By refusing to use the “fascist” label for Donald Trump and Boris Johnson British and American media are failing democracy in their respective nations

By Fareed Khan

When Adolf Hitler decided to enter Germany’s political arena he was a figure on the fringe of society with lunatic delusions of his place in history.  In the early stages of his political career, no respectable German who had any dealings with him (or his followers) took him seriously.

  

However, within a few short years Hitler and his followers had succeeded in dismantling the government and political institutions that stood in the way of his total reconstruction of the German state – an independent judiciary, the checks and balances of Germany's political structure, the intellectual class, progressive social and political forces, etc.  He took the control and security institutions of a democratic society and transformed them to serve his political agenda, and then merged them into a totalitarian entity that would go on to commit mass-murder on an unimaginable scale, and plunge the world into a war that would result in the death of tens of millions.

In the United States Donald Trump, before his entry into the political arena, was a gaudy and bombastic businessman, with multiple bankruptcies under his belt, a reputation as a womanizer, the front man for an inane reality TV show, and no real world political experience.  When he decided to seek the Republican Party's nomination for president few though he would be successful.  But his entry into the US presidential race shattered America’s political culture as he defeated his Republican rivals for the nomination and eventually went on to become president.  Since winning the presidency, he has proceeded to tear down the institutions, and the checks and balances, that hinder his personal and political ambitions, and in the process unleashed a political ugliness that threatens the democratic foundations of the US.

In the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, a former newspaper reporter fired by The Times for forging quotes in a story he filed, was for a long time derided as a buffoon.  Critics and various journalists labeled him a “clown”, a “racist and bigot”, a “jester”, a “self-absorbed sociopath”, and a “serial liar.”  The public disrepute was so widespread that his own father, a former EU employee, went on a BBC show 10 years ago to defend him and claim, "my son is not a buffoon".  However, like Trump he went from one political success to another, eventually becoming prime minister of the UK.

Neither Trump nor Johnson ever cared about facts, principles, ideals or morals, because they got in the way of what these men wanted to achieve.  However, in their politics, they demonstrated the worst elements of modern fascist ideology.  Some of these included: 
*  protection and enhancement of the power and wealth of corporate / financial elites;
*  support for ethnic supremacy, nativism and ethno-nationalism;

*  disdain for civil liberties and human rights;
*  identifying "enemies" as a unifying cause;
*  contempt for fact-based policy and decision-making; and
*  tolerance of widespread racism, bigotry and misogyny.

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Trump defeated Hillary Clinton – a seasoned (but widely disliked) opponent with a big war chest – and her Democratic Party's internally rigged election machine.  He then went on to reshape the right-wing Republican Party in his image, and stacked his cabinet with individuals bent on dismantling those laws and state institutions that stood in the way of them lining their own pockets, and protecting the interests of the public.

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   of the Reichstag in Nazi Germany?

Johnson ousted from the mayorship of London, Ken Livingston – a seasoned and decent mayor and Labour politician.  To gain the leadership of the UK Conservative Party he knifed Prime Minister Teresa May in the back and then gave it a twist to secure the keys to 10 Downing Street.  Since taking power he has proceeded to use every legal executive power vested in the PM's office to hobble the Parliament that - at least in theory - represents "the will of the people".  Furthermore, Johnson appointed to his cabinet unscrupulous individuals who wear their elitism and depravity on their sleeves, and wage war against decency, religious "others" (particularly Muslims), ethnic non-Whites, immigrants and asylum seekers.

Scotland’s highest civil court in a unanimous decision ruled that Johnson acted "unlawfully" by misleading Queen Elizabeth to gain her assent in shutting down the UK Parliament to prevent Brexit opponents from attacking him in the House of Commons in the run up to the Brexit deadline.

Despite all of this, despite the mountains of evidence available, despite the destructive path they have put their nations on, despite the lessons of history from Nazi Germany, gullible voters have made these sociopaths leaders of their respective nations, and Western mass media have yet to label either of them as the fascists they are.

Regrettably for the masses, by the time corporate media and the journalists they employ wake up to the reality in front of them and recognize that both of these men are fascist in their politics, the new "gestapos" in US and UK will be knocking on the doors of their news outlets and paying midnight visits to journalists’ homes, preventing them from publishing their "Adolf Trump" or "Adolf Johnson" features!

What follows will be a repeat of history that will destroy lives and societies, a history that could be avoided if the "guardians of democracy" in the media only open their eyes to the truth before them and warn their publics of the dystopia towards which these two men are leading their nations.

With thanks to Prof. Maung Zarni for the foundation of this commentary.

© 2019 The View From Here.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.