“..the consummate..most characteristic feature of..the Nazi art of language..the real achievement – and here Goebels is the undisputed master – …lies in the most abruptly antithetical leaps from a learned tone to a proletarian one, from sobriety to the tone of the preacher, from icy rationalism to the sentimentality of a manfully repressed tear, from Fontane’s simplicity, and Berlin gruffness, to the pathos of the evangelist and prophet…- like an alternating cold and hot showers…Goebels’ listeners [Goebels’ audience always comprises listeners] never comes to rest..there is no time for critical reasoning..” [Klemperer – “The Language of the Third Reich”]
“..one of the enduring paradoxes of Trump’s presidency has been the upsetting and contradictory nature of his language..language in the era of Donald Trump seems less about describing reality than about thick-fingered manipulation..Language has been repeatedly enlisted tp produce and fortify Trump’s reality…Donald trump is somehow using language – from word choice to less obvious interactional oscillations – to enlist members of the public in his distortions..” [ McIntosh & Mendoza-Denton: “Language in the Trump Era” ]
“Power is tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in shapes of your own choosing.” [George Orwell – “1984” ]
“In post-truth politics, the factual accuracy of words..weigh less than the ability of words to animate voters…The acceptability of political arguments comes down to who makes the argument [which group do they belong to?] rather than..strength of facts, evidence, and reasoning that support the argument [the merits of their policies]. The demagogue presents “our” situation as dire and the truth as simple to grasp, while emphasizing the threats that “we” [the ordinary people] face at the hands of the out-groups…’I alone can fix it.'” [Hodges: “When Words Trump Politics” ]
“Be alert to the use of the words of extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.” [Timothy Snyder: “On Tyranny,” chapter 17}
Jonathan Glover, in his “Humanity a moral history of the 20th century,” discusses some of that era’s authoritarian regimes and concepts. Among them: “Tribalism, The Tribal Trap”; “Belief and Terror: Stalin and His Heirs,” “Belief: Ends and Means,: “The Working of the Belief System”; “The Will to Create Mankind Anew: The Nazi Experiment,” “Obedience and Conformity,” “The Willingness to Believe.” We see some of the terror, of the “thought reform” these “utopias” forced on their populations. The use of language. The “weaponizing of words.”
“..Nazism permeated the flesh and blood of the people through single words, idioms and sentence structures..imposed on them in a million repetitions…Words can be like tiny doses of arsenic..swallowed unnoticed..and then..the toxic reaction sets in..” [Klemperer} Words – like tiny doses of arsenic….the “weaponizing of words.”
“..the sheer repetition of Trump’s lies might give him a certain cognitive sway over those who listen faithfully..Trump’s repetition of lies, or even mocking aliases..circulated continuously on social media and some press outlets, can literally change how his followers view the social world..George Orwell predicted that authoritarian lies can stick for a different reason: They simply wear you down.” [McIntosh & Mendoza-Denton]. Weaponizing words.
Andrew Sullivan’s “The Conservative Soul” quotes Bruce Bawer on fundamentalism: “There’s no more gray. You’re separated from this world and at the same time inhabiting an unseen world, in which you’re fighting an unseen battle against an unseen Enemy. That’s what fundamentalism is all about: the Enemy.” NO. MORE. GRAY.
