Another Buster's Book Review

Is Donald Trump a fascist?

Another good book I read on vacation was Fascism: A Warning, by Madeleine Albright.  Albright is an American diplomat born in Czechoslovakia.  She and her family fled Nazi Europe for England during World War II.  They returned home briefly after the war, but emigrated to America after the Communist takeover in 1948.  Albright is a Georgetown professor who formerly served on the National Security Council, was U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., and was Secretary of State.

Her book's warning is that fascism now presents a bigger threat to international peace and justice than at any time since the end of WW II.

"A fascist," she writes, "is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve his goals."

"Why, this far into the 21st century, are we once again talking about Fascism?  One reason, frankly, is Donald Trump.  If we think of fascism as a wound from the past that had almost healed, putting Trump in the White House was like ripping off the bandage.

"We have never had a chief executive in the modern era whose statements and actions are so at odds with democratic ideals.  Trump has spoken harshly about the institutions and principles that make up the foundation of open government.  He has degraded political discourse, shown an astonishing disregard for the facts, libeled his predecessors, threatened to lock up political rivals, referred to mainstream journalists as "the enemy of the American people," spread lies about the integrity of our electoral process, touted mindlessly nationalistic economic and trade policies, vilified immigrants, and nurtured a paranoid bigotry toward followers of Islam."

From there, Albright takes the reader on a cook's tour of 20th and 21st century "strong men" who have displayed varying degrees of fascism.  Beginning with Italy's Benito Mussolini (who coined the phrase drenare la palude -- drain the swamp), she moves on to Germany's Adolf Hitler, Spain's Francisco Franco, the USSR's Joseph Stalin, and U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy.  From the more recent past, she discusses Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

Today, she warns we're seeing a growing number of leaders using the same tactics employed by the fascists of the 1920's and 30's, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recip Erdogan of Turkey, Viktor Orban of Hungary, Kim Jong Un of North Korea, Rodrigo Duterte of the Phillipines, and Abdul Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.  And our own Donald Trump.

In her final chapter, Albright writes, "Some may view this book and its title as alarmist.  Good.  We should be awake to the assault on democratic values that has gathered strength in many countries abroad and that is dividing America at home .  The temptation is powerful to close our eyes and wait for the worst to pass, but history tells us that for freedom to survive, it must be defended, and if lies are to be stopped, they must be exposed." 
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Buster's take is hardly a surprise:
Of course Donald Trump is a fascist.  Bigly!