In other words, there is no serious leftist threat whatsoever to the interests of the big business community or other dominant institutions either from inside the government or from the streets.

This completely disregards that the MAGA-movement and capitalist movers in the US, like Elon, regard the center as their “leftist threat”. With made-up allegations and through having moved the overton-window so far to the right, now centrist politics can be sold to their followers as the socialist threat the red scare so thoroughly implemented, that even this author cannot resist demonizing it.

Hitler and Mussolini required mass expressions of support, and that always requires coercion.

Trump’s lack of interest in compelling everyone to love him (he seems to enjoy any attention, good or bad) and no subsequent requirement for public displays of North Korea-style adoration of Dear Leader mean there is no need for physical coercion and knocks on the door at 3:00 am to take away a disobedient neighbor.

This disregards the different political systems, Hitler and Mussolini headed systems where they needed an absolute majority behind them while Trump has the electoral college and a multitude of ways to kick people off of voter rolls and make voting harder for those that are against him. As long as he can swing elections that way hand have MAGA-judges declare him the winner, he does not need to be popular.

And why is she dressed like Julius Caesar on Campaign in Gaul?

Honestly, my country learned its lesson only through a new generation having grown up in the results of the war. Before 68 talking about Nazis still being judges, prosecutors, heads of police etc. wasn’t really tolerated in polite society. Policy was always “Don’t speak about it, don’t acknowledge it, just move along and everything’s fine.”

Only the gigantic student protests in the late 60s early 70s changed that and created the culture of honest confrontation and dealing with the past. And it is highly under threat now that the post-war generation, the babyboomers are leaving the demographics, because people are forgetting how hard that culture had to be fought for. They had to fight conservatives tooth and nail for it and now it’s slowly drifting out of focus.

Ivanescence

Walk without rythm, and you won’t attract the cops.

In a trenchcoat

My Škoda Fabia has - in less than a year - hit the brakes twice in situations where it shouldn’t. Granted, both times someone in front slowed down to leave the lane, so it’s not “phantom” breaking, but the situation was completely safe for me, not though, for the people driving behind me. Cruise control is slowly regaining my trust, but those incidents left me alert. Normal reduction of speed is working fine though.