One nazi less?

[Aeson]

This isn't just semantics this establishes reasonable expectations for future development and most crucially for opposition. If it's really fascist then partisan uprisings and violent campaigns are likely to be necessary to dislodge it from power.

No, it is just semantics. Trump is doing what he's doing, opposing it requires doing things that oppose those things. Calling it cheetoism or whatever doesn't change that at all.

[Elok]

As a reminder, this is exactly what you said the second time he was impeached.

Fair enough. Don't remember, but it sounds like something I'd say. Second time was right after 1/6. I underestimated how tight a grip he had on the GOP's balls. Had a conversation on a more conservative forum recently, where a bunch of Republicans expressed surprise at how little damage that did to Trump's brand. Here I'm envisioning a scenario where he loses his grip on the GOP in a spectacular fashion. It's of course possible that his partisans are dumb enough to blame economic pain he causes on ... some convoluted explanation possibly involving antifa sabotage? I can't rule it out, even if I can't come up with a plausible alibi for "nobody around to pick the fruit right after I rounded up all the Mexicans." That said, Americans tend to take high prices out on the president even under normal circumstances where it doesn't make sense. Here the damage would be directly and obviously his fault, and reduced access to cheap consumer goods is a proven way to piss Americans off.

Anyway, we shall see.

[Dauphin]

Following your reactions, I watched it again in case I quit to early. This is the most fascist clip you've got? don't you have any extrajudicial killings like fascists were proud to admit performing on an industrial scale?

I believe those are happening in the Caribbean.

There may be some on domestic soil, but there maybe a selection bias if there are no witnesses.

[SlowwHand]

One less bell to answer, one less egg to fry.

[Provost Harrison]

It wouldn't bother you if people were labelling it communist? authoritarian peanut butter is peanut butter right? This isn't just semantics this establishes reasonable expectations for future development and most crucially for opposition. If it's really fascist then partisan uprisings and violent campaigns are likely to be necessary to dislodge it from power. if it's some other weaker more vulnerable play at authoritarianism it can be treated differently. Your complaints of "semantics" are like someone claiming that it's semantics to claim that the patient has a malignant tumor in their arm when it looks far more likely to be a serious infection that should respond to antibiotics. One claim could lead to someone amputating the patient's arm and the other could lead to them making a full recovery after some pills. Political diagnosis matters and demands detailed and granular analysis. not vague broadly painted claims.

This is *precisely* semantics. And sophistry. It's clearly not communism, we have a word for it.

And your analogy is nonsense. Diagnosing a disease requires diagnostic techniques and meeting criteria. However in medicine we don't have the sycophantic arguing that his arm is in fact his head and gangrene has rights too.

[Provost Harrison]

Another thing I'll note, which is related, is that the "it's not fascism" crowd keeps performing a subtle switch in the subject being discussed. I've repeatedly said that MAGA is a fascist movement. It's made up of people who espouse fascist beliefs, people one might call fascists. That doesn't mean the US has a fascist government, as if fascism is something you switch to in Civ. Like, I can call Chegitz--our resident communist--a communist, and no one here will be confused and think that means I think Chegitz is part of a communist government. Even if he were elected to office, the government wouldn't suddenly be communist.

There is a powerful movement with fascist beliefs in the US, and members of this movement occupy high levels of government where they are currently influencing the president to do things that accord with their fascist beliefs. This is bad. Very bad. It doesn't mean we necessarily have to be invaded and bombed into submission, or even that democratic means can't be employed to get us back on a moderately safe path, but it's still very, very bad.

One thing is true from Civ though...the citizens *are* revolting.

[Provost Harrison]

One less bell to answer, one less egg to fry.

Nurse! He's out of his bed again!