Fascism can't come to America under Trump ... because it already came under Obama

Here are just a few excerpts from what I deem to be one of the best essays that I've read concerning the post-election hysteria.

For the past eight years, the Left—stridently outspoken and adversarial while George W. Bush was president—has been unusually quiet about things like torture, endless wars, drone strikes, executive orders, government overreach and fascism.

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It’s taken us 200 short years to destroy the freedoms our founders worked so hard to secure, and it’s happened with barely a whimper of protest from “we the people.”

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So when I read about demonstrations breaking out in cities across the country and thousands taking to the streets to protest the threat of fascism from a Trump presidency, I have to wonder where were the concerns when access to Obama came easily to any special interest groups and donors willing and able to pay the admissions price?

When I see celebrities threatening to leave the country in droves, I have to ask myself, where was the outcry when the government’s efforts to transform local police into extensions of the military went into overdrive under the Obama administration?

When my newsfeed is overflowing with people wishing they could keep the Obamas in office because they are so cool, I shake my head in disgust over this “cool” president’s use of targeted drone strikes to assassinate American citizens without any due process.

When legal think tanks are threatening lawsuits over the possibility of Trump muzzling free expression, I can’t help but wonder where the outrage was over the Obama administration’s demonizing and criminalization of those who criticized the government.

And when commentators who previously dismissed as fear-mongering and hateful any comparison of the government’s tactics to Nazi Germany are suddenly comparing Trump to Hitler, I have to wonder if perhaps we’ve been living in different countries all along, because none of this is new.

Source:

Stay Alert America - The Worst Is Yet To Come, by John W. Whitehead

Scares me that stuff like this is acceptable in the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site

lol, world news daily

White man does something stupid, blame the black man.

Classic.

The problem with this thread is that TC's endorsement is the product of an intellectual wasteland. Ergo, 'best' equals laughable.

The media made a big deal about that for a long time. I don't know what this guy thought should happen, or thinks should have.

Did he support sending in troops to capture/detain a single Taliban member? That is one of those no-win situations.

A lot of people these days have no fucking clue what "fascism" actually is.

Obama is not a fascist. He has a liberal centrist viewpoint. As for Trump? He's not a fascist either. He's a right wing populist with authoritarian characteristics.

Neither Obama nor Trump have called for the abolition of the liberal democracy we live in. The moment when either person decides to eliminate the democratic process and install authoritarian institutions (i.e. massive police state, censorship, nationalism) is the day you can call either one of those people a "fascist."

TC uses hyperbole....doesn't know what fascism is.

Obama has of yet to denounce his pals Bill Ayers or Bernardine Dohrn much less his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I would not classify Obama as a fascist, but a radical liberal. Obama had a chance to pull the nation together, instead, he caused divisiveness. Even last week, he was telling people to not be silent in the face of the outcome of the election. He even doubled down on it and stated that unlike other Presidents, he would speak out if he felt that his legacy was threatened. He has a shitty legacy right now and that is his own fault. His whole premise was hope and change to get elected, but the change the country got was worse than what it was before he became the most powerful man in the world and the country is reeling from it.

Trump will not bring Fascism to the US, we are teetering on the brink of anarchy in a sense due to spoiled brats not getting their way.

Funny, could have sworn a spoiled brat was arguing about a rigged election a month ago. Wonder if that same brat would have still been whining if he had lost?

Obama did denounce Jeremiah Wright's comments. Obama's campaign, rhetoric, and actions during the presidency scream left-of-centre policies. He also denounced Ayers and his wife.

The economy has improved under the Obama administration and the deficit is slowing down.

As for anarchy, it won't happen. Protests and riots have happened before from both sides of the aisle and they didn't change the government or cause anarchy. No one is a spoiled brat.

on what planet is 200 years "short"?

By nearly every metric Obama has left us in a better place since taking office in January 2009. Civil rights, Economic measurements, etc. Reality doesn't fit with your narrative in the slightest.

He's rated higher on average than most presidents by actual historians and is exiting office with an approval rating in the mid 50's. He's even followed through on a larger percentage of promises than most presidents. What you posted is simply revisionist nonsense.

There's a difference between what 'is' and what you 'feel.', ala Newt Gingrich. People are far safer in this day and age yet they feel less safe than they did in 2008 despite figures and statistics clearly showing otherwise.

No he hasn't. His own hometown has had an increase in the murder rate, even if other places have dropped. He spoke out about the killing of Treyvon Martin, yet has not said anything about the killing of police officers or called out on BLM activists who advocate violence against them. After the shooting in Orlando had the White House bathed in the Gay Pride colors and shortly thereafter, when 4 cops were killed in Dallas, **** them, not blue tribute from him in the same manner.

