Opening; Welcome to The Torch, shining a blazing light of truth on the
murky waters of modern American politics. Comments are welcome Tweet
me @(at)pderienzo The issues today, What is Fascism and is President
Donal Trump a fascist, a harbinger of fascism or something different
altogether. Out guests this afternoon are distinguished historian at
Columbia University and author, among many books, of “The Anatomy of
Fascism.”What is fascism? By focusing on the concrete: what the fascists did,
rather than what they said, the esteemed historian Robert O. Paxton
answers this question for the first time. From the first violent
uniformed bands beating up “enemies of the state,” through Mussolini’s
rise to power, to Germany’s fascist radicalization in World War II,
Paxton shows clearly why fascists came to power in some countries and
not others, and explores whether fascism could exist outside the
early-twentieth-century European setting in which it emerged.