PODCAST 457

Donald J. Trump Authoritarian. If you are a Trump supporter you probably want to know, the left has decided you have ‘authoritarian tendencies’. What is an authoritarian? We can now name the New Yorker with confidence; Donald J Trump Authoritarian. What does it make you if you support Donald J. Trump Authoritarian? What does it mean to have Authoritarian ‘tendencies’. Is it a new fangled way to call you a fascist? Since it’s well known that the first person who brings up Hitler in an argument has lost the argument, and since the left has already tagged the New York business man as another Hitler, they have to come up with something new. While you’re guzzling white wine and picking at the brie at the local university cocktail party, and someone asks what you think of Trump you can simply say, “Well you know his supporters are a bit authoritarian, don’t you think?” Where is this coming from? A self described ‘Phd candidate’ and Massachusetts political consultant Matthew MacWilliams has done a study. His study and ‘simple’ statistical analysis shows Trump supporters to have these authoritarian tendencies. It’s not enough that Trump supporters supposedly have lower education levels (and therefore must be stupid), or hail from the Blue Collar side of the tracks (which used to be democrat territory, back in the day), now it appears the kind of government they like is a little more on the authoritarian side. Hey! There’s a study, so it must be true, right? The bottom line is, if Republicans vote the way the polls show, and it’s a big if, Donald J Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. It’s been pretty clear from the get go that Trump not only terrifies the republican establishment, apparently he also terrifies the socialist left, which if it isn’t busy trying to put you in the photo with Hitler and Eva, is busy coming up with clever new ways to say you’re a fascist. What are the origins of fascism? What are the conditions that have to be met before you can have fascism? Which part of the political spectrum is meeting those conditions? What kind of political system is susceptible to fascism? The answers might surprise you. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Trucks.

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Podcast 419

Time Travel. This Walk and Talk Podcast starts out with some observations about the media reaction to Candidate for the Republican Nomination Donald Trump. The Bob Davis Podcasts will never endorse a specific candidate, tell you how to vote, or cover the presidential election process with an undisclosed point of view, with the intention of pointing listeners in the direction of a specific candidate. Comments here about Donald Trump are only observations, but one thing is clear; The establishment media’s reaction to the Trump candidacy prove he is the front runner. Punditry predictions about how Trump ‘will fade’ keep coming up, but the New York Times and The Atlantic are already treating the New Yorker like the nominee, doing their best to notch him down, starting with a hatchet job on his financial credentials and education history, a commentary written by republican moderates regarding ‘anarchy’ in the House with the resignation of the Speaker, and a ridiculous piece in the Atlantic that asserts American Prosperity until 1980 was the result of Unions and High Taxes, saying if Trump wants to return ‘White America’ to this halcyon time, he must be advocating for Union and High Taxes. What tripe! It was the Atlantic piece that began a flight of fancy on this Walk and Talk about Time Travel. If you could return to any era, would it be as history described it? Which era in history would you most like to return to? (Editor’s Note: My problem is I want to go back to all of them.) If you went back hundreds, or thousands of years, would you even be able to understand what was happening. Would you need time to physically absorb the context of the time, from language, immunity to germs and disease, smells, sounds, even a different blanket of stars in the sky. It is said history is written by the victors. How different is real history from the history we’re taught, the history we read, and the history we experience on a day to day basis in our time? Sponsored by Baklund R&D and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

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Podcast 402

America 2015 Pre Fascism? These days American politics seems to be nothing more than snark, shouts and screams, politicians doing and saying whatever they can to get as much media time as possible, served by a willing media looking for a three ring circus to increase ratings, clicks, favorites and views. Rather than working in politics, people seem to want to be their own movement (of one), or hang out only with those they agree with. Mostly no one does anything. These days a political argument is calling someone a name, or a personal attack. No one wants to hear the details. Frustration, fear and anger rule the day, and rhetoric is king. Need to solve a complex problem? Demand a solution, usually involving more government regulation, all tied up with a red white and blue ribbon with ‘Make America Great’, or ‘Hope and Change’ written on it. All of this is a movement waiting for a leader. A leader that promises to win the argument, fix the problems, make the bad things go away, and make everyone feel better again. The word fascism is so loaded, just saying it in a crowded room in relation to American politics provokes all sorts of angry responses. People almost always think of Germany in the 1930’s and 40’s. We’re taught fascism comes from the right, but the truth is that in Italy, and Germany it was a center right, or center left movement, to the right of socialism, marxism and anarchism but to the left of the established ‘conservative’ governments. When government becomes so powerful it is responsible for everything, it can’t do anything right. Sound familiar? Is America in a Pre Fascist political state? Are the conditions necessary for fascism on the horizon? If so, who or what is responsible and what can be done about it? Do we blame the elite? The government itself? Or people who have grown too dependent on a powerful state, and now they just want it to work. It’s time to talk about politics differently and name the real danger. Sponsored by X Government Cars.

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