Thread by @JYSexton

This weekend Trump was exposed as a coward.

We need to talk about authoritarianism and fascism as movements for weak, insecure men, our misconceptions about so-called "strongmen, and how Trump, an eggshell-brittle little man, became a fascist leader.

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themuckrake.com/main/weak

There is maybe no better metaphor for Trump's weakness than the White House going dark during a national crisis and Trump hiding in a bunker.

It is a perfect encapsulation of who he is: a terrified little man pretending to be strong to the detriment of the entire world.

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One of the problems we have in America is that we have long spread false myths about "strongmen" and fascists. We treat them as being too strong, too tough, but the truth is that it's a facade.

They're overcompensating and wearing masculinity as a disguise for their weakness

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Fascist movements aren't about strength. Their about weakness. They arise when men fear their power is endangered, that society is changing and moving away from their control.

They embrace fascism in times of crisis in order to hide their weakness and fear.

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Our myths about "strongmen" arise from several things, including an American obsession with masculinity, our own fascism and militarism, but also because our national myth works better if we defeated the strongest enemy and put down the embodiment of strength.

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So.

What does this have to do with Trump? A pampered and soft man who grew up rich and privileged, who dodged the draft and is as brittle as any public figure in American history?

He's made of the same stuff. His weakness makes him an authoritarian.

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The MAGA Movement hides behind aggression and cruelty, but what they're hiding is an inherent insecurity and fear.

They know the world is changing and their power is lessening. And, like all power groups losing power, they're embracing anti-democratic philosophy.

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A quick aside: this is why "strong men" favor Trump. They're not actually strong. They're overcompensating. Trump is them and they are Trump.

This swaggering "masculinity" is all an act to hide deep, deep insecurity. The aggression and cruelty are overcompensation.

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This is why we have fascist chic in this country, why these militias operate as paramilitary groups.

They're not operating from strength. They're operating from fear and terror. They're overcompensating their masculinity and lashing out at the world.

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We laugh at them, but this is why these memes making Trump into a warrior or soldier are so prevalent.

It's an insecure masculine fantasy to layer strength over obvious and pathetic weakness.

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Trump has even promoted these things, doctored photos that take his body and turn it into a chiseled, masculine ideal.

Trump and these men are delusional about themselves and perpetuating masculine fantasies to hide their own insecurities.

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This is why they desperately have to make Trump a soldier even though he dodged the draft multiple times.

It's not about reality. Like all fascist movements, it's about warping reality until the insecurity becomes strength and the fear becomes valor.

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There's a history of this. Benito Mussolini, at the forefront of fascism, pictured the ideology as being aggressively masculine, even though he was cosmopolitan and flamboyant.

It was always about changing male insecurity into shows of strength.

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If this seems familiar, it should, Vladimir Putin has plagiarized Mussolini's displays in order to reframe himself from a diminutive, unremarkable little man into a fabricated picture of aggressive masculinity.

This was the plan in Russia since 2000.

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And make no mistake, America has replicated fascistic male glorification. Ronald Reagan, despite being a pampered actor, portrayed himself as a cowboy who raced on his horse and performed like the world's sheriff.

It was an act, a production.

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George W. Bush, a pampered son of privilege like Trump, transformed himself from a former Yale cheerleader into a chainsaw-toting ranch cowboy, wearing his own Reagan uniform.

It was a political appeal, but also an overcompensation for insecurity.

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But it's also important to point out, that America has embraced "the strongman" post-WW II and that has led to us embracing the idea that authoritarians are strong and competent.

We used them throughout the world to further our agenda, and so we perpetuated this myth.

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Time and time again we relied on fascists to rule their people with an iron fist, as long as they served our interests.

This recycled the idea of the strongman and the myth became that sometimes you needed authoritarians, who were dangerous but effective.

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The truth, though, is that authoritarians and fascists are inherently incompetent. They're authoritarians because they're insecure, not because they're right.

They fail. Constantly. And that aggression and cruelty is a mask for terminal fear.

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But we held these fascists close to us. We watched them gas their own people, wage war, as long as they worked within our interests and chosen paradigm.

We refurbished fascism, scrubbing it clean of its insecurity and turning it into a position of strength.

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This is why Trump loves other authoritarians. He sees them as kindred spirits, fellow insecure men willing to kill and destroy cultures simply to protect themselves from criticism or danger.

He has taken the American myth of the strongman and ran with it.

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Make no mistake. Trump has repositioned this country and aligned it with "strongmen" and fascists. But we've been heading here for awhile. It's been present since the Founding.

It's just that this moment of masculine weakness makes fascism particularly viable.

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MAGA appeals to American men who are watching the culture change. The economy has cratered. Society is in flames.

They are insecure and terrified, and insecure, terrified men become fascists. We've seen it time and again throughout history.

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These men hide behind paramilitary outfits, fascistic dress, giant trucks, massive guns, Punisher iconography, all of it.

But it's a disguise, a way to hide from the world their unshakable fear. It's a performance and men are willing to kill to hide this from the world.

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In the next few days, Trump will lash out. He'll blame minorities and conspiracies for his failures. That's what authoritarians do.

His anger and cruelty will be a performance, a sad, insecure flailing. And he'll seize more power.

That's what authoritarians do.

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We have to be on watch, because Trump is humiliated and terrified. He'll lash out and cause more violence and damage.

But we also have to understand. His anger and violence are masking his insecurity. He's a sad, pathetic little man. This isn't strength.

It's weakness.

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All of this is a cycle. Get familiar with it because we're in the middle of it.

Authoritarians work like this. They fail and their insecurity means projection and scapegoating, followed by anger and a seizure of power.

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themuckrake.com/main/authorita…

For those who want to read more, information from this thread was glossed from my new book AMERICAN RULE, which examines how these destructive and toxic myths began in American history and how they've led to this current crisis.

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penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611439/a…