Donald Trump is Part of the Dark U.S. Fascist Tradition

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

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Scholar: 'Donald Trump is Part of the Dark U.S. Fascist Tradition'

Posted March 23, 2016

Interview with Christopher Vials, director of American Studies at the University of Connecticut, conducted by Scott Harris

While Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric delivered at his large rallies have triggered condemnation and protest across the U.S., escalating violence directed at protesters who have attended his events in recent weeks have raised alarm. Trump supporters have been videotaped punching, kicking and spitting at peaceful protesters who expressed opposition to the front-running GOP candidate.

When asked about the documented behavior of his supporters, Trump has refused to condemn the violence at his events or expressed regret for the numerous times he’s explicitly advocated physical attacks against individuals who disrupt his rallies. Further, Trump defended his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who has been observed roughing up an anti-Trump activist and a conservative media outlet reporter. The threat of clashes between Trump supporters and opponents caused the campaign to cancel one rally in Chicago on March 11.

As the Republican Party establishment openly discussed organizing efforts to block Trump’s nomination at their summer convention, the billionaire real estate developer made the implicit threat that his supporters may be angry enough to riot. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Christopher Vials, director of American studies at the University of Connecticut and author of "Haunted by Hitler: Liberals, the Left and the Fight against Fascism in the U.S." Here, he explains why he believes Donald Trump is part of America’s dark fascist tradition. [Rush transcript]

CHRISTOPHER VIALS: First of all, I guess I'd like to say that Trump is – he's not a fully developed fascist in my view – but I would say he is far enough down that road, that if you were to call him an actual fascist or the fascist candidate, you wouldn't really be wrong. And I say that because Trump basically – it's important to remember what fascism really is, and in my book, I argue that it has been a part of American life since the 1920s and it's palpably impacted American democracy. And so, Trump in certain ways – at least fascism tradition did not begin with Trump in the United States, but he does bring it a new visibility and a new level of danger.

For starters, fascism is not so much driven by economics or economic appeals. You know, people who are drawn to kind of fascist appeals or the fascist methods, there's more an emphasis on kind of strength, power, leadership, violence, nation, race. Its kind of core features are militarism, male violence, a hard rejection of equality, anti-intellectualism, a disregard for constitutional democracy, racism. All of these things.

I guess I see Trump as belonging at least to the fascist tradition, or at least being a fascist-minded politician because, though he has an economic platform, it's not really an emphasis, its emphasis is that language of "strength, power, race, violence." He also very authoritarian. He kind of personifies the strong man, he wants to get things done without obeying the usual protocol. He's drawn to other "strong men" like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and even North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

And it's also the street-level racial violence that he basically brings out in his supporters and he condones. It's not really too much of a surprise to me that organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and StormFront and overtly pro-fascist groups are kind of drawn to his message.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Professor Vials, there have been commentators who declare that Donald Trump is a creation of the Republican party that was born out of the backlash that the party took advantage of among white voters against the civil rights movement when it emerged in the late 1950s and 1960s, and over the decades the Republican party has engaged what many describe as dog-whistle politics, appealing to white voters' racism. In subtle and not-so subtle ways over the years, you can see pretty clearly that there are links between the Republican party's recent history and the popularity of Donald Trump. I'm not sure if you agree or disagree, but I thought I'd throw that out there for comment.

CHRISTOPHER VIALS: No, I actually completely agree with that. And in fact, you were talking about that Trump grows out of this kind of racial backlash, in certain ways, you might call it the "Southern strategy" of the late sixties or the early seventies, and this particular racial strand of Republican rhetoric. And I completely agree with that. In fact, in my book, I argue that George Wallace was basically also one of those kind of rare politicians that I would place in an American fascist tradition. And he was actually even acknowledged as such even by William F. Buckley at the time. But you know, Wallace was a third-party candidate in 1968 and 1972. He really is the progenitor of this kind of coded, racial message of white racial resentment that comes out of and got co-opted by the mainstream Republican party by Richard Nixon in '68 and '72, and it kind of carries forward from then. But these dark currents of American life has really impacted American politics in a number of critical junctures and time will tell if we are at one of those junctures right now.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Professor Vials, relate to our listeners, if you would, the best way you can recommend that fascist and racist and scapegoatist ideology in U.S. can be effectively combatted.

CHRISTOPHER VIALS: I guess the good news is that these kind of fascist types needing fascist figures have really been checked by a pretty vigorous anti-fascist tradition in American life. And this is pretty much ordinary people just getting involved, ordinary people forming social movements, either anti-racist movements or for movements for tolerance or kind of anti-homophobic movement. If ordinary people don't want to see a Trump or kind of a fascist figure – and I know we're all really busy – but the way to really check that is to get involved at grassroots movements at the local level. Because short of that, the president, or the Democratic party itself – left to its own devices, and certainly not the Republican establishment – it's certainly not going to stop on its own.

Read an Oxford Journal review of "Haunted by Hitler".