This old photograph of Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels addressing his deputies makes it seem like something from ancient times — gone with the winds of history, an image from a lost world. The Western nations supposedly learned a severe lesson from Germany in World War II: Never, in the post-war alliance, would a fascist dictator be allowed to build an empire from fear, hatred and lies. Never again would educated people be duped into accepting white superiority as an official position of their government and support something as draconian as mass deportations. Certainly such a phenomenon would not befall the liberal democracy of the United States, with its free press. All of that fascist stuff — propaganda, racism, the building of a war machine, invading neighboring countries and the Holocaust — was just a one-off with Germany in the 20th Century, right?
But, here in the 21st Century, not only does Trump lie — repeatedly and dangerously — but his extended entourage lies, Republicans in Congress lie, right-wing media lie, and now Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook (Meta), has vowed to allow lies as “free expression.” The Z lad announced this week that Facebook (Meta) would stop fact-checking content. It’s a surrender to Trump and right-wing intimidation. (MAGA conservatives believe facts are liberal things.) It opens the door to more vast-scale lies (Trumpian propaganda) and conspiracy theories on the Internet. So, if you thought there was a lot of crap there before, you’ll see even more now. Zuckerberg says there’s been a “cultural shift,” which is clearly projection: He went from arms-length to full embrace of Trump, joining the world’s other wealthiest men in supporting a felon who wants to rule as a dictator. And this time it’s happening in high-definition, in full living color.
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Dan Rodricks 
And here’s a worry I have. Many are saying they’ll leave Facebook now, but it’s one of the most far-reaching, ingrained ways to stay connected with like-minded people now.
So this could contribute to fragmentation when unity is more important now than ever. Sure there are other platforms. Just not the same.
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yesterday’s comments by Trump that he would not rule out using military force to acquire the Panama Canal and Greenland, and that he’d like to annex Canada are pretty Hitlerian.
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Without a basic foundation of facts and commonly held beliefs, wisdom will slowly evaporate. Then will come the Zombie Apocalypse.
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Dan,
Write on with your clear vision. It is the fear that so many of us have. Annex Greenland, Panama Canal Zone and maybe Canada? Gulf of America? Is he pulling progressives legs or is he delusional or crazy and evil in the way of Hitler, Caligula and Nero? Alex
Sent from Outlook http://aka.ms/weboutlook
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He’s nuts.
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You nailed itBuy your brown shirts now before they are all goneDan, the re-run of your column
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Dan, once again you’re a strong voice of reason. It is very possible that Zuckerberg and his billionaire oligarch friends will gladly that the profits while helping Trump ruin all we have as a nation in the next few years.
I recommend a podcast series, Ultra, by Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, that describes how close America came to sliding into neo-Nazi authoritarianism in the leadup to WWII in the 1930’s. The heartening part is that loyal Americans of many stripes worked very hard to beat back that effort. What concerns me are the many parallels I see between then and now. Buckle up!
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