The look and the outlook…
Donald Trump lost the election in a landslide—which is what he called 306 electoral votes four years ago. But at this writing, Nov. 18, he continues to say he won, attempting to bully his way into a second term and calling the election fraudulent. In fact, he started undermining the legitimacy of the election four months ago when he realized that he probably wouldn’t win. Most likely he will eventually give up, since election results are controlled by the states, not the federal government. But he may not concede or attend the inauguration. All of this brings up the comparison to one-time fascist leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini.
For more than four years, there has been conjecture floating around the digital world that Trump might actually be the reincarnation of Mussolini. Some of it comes from mainstream media sources that use the term in a symbolic way, while other writers take a serious look at Trump as the actual reincarnation of the infamous fascist.
But are they spawns of the same soul? Conveniently, Mussolini died in April 1945 and Trump was born in June 1946. Of course, there’s much more.
Much was written on the subject in 2016, but it has popped up again. Remember the image Trump projected after leaving the hospital and posing silently on the balcony of the White House? Or the way he stood in front of the church in D.C. holding the Bible upside down in the aftermath of dispersing peaceful demonstrators from Lafayette Square with a chemical irritant, shields, billy clubs and horses.
On way of comparing the two leaders is by looking at this direct quote from Mussolini, which was published by Moderndiplomacy.eu in 2016.
“It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep. My fellow-Italians we do not win any more. We must restore the Roman Empire: march on Rome, invade Ethiopia, revive law and order, make the trains run on time, stop the Bolshevists threat, close the borders to foreign influences on our Latin culture, restore Roman discipline and authority as symbolized by the bundle of wheat bound to an ax (the glorious fascist party), suppress strikes and social unrest, institute racial laws, take care of the people who have no voice, punish the crimes of the capitalistic class, restore discipline, in short make Italy great again, never mind constitutional guarantees and respect for human rights, never mind a free press or free speech, never mind political correctness!
“We will insure all this through our elite praetorian guards, the Blackshirts. We must become winners again. I am destined to be the man who will restore the lost honor and the glory of Italy. Together we will construct an Italy which is commensurate to its great artistic achievements.”
If you substitute America for Italy, much of it sounds like Trump. So much so that I had to double-check to make sure it was a real quote. It is. Strikingly, Trump himself in 2016 tweeted the reference to better be a lion than a sheep. Did he read that somewhere? He’s not known for studying history…or did he ‘remember it?’ Maybe a speech writer slipped him the line. Who knows. But there it is.
Modern Diplomacy also points out that in Trump’s 2016 convention acceptance speech, there were similarities in his body language as well as his comments to Mussolini. “That raising of the chin with a firmly clenched mouth and a raised finger, that pose of determination and intransigence affirming one’s superiority. All that was needed was a war helmet and the resemblance would have been perfect. Some have gone as far as suggesting that we were witnessing a veritable reincarnation or rebirth of the infamous dictator.”
Let’s spell out some of the comparisons the two leaders seem to share: xenophobia, ultra-nationalism (presented as patriotism), frequent anti-media comments, the restoration of glory and greatness, opposing social unrest (BLM), racist rhetoric, fear of foreigners, protecting the border from non-white immigrants. Mussolini began his career as a socialist but changed to fascism with the shift in political winds and Trump was a pro-choice Democrat who changed to pro-life Republican. Mussolini was militaristic, Trump not so much, but he favors using the military within the U.S. to deter protestors. That’s pretty militaristic…and forbidden by the Constitution.
Considering all of those similarities, should we be surprised that so many Americans voted for Trump after four years of his Mussolini-esque performance? Not really. It has pointed out that the majority of Americans actually approved of Mussolini during most of his reign.
Here’s the Washington Post’s evaluation of Trump’s fascist tendencies.
One major difference between Trump and Mussolini is that Trump has not started a war. One of the many recent presidents that hasn’t and Mussolini’s life was all about war. I think that negates this entire premise.
He still has 6 weeks. Also, look at the “war” he has started in this country with his rhetoric and lies and then, there’s the “covid war,” which he perpetuated by ignoring it. So no premise is negated.
You’re still not paying attention.
Who was responsible for election security pre-2018 mid-terms?
Who is responsible for election security now?
What changed? Public information.
District->County->???->State->???->Nation. Fill in the blanks.
Ballot chain of custody. Public information.
Your vote never counted before.
Now it does.
Watch and wait.
You’re welcome.
Good thing we voted. But here we are anyway.
Had to happen this way.
What happens when you provide enough rope?
Rope provided.
Watch and wait.
You have been lied to for a very long time.
Dark to light.
Lied to about what? Everything, it seems to me.
Almost everything.
Who has done the lying- besides Trump, I mean.
3-letters. Ask Snowden which ones.
“Presidents”.
“Congress”.
Republicans.
Democrats.
Governors.
Secretaries of State.
Board(s) of elections.
World leaders.
Business leaders.
Church leaders.
Media (news, social, entertainment).
More.
You would be shocked.
Public won’t know all, but much will be revealed.
Watch and wait.
Why not target political news sites with the same veiled references? Bigger audience.
I’m here because you know me.
But you don’t know who I am.
And you can’t know.
But not only here.
There are others.
The gift of sight.
Sight? Psychic sight? Eyesight?
This would make a good novel, entitled, “What’s Happening?”
Yes, Trump lies every day. Why do you accept his lies? Because you are in the cult. You cannot leave a cult until you recognize that you are in one.
Ire is misdirected.
Forgiven.
No doubt you accept the four corners of deceit: government, science, academia and media.
What are you talking about? Elections have been going on in this country for generations. Never ever before have we seen anything like this (except when there was corrupt Russian interference in 2016). The security comes under the Department of Homeland Security and trickles down to the states and like 6000 sub divisions. I was a poll worker and everything is extremely strict. Poll watchers are permitted and every ballot is matched and counted more than once. Poll workers have to stay for like 15 hours and not even allowed to go to your car. No one can leave the polling place until every last ballot has been double counted and matched with the computer. Even the unused ballots have to be counted. The ballots are hand delivered to the election office by 2 people, one from each party. The problem is there is a cancer in the White House that is relentlessly trying to illegitimately turn things around. I can see the comparison to Mussolini but frankly I see more of a comparison to Lucifer.
Lucifer! Yes, definitely.