In other words, there is no serious leftist threat whatsoever to the interests of the big business community or other dominant institutions either from inside the government or from the streets.

This completely disregards that the MAGA-movement and capitalist movers in the US, like Elon, regard the center as their “leftist threat”. With made-up allegations and through having moved the overton-window so far to the right, now centrist politics can be sold to their followers as the socialist threat the red scare so thoroughly implemented, that even this author cannot resist demonizing it.

Hitler and Mussolini required mass expressions of support, and that always requires coercion.

Trump’s lack of interest in compelling everyone to love him (he seems to enjoy any attention, good or bad) and no subsequent requirement for public displays of North Korea-style adoration of Dear Leader mean there is no need for physical coercion and knocks on the door at 3:00 am to take away a disobedient neighbor.

This disregards the different political systems, Hitler and Mussolini headed systems where they needed an absolute majority behind them while Trump has the electoral college and a multitude of ways to kick people off of voter rolls and make voting harder for those that are against him. As long as he can swing elections that way hand have MAGA-judges declare him the winner, he does not need to be popular.

I never considered how devastating the collapse of the Berlin wall must’ve been to some Americans. /s