the ENEMY. Authoritarian movements MUST have an Enemy. The Enemy may be described in different terms, but it is made very clear WHO he is. There were at least six badges in Nazi concentration camps: “criminals,” “politicals.” homosexuals, “anti-socials,” Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews. Stalinism and Maoism murdered at least 20 million “disloyal” people each
The Nazis “wanted not only to segregate the Jews, but also to “defame’ [diffamieren]” them. One method..was use of jargon..a distortion of the German language and to sound coarse and ugly…it is rare to come across the word ‘Jew’ from either Hitler or Goebels without its being accompanied by such adjectives as gerissen [cunning], listig [wily], betrugerisch [deceitful], feige [cowardly]..krumnasig [hook-nosed]…parasitar [parasitic]..” [Klemperer]
“Trump’s hateful speech parallels the propaganda of some of the most reviled 20th and 21st century fascists…With the backing of his base, Trump feels emboldened to describe certain non-White social groups as if they are less than human. Mexicans are ‘rapists’..Muslims are ‘terrorists’..African immigrants come from ‘shitholes’…”
We also suggest it is instructive to compare DT’s anti-immigrant discourse to Hitler’s discourse demonizing his Jewish compatriots. In the 1930s, the Nazis fabricated a myth that played to the fears of the majority. They scapegoated Jews, blaming them for all the nation’s problems and calling them “a dangerous bacillus” [germs] or “rats” whose very nature is “shrewd’ and ‘criminal”…” [McIntosh & Mendoza-Denton]
“In a 1922 speech..Benito Mussolini declared: “We have created our myth..it is not necessary for it to be a reality..our myth is the greatness of the nation!.” “With the creation of a mythic past, fascist politics creates a link between nostalgia and the realization of fascist ideals…The leading Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg..writes in 1924, “the understanding of and the respect for our own mythological past and our own history will form the first condition for more firmly anchoring the coming generation in the soil of Europe’s original homeland.” The fascist mythic past exists to aid in changing the present.” [Stanley: “How Fascism Works”]
The Trump mythic past: “Make. America. Great. Again”
“The patriarchal family is one ideal..fascist politicians intend to create in society..the leader of the nation is analogous to the father in the traditional patriarchal family…Gregor Strasser..Reich propaganda chief in the 1920s..”for a man, military service is the most profound and valuable form of participation – for woman it is motherhood..” [Stanley]
A major theme of Republican ideology is women as mothers, which means outlawing contraceptives and abortions; saying sex is primarily for creating children. This also produces persecution of homosexuals and transgender people.
“Fascist movements have been “draining swamps” for generations. Publicizing false charges of corruption while engaging in corrupt practices is typical ..Fascist politicians characteristically decry corruption in the state they seek to take over…The undemocratic intent behind fascist propaganda is key. Fascist states focus on dismantling the rule of law, with the goal of replacing it with the dictates of individual rulers or party bosses. It is standard in fascist politics for harsh criticisms of an independent judiciary to occur in the form of accusations of bias..critiques..then used to replace independent judges with ones who will cynically employ the law as a means to protect the interests of the ruling party.” [Stanley]
WOW!!! Where to start here. The above is what the Republican Party has DONE, 1980-202X. This above paragraph is seen in newspaper headlines, 1980-202X!!!!! Mobs threaten local officials and elections judges. Laws passed to put partisan [Republican] “poll watchers” in action. State governments rigged to make permanent Republican corruptions. The rigging of state and federal judiciaries is HAPPENING IN YOUR FACE!!!! Two Supreme Court seats are STOLEN – and reported in media!!!!! Appointing unqualified “partisan hacks.” Gerrymandering to lock in Republican “majorities” with a minority of votes. All this [and much more] is termed “law and order,” “strict constitutionalism,” “electoral integrity,” “preventing [non-existent] fraud,” etc. The. BIG LIES. – through. weaponized words.
In Germany, we had “alien,” “untermensch,” ‘racial defilement,” and later “taken into safe keeping” “force into line,” ‘Nordified.” “gone away,” “collected,” then “liquidated,” “arbeit macht frei,” and “the final solution.”
In America: “fake news,” “witch hunt,” “crooked Hilary,” “get ’em out,” “shithole,” disgusting animals,” “whataboutism,” “drain the swamp.,” “alternative facts,” “fine people on many sides,” “trust me,” “The Big Beautiful Wall,” “I alone,” “some people are saying,” and many more.
“Proximity to an amoral leader reveals something depressing..It starts with your sitting silent while he lies..making you complicit…In meetings with him, is assertions about what “everyone thinks” and what is “obviously true” wash over you, unchallenged…Mr Trump makes everyone a co-conspirator to his preferred set of facts..I have felt it – this president building with his words a web of alternative reality…Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.” [James Comey; 5/1/19; New York Times – McIntosh & Mendoza-Denton]
“building with his words a web of alternative reality.” Weaponizing words. “Words..like tiny doses of arsenic..”
“Mr. Trump eats YOUR SOUL in small bites.”
With Justice For All 