worship him get rewarded and those who don't are the enemy. And people who don't look like him (male, white, in position of power) are inferior. Which is all very Nazi of him, although I agree that he isn't specifically one.

Sweet lord. You nailed it. To that pos, ideals/ideals don't ever enter the picture. The only 'living creature' he cares about is his own rotting carcass. His family, 'friends' and co-conspirators know this. As we used to say, back in the day, every dog has its day.

Accurate

I basically agree with this. I’d specifically name miller and hegseth as administration members who seem to me to be actual fascists, in a way that trump is too stupid and Vance is too spineless to be

Trump is a 3-headed Ouroboros of greed, evil, and stupid, endlessly feeding on itself.

What’s even more cynical is that he believes no one gives a shit what he does - and he seems to be right. There is no accountability in this country for rich old white men. They can rape children, molest woman, take bribes, extort victims, offer bribes, be felons — and still be elected President.

Which doesn't make them any less evil, and they absolutely relished being able to indulge in systemic bigotry. But by and large, fascist systems aren't made up of true believers - just awful, power-hungry people.

Lmaooooo

(kakistocracy = government by the worst)

Plus grifting. So it is a kakistocratic kleptocracy or a kleptocratic kakistocracy, depending on the preference of the creep at issue..

And that is, i argue, intentional. Because one of if not the primary motivating principle behind Trump II is making life of the American people a living hell, as revenge for the unspeakable sin of humiliating Trump in 2020. Yes there is also self enrichment as another motivation. That’s secondary.

Also, Vought was in OMB as deputy director and then acting director for half of the first term, so he has a _massive_ amount of insider knowledge, not just about OMB but tons of agencies. That knowledge has clearly been on display in a lot of moves, starting with the Day 1 EOs.

You could add Hegseth, Miller, Patel, Gabbard and Trump himself to that group and get 7 people whose collective ideological overlap is significantly less than if you selected them at random, but each sharing that quality of exceptional awfulness at their specific job.

Fascist, kakistocrat . . . I use the label by which they self-identify. They are conservatives and what they do is conservatism. It's forever been a cancer upon society. It's also fascism to be sure but I'd rather not split hairs.

You need look at nothing but the list of cabinet members and the official line of succession. Every single person is worse than “draft a citizen at random”. In a few cases you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the US who would do a worse job.

To the extent there is an ideology, it's that 'Government is bad and must go away'. And the greatest barrier to achieving that is a good government and a community that believes good government is possible. They're kneecapping community belief in the concept of government for generations to come.

Or Putin's bidding.

Because Trump I wasn't bad enough 🙄

Whoever pays the most for it. In cash and obeisance.

Every one of them is sabotaging the job they’re hired to do.

Arendt called it, as others have noted: "Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty." Origins of Totalitarianism, ch 10.

To echo the top post, I vividly recall telling my parents in 2016 exactly what you’re saying about RFK & Vought. Something along the lines of, “Out of the segment who could actually ascend to the office, Trump might be the worst choice on the planet” I was still a registered Republican at the time!

Happy to have learned a new word today

And each one of those choices makes more sense for the job than the kinds of people Trump appoints. Two Face is actually qualified, Poison Ivy actually cares about the environment and Joker has an actual sense of humor.

Like, I promise I am not overestimating Mein Kampf’s merits when I say that Trump could never in a million years cobble together a manifesto that coherent. Of course, he also wouldn’t try.

Stephen Miller on the other hand...

He’s an ethno nationalist who frequently calls for the elimination of disfavored minorities and aho has a famous appreciation for the achievements of Adolf Hitler. I am comfortable rounding down here

I knew he was a fascist decades ago - his admiration for how the Chinese government came down on Tiananmen Square back in 1989 made that clear. His favorite book IS Mein Kampf, though, so his fascism has a tint of Nazi influence.

Maybe not, but WE can claim it. Trump is a Nazi.

Oh wait, sorry: Spring 2017. Losing track of time...but it was maybe two months after he took office the first time.

I understand your point, but, ultimately, if you are in charge and you voluntarily surround yourself with Nazis and allow them to implement Nazi policies, doesn’t that make you a Nazi?

So agree with you here. He's a court jester for the actual evil. He's been rotting the foundations of justice and decency for a decade now. But what/who wades into the vacuum?