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Come clean, Mr. President

Why doesn’t Trump go ahead and admit that he is a fascist? Because he has no background in political science and does not know what a fascist is? Because all he knows about fascists is they were the bad guys in the big one? Because it is the truth and Trump has no use for the truth? Because Steve Bannon is a fascist and Trump has disassociated himself from Bannon?

Webster’s unabridged defines fascism as “a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation, race, and stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe social and economic regimentation and forcible suppression of opposition.”

“America first” and “Let’s make American great again” are examples of nationalism. The exaltation of the white race was evident by Trump’s position as the vanguard of the birther movement, disparaging remarks about Black Lives Matter, and his reaction to the Charlottesville horror.



No state’s rights guy, Trump resists the states that have initiated their own climate change agenda or have legalized pot. He is a big fan of dictators and has no patience with democratically elected leaders. Trump’s predilection with executive orders shows he’s not particularly fond of our republican form of government. He hasn’t murdered or jailed any of his opponents yet, like his hero Putin, but he doesn’t cooperate with them or include them in the decision-making process, either.

Guilty on all counts, Mr. President.




Trump is not alone. Seventeen candidates ran for the Republican presidential nomination last year and they fell all over themselves trying to identify themselves as the one, true Republican and conservative. In fact, none of them were. They were all fascists.

A true Republican and conservative loves freedom and liberty and will protect the Constitution that guarantees those rights. This kind of politician is scarce nowadays; John McCain, Mitt Romney, H.W. Bush, and that’s about it.

Fascists hate freedom and liberty, seeing them as impediments to an efficient government and seek to amend the Constitution to take away those rights. Denying rights to any of us denies rights to all of us.

Trump’s initial response to Charlottesville identified none of the fascist groups protesting the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue and implied both sides were culpable. The next Monday, he named the Nazis, the KKK, and said, “Believe me. Not all the protesters were Nazis.”

In the first place, when Trump says, “Believe me,” who listens to what he says next? In the second place, who said all the protesters were all Nazis? We all know the Kluxers, the skinheads, and the alt-right were involved, too.

Trump’s third statement on the tragedy reverted to his original opinion that the counter protesters were also aggressors. As usual, he had absolutely no evidence to support this. Also, Trump coined the term alt-left without defining who they were.

I refuse to recognize the alt-right. It’s a misnomer. When somebody says alt-right, I hear fascist. Alt-right gives them a certain legitimacy by associating them with true conservatives, which they do not deserve.

I also believe white nationalist is just as damning as white supremacist. Remember, the Nazis were originally known as the Nationalist Socialist Party. No, socialism is not evil, which is why I say Nationalist Socialist is a non-sequitur.

My previous letter on this subject named the murderer, who I will not name again, but did not name the victim. That is because at the time I wrote it, her name was being withheld. I probably should have waited, but my passion was running high. Her name is Heather Heyer, and Charlottesville should rename Lee Park after her and replace Lee’s statue with hers.

Fred Malo Jr.

Carbondale