this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
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Anything that makes you apply your hand to your face.
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You can't? Just bookending two countries based on an elementary school student's understanding of world history doesn't bother you even a little bit? Nevermind the implicit neo-fascist context of the observation. It's straight out of the Mussolini speech catalog to invoke Ancient Rome and Modern Italy in the same sentence, despite the only meaningful relationship between them being geographic. Might as well compare modern Macedonia to the Persian Empire or the Yucatan Peninsula to the old kingdom of the Mayans or to call Germany a nation of Huns.
Even setting aside the fascist undertones, It's pure shameless empty-headed pandering. Shit I'd expect out of Eric Adams or George Bush Jr, just being spouted as route pablum regardless of context or historical accuracy. Holding Trump up as uniquely annoying and stupid on this front is what's obnoxious. Lots of politicians just say airhead nothingburgers like this regularly.
You're allowed to be annoyed from time to time by the neo-fascist ramblings of a racist dipshit, as a treat.
To keep this in context, this was a softball discussion with Trump from 2019 where he made some stupid throwaway comment about some supposed commonalities between the USA and Italy. If this annoys you THIS BADLY I don't know what to say. Pick like any of the 50 things Trump did this week and they are more relevant than this trashy article.
A wise man once told me "you must choose your battles" and for me, this is one of those times. This is such low stakes stuff compared to all the other crap he is doing. Don't let some lazy journalist distract you with this crap today. Look at some ACTUAL nasty things going on, like Trump talking about reducing Social Security. Save your rage for when it matters. If you let every lazy article that misquotes Trump rustle your jimmies like this, it's going to be wildly unproductive.
If you know the history of fascist propaganda in the 1930s, this dog whistle will blow your eardrums out.
There's no battle. It's just another news cycle reiterating what everyone already knows. Trump's a fascist who is steeped in the revanchist mythology of the movement.
If you ignore every instance of Trump playing footsie with European fascists, half his foreign policy becomes a topic you're not allowed to talk about.