Mr. Trump may seem unusual to Americans because the United States did not produce the kind of autocratic populist leaders Europe offered the 20th century, men who built power bases blaming others for their ills: immigrants, Jews, foreigners in general.Really. Huey Long, anyone? Long was a populist who intended to run for president, with the backing of a crypto-Nazi radio priest.
Or how about George Wallace?
Not to mention those who, while not actively seeking the Presidency, were happy to stir that particular pot. (I am aware that Greg Stillson is fictional.)
ReplyDeleteI've been reading about the parallels between Wallace and Trump, don't know what I think about it yet. I keep telling myself over and over about Trump learning PR from Roy Cohn, so we don't really need any more parallels, but I guess we'll just see...
ReplyDelete-Doug in Oakland
William Jennings Bryant?
ReplyDeleteTeddy's split off progressives in the Bull Moose Party?
One guy is in the Wizard of Oz, the other is on Mt Rushmore. Not like they are forgotten.
I remember seeing the bumper stickers in rural KY that read: "Don't Live In Fear, Vote Wallace" and thinking, whatever does the white man have to fear?
ReplyDeleteI used to live a mile down the street from the church of that "crypto-Nazi radio priest," the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan. It's a beautiful building, but it's still a repository of the most regressive elements of the Roman Catholic Church, decades after Father Coughlin left. I thought about its history every time I drove past it and saw the hundreds of crosses in the front lawn as an anti-abortion protest. A more extreme reaction came from my friends who claimed to be psychic. They felt chills every time they drove past the place, even if they didn't know its history. I'm glad I've moved out of that neighborhood.
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