Koch, Trump and Refining the Formula for Fascism

Calibrating the Formula for Fascism

Trump’s pandering populist rhetoric may test the boundary of what our democracy can tolerate in the way of diverse points of view.  The National Review says of Trump,

“ Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative consensus within the GOV in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones.”

The cynical view is Obama has said little and done less over seven years to show respect for people who have a work ethic, believe in God, and value patriotism.  The really cynical view is that he has done this to allow a demagogue to peel off a portion of this group to join the extreme right to achieve the critical mass for a third party candidate.  This third party candidate would vote at the expense of the Republican mainstream.  The Democrats would then have certain victory in the next Presidential election.

The Republican Party is trying to figure out how to keep Trump from using his populist base to  start a third party.  That third party candidancy would make Clinton a shoe-in as our next President. 

Sounds clever.  But at what cost?  Trump may lose interest in serving as the spokesperson for the large mass of people looking for simplistic explanations in a complex world. 

Unlike the George Wallace era, we now have the Koch Brothers able to do real-time and long term behavioral response surveys to help find-tune their messaging.  They have already gone through at least four transitions:

·         Christian (Pretentious) Fundamentalism

·         Soccer Moms

·         Tea Party

·         Trump’s nascent formulation of a Fascist Party.

With each new phase the Koch Brothers have expanded their base.  But perhaps more ominous they have reduced the American people’s alarm at the notion of a fascist state.

So we may be certain that Trump wont be the Republican candidate and that a third-party candidacy is certain to fail.  But that is not cause for celebration.  The Koch Brothers will not see this as a setback.  Trump is simply the next iteration toward calibrating the formula to Fascism.