Over at Ricochet, former WEEKLY STANDARD writer Jay Nordlinger and Mark Helprin discuss Donald Trump and “the F-word”—that being “fascism”.
In a piece for National Review, Nordlinger had this to write about the subject:
There is an F-word in the present political campaign, and it is “fascist.” Some people say, “Trump is a fascist. Or if he’s not, he has fascist tendencies.” Others say, “Come now. He may be many things — a lout, a nationalist, a demagogue — but he’s not a fascist. Let’s not get carried away.” I am not in favor of getting carried away. But I think there are grounds for concern: concern that Trump is something other than an exponent of liberal democracy. I will list some of those grounds. Not a single one will mean all that much. But taken together, they may give a person pause.
“Some” is modest. Not a bullet point was spared. After listing his case, his conclusion is this:
No single item is enough to indict him. No two or three or four items, bundled, are enough to indict him. Some of the items can in fact be interpreted as virtues. For example, national greatness can be … well, great. A constitutional republic, with a free economy, is a great thing. And how about the press? Many sensible people have argued for years that it is too hard for a plaintiff to win a libel case — that “reckless disregard” and “malice aforethought” are simply too hard to prove. But all of the above items taken together: Do they not paint a picture to be concerned about? To give one pause? Do they not excuse people who doubt that Trump is 100 percent democratic?
In response to all this, Helprin had this to say: “… we are skewered on the devil’s fork of fascism lite and communism lite, both of which can change rather speedily into heavies.”
Check out their discussion at Ricochet—which includes more than just this subject—here.
