Donald Trump, 60 Minutes, this evening:
Scott Pelley: Eleven, 12 million illegal immigrants--
Donald Trump: Or whatever the number is.
Scott Pelley: Still in the country, what do you do?
Donald Trump: If they've done well they're going out and they're coming back in legally. Because you said it----
Scott Pelley: You're rounding them all up?
Donald Trump: We're rounding 'em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they're going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn't sound nice. But not everything is nice.
Dr. Ben Carson, ABC's This Week, Sunday morning:
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told ABC’s This Week that he “would certainly be willing to listen to somebody” argue that the religion of Middle Eastern refugees should be considered probable cause for searches or wiretaps.
What else do I have to add?
UPDATE: For those saying that I'm being irresponsible to go Godwin here, let's be clear about a few things:
Yes, I'm Jewish. Yes, I've seen Shoah, Night and Fog, Schindler's List, a dozen other documentaries on the Holocaust, and read numerous books. Yes, I had an uncle and a couple of other relatives who survived the death camps, and so on and so forth.
Yes, I know how serious and cliche an accusation it is to compare X to Nazis/the Holocaust/Hitler.
Yes, I've even mocked others for lightly comparing various things to Nazis/the Holocaust/Hitler.
OF COURSE it's not the same as long as they haven't actually murdered anyone...although at least one man has had the shit beaten out of him specifically due to Trump's rhetoric.
HOWEVER, there are times when it is appropriate to point out the warning signs.
The Nazis didn't start out massacring people by the millions. They worked their way up (down) to genocide.
These aren't just some schmuck on the street. These are the leading contenders for the Presidential nomination of a major party...and they got there specifically due to their extremist beliefs.
One of them is openly calling for the "rounding up" of 11-12 million human beings to be forcefully shipped away, and openly agrees that Muslims are a "problem" which need to be "gotten rid of".
The other is openly calling for 2-3 million people to be illegally stopped and searched based purely on their religious beliefs.
For that matter, the third top contender is openly (falsely) accusing political opponents of murdering babies in order to sell their brains.
Have any of these three or their followers murdered anyone yet? No. But I could easily see this spiraling out of control at any moment at this point.
UPDATE x2: Huge thanks to boriscleto in the comments for reminding me of this list of the 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism, compiled by A guy named Lawrence Britt after examining the regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and others:
Update x3: thanks to ybruti in the comments for finding this counterpoint to the list, which is also worth a read.
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Right off the top of my head:
#1: The Confederate Flag has become a rallying cry/flag for much of the GOP in recent months.
#2: Gleeful support of waterboarding/other torture techniques at Gitmo/Abu Grhraib/etc.
#3: Homosexuals, Muslims & Mexicans, anyone?
#4: "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran" (and Iraq, of course, and Syria, and everywhere else)
#5: Need I say more? Plus, of course, Planned Parenthood.
#6: FOX News/Rupert Murdoch.
#7: Noun, Verb, 9-11.
#8: Kim Davis, Hobby Lobby, etc etc etc.
#9: Do I even need to respond to this one?
#10: Right to Work, the war on the NEA, etc etc.
#11: Republicans don't simply not believe in science, they actually hate it and mock those who follow quaint ideas like "evidence" and "facts".
#12: #BLM
#13: OK, both parties are guilty of this one, I suppose.
#14: Flipped around, actually: Voter suppression via false claims of "voter fraud".
Again, this is just off the top of my head. No doubt others can write entire essays about each of the 14 points above.