5 traits of Trump supporters

Trump supporters demonstrate an “extreme devotion and unwavering admiration for their highly unpredictable and often inflammatory leader” (Azarian). Psychologist Thomas Pettigrew has identified five psychological phenomena that help to explain their behavior. 1. Authoritarian Personality Syndrome. People with this syndrome are submissive to authority, have a rigid hierarchical view of society, resist new experiences, and … Read more

14 Signs of Fascism

If American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land. Franklin Roosevelt Umberto Eco (1932 – 2016) was an Italian philosopher, cultural critic, novelist, and political and social commentator. He grew up … Read more

Stoking Fear and Conspiracy

The American public generally doesn’t really know what goes on at a Trump rally. Progressives dismiss them as circuses for lunatics. The mainstream media tend to report only on crowd size and the one most outrageous soundbite of the day. Old-style conservatives excuse the rallies as “just Trump being Trump.” Most people actually pay almost … Read more

Controlling Reality

An important way to understand Trump and Trumpism is as an assault on reality. At issue is the attempt to control, to own, immediate truth along with any part of history that feeds such truth. Robert J. Lifton The desire to control reality is typical of authoritarianism, religious zealotry, and cultism. If you control a … Read more

The New Conspiracism

Ignorance is Strength

Charges of conspiracy (“fake news,” “rigged elections,” “deep state”) flow from the Trump White House constantly. They are disseminated by fast, broad-ranging, technologies, facilitated by media co-conspirators, and assented to by elected representatives who know better but remain silent. Today, conspiracism is not, as we might expect, the last resort of permanent political losers but … Read more

Worse than incompetent, Trump is extremely dangerous

Malignanat Trump

I used to think that Donald J. Trump was simply incompetent. That the problem was that the presidency was far beyond his abilities. That he was flailing because he was in way over his head. It very quickly became obvious to me that he is an extreme narcissist. Everything around him has to be about … Read more