[url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/26/homicides-violent-crimes-rise-fbi/]FBI reports increase in homicides, violent crimes[/url] shows that it is rising.

What happened to all those who lost jobs after 2008? Many of them have completely dropped out of the workforce and stopped looking for work. They are no longer counted in Labor Department statistics. The has been a downward trend since 2000 and it hasn't rebounded. Sure, the economy has picked up, but it is still not where it was and will not until those who stopped looking for work can finally get back to work.

[img]http://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/102015lfpr.jpg[/img]

[url=http://www.aei.org/publication/why-the-labor-force-participation-rate-may-not-rise-anytime-soon/]Why labor force participation rates may not rise anytime soon[/url]

Most of the jobs created nowadays are just part time jobs. Yeah, that is really good for the people. Ask those with part time jobs if they are happy with the way Obama has run this country.

I see GS still has yet to fix links and embedding images since they went to this screwed up format. smh

Look, statistics and metrics aren't on your side. Two of your links are simply graphs about labor participation rate....great....so you have a problem with the interpretation of unemployment calculations as opposed to their actual numbers. We've been using the same calculations for 30 years. What you're essentially saying is that the numbers presented are sullied by the methodology and interpretation of them. If that's the case you'd have to apply the same rigorous dissent to the last 4 administrations as well, our entire data pool should be reformatted in retrospect then.

Do I think we can be in a better place? Yes, and I think we can both agree on that, however I would assume it's probably for different reasons. Trayvon Martin? BLM? Don't care, it's a distraction and has nothing to do with what I responded to. We're talking 2009-2017 figures which means localized crime rates in Chicago are largely irrelevant when we are discussing nationwide statistics which I originally mentioned.

You simply can't say that the county is in a worse place economically now then it was in 2008, even if you aren't an Obama fan. The recession was a low point and we've obviously risen above that.

Trump may have some ideas that somewhat hint towards fascism. But neither Obama nor Trump are truly fascist.

These people are. And seemingly Trump does not want to associate with them.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-disavows-alt-right-neo-nazi-supporters-new-york-times-a7432746.html

I consider myself on the left, and I stopped supporting Obama when he got the Nobel Peace Prize before the troop surge. I dont support the drone strikes, NDAA provisions, not getting rid of the PAtriot Act, the huge NSA overreach, the sales of arms to rebel groups etc etc, so I dont know who the hell TC is talking to....

TC is crazy.

I think I'm going to miss Obama. If nothing else Obama was loyal to his base. Trump will sell out anyone at any time. No morals at all and completely unreliable. At least with Obama I knew where he stood even when I disagreed with it.

"Loyal to his base": promised to have one of the most transparent administrations ever, found to be one of the most secretive.. In which we had to have leaks that the government under his administration had the NSA spying on every one.

Promised to not get involved in more military operations.. Gets involved in more.. Increases the drone campaign by 10 fold.. Supports and arms Saudi Arabia, a country who is currently committing war crimes in Yemen.

Extends Bush tax cuts.. Does absolutely nothing about Wallstreet.. Has one of the most militant War on Drug policies where he raided pot dispensaries more than the last president.. Supported the TPP, a corporate wet dream.. Militarizes police force in the US.. Says and does nothing about the obvious corruption within the DNC..

@sSubZerOo:

No troops on the ground though and those spy agency guy kind of do whatever they want. Anyway lets see how you feel after 4 years of Trump. I will graciously accept your apology.

The Republicans were responsible for many of those decisions, since they were the ones who controlled the majority of the House (since 2010) and the majority of the Senate (since 2014).

@Jag85: oh I agree completely, this isn't trying to defend repuublicans. If anything I am pointing out that the establishment democrats are just as bad as the Republicans when it comes to this. Throw them all under the bus.

Ol Fascist Trump at it again. Every single day his fascist arse attacks our great Nation. Fackin disgraceful times we live in.

There is literally nothing wrong with fascist nationalism.

Poe's law?

There's a lack of paying attention if you think we hit the mark of "great nation" by any measurement. We didnt have a situation of people voting for Trump or Hillary becasue we had a great nation before either one of them.

The sad reality of it is a lot of the things he is talking about doing and the people he is appointing, have been things done and similar people appointed under the past four presidents administrations. We simply now have people wanting to pay attention and make noise because their person didnt win. Which is pretty typical of establishment democrats and why democratic presidents end up be arguably worse than republican. Because that attention is not paid, that noise is not made when we have a democrat in office.

Except the entire destruction of the countries that try it.............

America will be different because we're finally Great Again!

@WhiteKnight77: Obama denounced his pastor in his speech for his nomination.

Kids these days hate fascism so much they will all load up on a bus come to your town to set fires and beat the fascism right out of you at your own political events.

That's commitment.