Op-Ed Pages #3: Who is that unmasked man? Incompetence and fascism…
[Note from Steve: As some faithful readers of this blog already know, it originally contained op-ed articles about current issues and events as well as book and movie reviews, author interviews, and articles about reading, writing, and the publishing business (all written in op-ed style). I stopped posting the first type because they often represented too long an investment in time to find the relevant background material and fact-check as much as possible. That said, I believe it’s now time to express my opinions again, so I’ll occasionally post such articles in the future. They’ll all start with the phrase “Op-ed pages” so you can skip over them if you like (I prefer that you comment, though, even if you disagree). Here’s another post in this new (and old) category….]
“Grossly incompetent” were the words Donald Trump aka Il Duce (he of the imperial scowl) used to describe Barack Obama. Of course, he should have been pointing the finger at himself. Without naming Trump, Obama lashed out at his successor for handling the pandemic incompetently and basically called him an incompetent and immature schoolyard bully, which he is indeed. But why is this occurring?
I can’t believe that Trump is completely stupid. Although he often acts like a knuckle-dragging ape at times (which is an insult to apes, of course), this poor excuse of a human being is of average intelligence and appeals to many others—that takes some skill, because he’s a hard man to like. One has to kiss his derriere too much; the only ones left in his admin survive by doing just that. In spite of his many personal defects (and questionable mental stability, according to many psychiatrists and psychologists), it was puzzling to me how he could be so incompetent even before Obama made his prognosis.
Now I think I’ve discovered the reason, and it goes hand-in-hand with Trump’s schoolyard-bully image: He’s a fascist at heart. All the characteristics of an autocratic leader are there: narcissistic, sociopathic behavior leading to disdain for anyone else’s opinions. There are a lot of knuckle-dragging apes in the US now (again, that’s insulting those noble creatures), and they love fascism—they euphemistically call fascist leaders “strong leaders” and scream slogans like “Make America Great Again!” It was always great, a noble experiment against fascism and fascist thought, from England’s King George to the 20th and 21st century despots, most infamously Putin and Kim, but Trump isn’t making America greater. He and his followers are tearing it apart at the seams.
Fascist rule is usually incompetent because it depends on one or a few men and women to make correct decisions. Both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany proved this. For all the far-left idiots (the far-right in the US doesn’t have a monopoly on idiocy, but far-right and far-left don’t cancel each other out like particles and anti-particles, unfortunately) who call their friends “comrade” and admire the debunked ideology of Soviet Communism, there was little difference between the Soviet Union under Stalin and Nazi Germany under Hitler. Both leaders were fascists and incompetent. Later Soviet and Russian leaders were all fascists too—I guess the labels are changed to protect the guilty?
People often think of Europe as the birthplace of fascism—you know, Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini. That tradition still continues as Hungary’s Orban and others substitute migrants and refugees for Jews as scapegoats. France almost elected a fascist, Italy and Poland are essentially run by a fascists now like Hungary—you’ve got to wonder why Hungary, Italy, and Poland remain in the EU…or why the EU doesn’t kick them out!
But Asia was fascist long before Europe. China and Japan have a long history of autocratic rulers, with “newer governments” like Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam all different flavors of fascism. Most Arab states are fascist, and we all know about Iran and Turkey. African countries, India, and Latin American countries are no strangers to fascism either.
Around the world and here in the US, there are currently at least 31 different flavors of fascism, enough to keep the club of autocrats, demagogues, and despots happy. And almost all of these are incompetent. So Trump’s America isn’t all that surprising. Neither is the accompanying fascism.
China today manages to complete the circle, incompetently failing to control the pandemic and lying about it to boot. Maduro in Venezuela (another so-called “communist country” that’s really fascist) has managed to make one of the world’s richest countries into one of the poorest and is starving his people to boot. And isn’t it curious that the four countries now with the highest death counts in the world, Brazil, England, and Russia, with the US at the top of the list, are now led by Trump or Trump-clones (the Brazilian president is even telling all his citizens to take that ineffective malaria drug). Of course, we don’t know what’s happening in North Korea. Nobody does. The country might as well be a black hole. For a while, we didn’t even know if Kim was alive! (Too bad COVID doesn’t kill him and a few other despots!)
And, if you need poof, Trump proves he’s fascist by admiring all these incompetent autocrats. Fascism is a mental disease, and Trump suffers from it…bigly! It goes hand-in-hand with those delusions of grandeur that lead to that imperious scowl. He hasn’t made one informed decision in three-plus years because he’s refused to inform himself (he doesn’t even read his briefs, and his tweets are probably only literate to the extent that Twitter or staff corrects them).
This self-proclaimed “stable genius” gets some wild idea (often from Fox News, who just might be running the country de facto) and tells some administration flunky to make it happen. And then all hell breaks loose. (How many people will die from taking that malaria drug? Some already have!) Now he’s propagating the lie that an MSNBC host is a murderer! Biden’s calling Il Duce a fool because he mocked the Dem candidate for wearing a mask. Trump’s desire to project a macho image to his rabid followers is also a characteristic of fascists.
I’m one who believes conservatism has a role. At the very least, it tempers the exuberant progressives who often have wild ideas too and call for abrupt and rapid change (remember Bernie’s “revolution”?). Baby progressive steps are called for, especially when the huge steps are not thought through enough to discover unforeseen consequences (like opening beaches around NYC when Mayor de Blasio isn’t opening the NYC beaches—that was just asking for trouble!).
But Trump is not a true conservative. Far from it. He’s a fascist. Period. As a result, he creates a cult of personality like any other autocrat and expects his commands to be followed. And, as if we need another consequence, his policy decisions lead to results similar to ones from other stereotypical fascist leaders’—they lead to incompetent actions from a government where competence is as prevalent as MAGA red hats in a Trump rally. There’s a complete unconcern for what happens to citizens. They’re only there to serve the autocrat, after all.
No effective leader should believe he’s a “stable genius,” the unique one whose commands must be obeyed, a gift from God to the misguided hordes. Such a belief is delusional and only makes that leader into a “f*&^ing moron” (SecState Tillerson quote), not a “stable genius,” whose incompetence can ruin a country, undoing decades of progress in a few years. Another four years of Trump will finish the job.
President Obama suggested the solution to Trump’s fascism: Vote! Unfortunately, with a despot in control and willing fascist acolytes in the GOP and SCOTUS ready to do his bidding, that democratic solution might not be possible. They’re already attacking democratic elections in the US.
God save us from Trump!
Stay smart…and keep six feet apart!
Don’t be an ass. Wear a mask!
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Comments are always welcome.
“Esther Brookstone Art Detective.” In this series, the reader will meet Esther Brookstone, ex-MI6 spy and Scotland Yard inspector working out of the Art and Antiques Division, and Bastiann van Coevorden, Interpol agent, who are twenty-first versions of the famous sleuths Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, except that Esther is a bit more nimble and sexy and Bastiann a bit less flamboyant. In Rembrandt’s Angel, Esther becomes obsessed with recovering a painting stolen by Nazis in WWII. In Son of Thunder, her obsession is to find St. John the Divine’s tomb. In both novels, Bastiann tries to keep her on an even keel. Available in print and .mobi (Kindle) ebook format at Amazon and the publisher, Penmore Press, and in all ebook formats at Smashwords and all its affiliated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and lending and library services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker & Thomas, Gardners, etc.). Novel #3 is in the works.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
