General Discussion

Bluetus

(1,668 posts)

35. Yes, but this is about the playbook

Sat Oct 4, 2025, 09:30 PM

Oct 4

Trump (more accurately Stephen Miller) is marching through this playbook very deliberately.

We often say things like "the cruelty is the point". And that is true, but the reason they are doing these exact 14 things is because they have worked that way for every single fascist regime.

These people are sociopaths so you don't have to beg them to choose the cruelest option at every step. Nonetheless, the playbook is the playbook and they would follow it even if they didn't enjoy the cruelty so much.

Fascism, authoritarianism, and autocracy may just be different degrees of the same thing. For example, Victor Orban does all 14, but not nearly to the degree that Trump is raging. So I might call Orban an autocrat whereas the Trump regime is 100% fascist from top to bottom.

Another way of saying this is if you take each one of the 14 characteristics and rate the Trump regime on a scale of 1-10, he probably would have scored around 90-100 by the end of his first term. As of today, I would have to rate them as at least 125 out of 140. For reference, I probably would have rated the WBush/Cheney administration about 60-75, maybe not even that high.

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

39 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

BINGO [View all] pbmus Oct 4 OP

Impressively clear explanation Raven123 Oct 4 #1

Hear, hear peppertree Oct 4 #34

Perfectly stated malaise Oct 4 #2

Wow. A couple questions: Who is this? How do I get a transcript? Thank you. Hekate Oct 4 #3

Kicked and recommended Uncle Joe Oct 4 #4

For those not looking at xitter... 2naSalit Oct 4 #5

It is an incredibly clear and concise explanation of what fascism is. Biophilic Oct 4 #7

I don't recall... 2naSalit Oct 4 #23

Sorry. I see that word thrown around a lot. Biophilic Oct 4 #26

Wow, that was excellent. Yeah, who is this guy? Biophilic Oct 4 #6

Bright and clear take BaronChocula Oct 4 #8

Here is the tiktok account the video came from. Wiz Imp Oct 4 #9

A video pinned at the top of that tiktok account Wiz Imp Oct 4 #10

Ty 4 sharing this questionseverything Oct 4 #11

WOW!!! brakester Oct 6 #39

Fascism starts as a protest movement? Martin Eden Oct 4 #12

one could argue it started with the tea party protests proud patriot Oct 4 #14

Tea Party was astroturf Martin Eden Oct 4 #20

hofstader's classic "paranoid style in american politics" rampartd Oct 4 #29

Wow!! Another fascinating and lively discussion in DU! brakester Oct 6 #37

Bookmarking thanks proud patriot Oct 4 #13

Great explanation. Thanks for posting. Timeflyer Oct 4 #15

That seems 10,000X too academic to actually inform anybody who needs to understand this. Bluetus Oct 4 #16

Thank you. LittleGirl Oct 4 #19

Dead on... dwayneb Oct 4 #30

Yes, but this is about the playbook Bluetus Oct 4 #35

Thank you, bluetus! brakester Oct 6 #38

Maybe it's just me dweller Oct 4 #17

It's to avoid the TikTok filter JoseBalow Oct 4 #18

Seriously ? dweller Oct 4 #21

Possibly JoseBalow Oct 4 #22

And there is the bugabear dweller Oct 4 #25

Yessir pbmus Oct 4 #27

Thank You!!!! cjon Oct 4 #24

Ah well. Not going to xhitter, nor joining google play. niyad Oct 4 #28

When you start using "conservative" to describe the radical right, valleyrogue Oct 4 #31

Everybody has one pbmus Oct 4 #33

This definitely needs to be simplified Racygrandma Oct 4 #32

A very powerful and insightful discussion. I think the Lincoln Project guys, former conservatives, are early in... NNadir Oct 5 #36