Strongman / weak democracy
Flag-waving nationalism on parade
Flag-waving pro-Saddam demonstrators take to the streets in the days before the devastating US “Shock and Awe” invasion. (left)
As winter afternoon darkness falls, Trump supporters gather for their weekly protest against reality. Insisting that Biden lost the 2020 presidential election and that America is and always was a white Christian nation, they rally round their strongman leader. (right)
Inciting patriotic furvor to rally support for fascisitc rulers is an age-old strategy. In the case of Iraq, the threat of foreign intervention was real; in Trump’s America the danger from “others” was a sly, cynical fantasy.
Makes me feel ill to see that group marching in my home town!