Today's press conference by Trump reminded me of some of the reasons I have been reading books about the people who followed and joined, and prospered for awhile, under the regimes of the fascist and communist regimes. The neo-Nazis and White Nationalists are still a very small part of the populace and present no near-term danger of obtaining power. But they are gaining influence, and today was a big day for them. Trump made plain that his rather late condemnation of the demonstrations in Charlottesville, and the murder there, was forced, insincere, a political sop he did not believe. In other words, that he did not have a real problem with the Alt-Right, they are just messy. He is okay with their support. It is worth thinking back to George W. Bush: when there was terrorism in the US, and attacks on Muslims, he spoke directly and quickly about it. Trump can't do either, and can't even bring to name the murder for terrorism, as it was.
It i s harder and harder to believe that Trump's defenders have any interest in liberal democracy. He is now as he was on the campaign, and before. It is a bad time when Jeff Sessions is the guy you have to depend on to protect liberty. But good for him.
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