2024’s October Surprise has landed with two interviews given by former Trump DHS Secretary and Chief Of Staff General John Kelly. The headlines are as memorable as the content:
The Atlantic: Trump: ‘I Need The Kind Of Generals that Hitler Had’ by Jeffrey Goldberg.
NYT: As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like A Dictator by Michael Schmidt.
General Kelly has finally, fully, and forcefully gone on the record with his belief that Trump is a fascist. He said this to the NYT:
“In response to a question about whether he thought Mr. Trump was a fascist, Mr. Kelly first read aloud a definition of fascism that he had found online.
“Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy,” he said.
Mr. Kelly said that definition accurately described Mr. Trump.
“So certainly, in my experience, those are the kinds of things that he thinks would work better in terms of running America,” Mr. Kelly said.
He added: “Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”
Certainly seems to be Kelly’s watchword in describing the certainty of how Trump would govern if returned to office, as a dictator.
The NYT has provided audio of the highlights of Schmidt’s conversation with John Kelly. That makes it more certain that clips will be played on the TV news and all over the internet.
In Goldberg’s article there’s a shocking quote about Trump’s insincere promise to pay for a dead Latina soldier’s funeral:
“Trump became angry. “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!” He turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and issued an order: “Don’t pay it!” Later that day, he was still agitated. “Can you believe it?” he said, according to a witness. “Fucking people, trying to rip me off.”
Khawam, the family attorney, told me she sent the bill to the White House, but no money was ever received by the family from Trump.”
I don’t shock easily when it comes to the sewage that spews out of the Insult Comedian’s big fat bazoo, but this shocked me. He promised to help a grieving family when cameras were present then reneged when the bill came due. Stiffing people is one of Trump’s few talents.
Ironies abound during the Trump era. When the Goldberg story landed, Trump was holding a town hall meeting with Latino voters. I hope this horrific quote will resound to his discredit. Simpler Adrastos: I hope it costs him votes.
I realize that some reading this will observe that it won’t hurt him with his base. I get it but I don’t care about them: They’re lost souls who have pledged their troth to a wannabe dictator in the memorable words of General Mark Milley. I’m hoping it will damage him with Latinos who care about simple human decency, which is a quality the Kaiser of Chaos lacks.
The featured image of German General Erwin Rommel and James Mason was inspired by this passage in Goldberg’s opus:
“In their book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser reported that Trump asked John Kelly, his chief of staff at the time, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump, at various points, had grown frustrated with military officials he deemed disloyal and disobedient. (Throughout the course of his presidency, Trump referred to flag officers as “my generals.”) According to Baker and Glasser, Kelly explained to Trump that German generals “tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off.” This correction did not move Trump to reconsider his view: “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,” the president responded.
This week, I asked Kelly about their exchange. He told me that when Trump raised the subject of “German generals,” Kelly responded by asking, “‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” He went on: “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals? And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.” Kelly told me Trump was not acquainted with Rommel.”
There’s nothing more dangerous than an unstable idiot with power who think he’s a stable genius. Rommel was the most famous and successful German general of World War II. He even had a catchy nickname, which gave the 1951 movie with James Mason its title:
Movies celebrating our victory over the Nazis in World War II were ubiquitous during the 1950’s and ’60’s, which is why I’m surprised that Trump had never heard of Rommel. He may not know much about history, but he knows about movies. The only thing I have in common with the Insult Comedian is a passion for Citizen Kane and Sunset Boulevard.
Trump’s Hitler fixation has always baffled me. Trump supposedly hates losers; Adolf Hitler is one of the BIGGEST LOSERS in history. I don’t expect Trump to revile Hitler’s ideology, but he should revile his status as a BIG LOSER. What is it: The uniforms, the goosestepping troops, the lust for absolute power? I guess it’s simply owning the libs writ large or some such stupid shit.
Repeat after me: Vote against the crook, he’s a fascist to the core.
The last word goes to Sam Cooke: