“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time….” Neville Chamberlain, 1938
The key word in Mr. Karabell's opening remark is "yet." When it arrives it will be too late.
These distinctions are rather cold comfort to Renee Good, or to the thousands of other Minnesotans who have good reason to fear that they will end up like her, and that their murderers will be lionized and protected by the Trump regime.
If ICE's actions which you can see on numerous videos from Minneapolis are not in fact the actions of a fascist terrorist secret police, what would make you call them that? How much more vicious and obviously, cartoonishly evil do they have to be?
Sure seems that you are splitting hairs here - call it fascism, neo-fascism, proto-fascism, fascism-lite, an authoritarian wanna-be - whatever you like - the facts remain the same - people are being illegally detained by Klan-type zealots - they are going door-to-door (just like the Brownshirts did) - they are busting up communities, instilling racist fear mongering, denying international law exists. Trump has said he wants to jail his political opponents (imminently coming to a city near you). As someone else stated, when you finally admit it's fascism is when you are in jail - when it's too late. Stop getting hung up on the distracting labels and pay attention to what is actually happening.
I will stop getting “hung up on distracting labels” when everyone else does. Using the word has become a litmus test and distraction as well as a way not to grapple with our history and who we are and have become by making this all about Trump.
The distraction is real, that is true. Language in "conflicts" is always about concealment (for those in power, and their media lackeys) and revelation (those oppressed). Republicans were able to distract the conversation in the Judiciary Committee yesterday by getting hung up on Democrats quoting the Minneapolis Mayor who used the "f-bomb" when telling ICE to leave, rather then addressing the issues being raised. I lived in Berlin for the last year (before returning to Toronto). Germans and the German press describe Trump as a fascist - I will go with what they say.
What's frustrating, as you note, is that when certain doomer predictions are wrong, they disappear into the void as if they were never made. Many people, for good reason, pointed to Trump's deployment of the National Guard to several cities, without governor request, as the most worrying aspect of his second term so far. And yet, those people are silent on Trump v. Illinois, the December Supreme Court decision that found that deployment illegal--and that Trump subsequently listened to.
For the past year I have basically agreed with the balance of perception you have applied to your work. Yet on this matter of what path our elected government is going down you might need a reality check. You should visit Minnesota and experience for yourself what some segments of the population are dealing with.
I find extreme fault with your suggestion that “it is way too soon to assume that 2025 or 2026 will be the new template for executive power.” Seriously? Anyone with eyes can attest that it’s being hammered into place and has become the whole game plan. There is nothing but Run-Amok Trumpism guiding the policies of the nation.
This nuanced take on political rhetoric is really solid. The point about how extreme language becomes a litmus test instead of productive debate totally resontes with me. I remember getting caught up in heated political arguments online where everyone claimed to know the future with certianty, and dunno, it just made everything worse. Your call for humility about what we actually know is spot on.
“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time….” Neville Chamberlain, 1938
The key word in Mr. Karabell's opening remark is "yet." When it arrives it will be too late.
These distinctions are rather cold comfort to Renee Good, or to the thousands of other Minnesotans who have good reason to fear that they will end up like her, and that their murderers will be lionized and protected by the Trump regime.
If ICE's actions which you can see on numerous videos from Minneapolis are not in fact the actions of a fascist terrorist secret police, what would make you call them that? How much more vicious and obviously, cartoonishly evil do they have to be?
Sure seems that you are splitting hairs here - call it fascism, neo-fascism, proto-fascism, fascism-lite, an authoritarian wanna-be - whatever you like - the facts remain the same - people are being illegally detained by Klan-type zealots - they are going door-to-door (just like the Brownshirts did) - they are busting up communities, instilling racist fear mongering, denying international law exists. Trump has said he wants to jail his political opponents (imminently coming to a city near you). As someone else stated, when you finally admit it's fascism is when you are in jail - when it's too late. Stop getting hung up on the distracting labels and pay attention to what is actually happening.
I will stop getting “hung up on distracting labels” when everyone else does. Using the word has become a litmus test and distraction as well as a way not to grapple with our history and who we are and have become by making this all about Trump.
The distraction is real, that is true. Language in "conflicts" is always about concealment (for those in power, and their media lackeys) and revelation (those oppressed). Republicans were able to distract the conversation in the Judiciary Committee yesterday by getting hung up on Democrats quoting the Minneapolis Mayor who used the "f-bomb" when telling ICE to leave, rather then addressing the issues being raised. I lived in Berlin for the last year (before returning to Toronto). Germans and the German press describe Trump as a fascist - I will go with what they say.
What's frustrating, as you note, is that when certain doomer predictions are wrong, they disappear into the void as if they were never made. Many people, for good reason, pointed to Trump's deployment of the National Guard to several cities, without governor request, as the most worrying aspect of his second term so far. And yet, those people are silent on Trump v. Illinois, the December Supreme Court decision that found that deployment illegal--and that Trump subsequently listened to.
Mr Karabell
For the past year I have basically agreed with the balance of perception you have applied to your work. Yet on this matter of what path our elected government is going down you might need a reality check. You should visit Minnesota and experience for yourself what some segments of the population are dealing with.
I find extreme fault with your suggestion that “it is way too soon to assume that 2025 or 2026 will be the new template for executive power.” Seriously? Anyone with eyes can attest that it’s being hammered into place and has become the whole game plan. There is nothing but Run-Amok Trumpism guiding the policies of the nation.
This nuanced take on political rhetoric is really solid. The point about how extreme language becomes a litmus test instead of productive debate totally resontes with me. I remember getting caught up in heated political arguments online where everyone claimed to know the future with certianty, and dunno, it just made everything worse. Your call for humility about what we actually know is spot on.