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"Fascist" and "Nazi" weren't slurs applied to the Italians and Germans by their political or military opponents. That's what they called themselves. This madness will not end until we make the names Trump's regime calls themselves universally acknowledged slurs. daringfireball.net/2026/01/th...

daringfireball.netThe Names They Call Themselves*Fascist* and *Nazi* weren’t slurs that were applied to the Italians and Germans by their political or military opponents. That’s what they called themselves. The job won’t be done, this era of madness will not end, until we make *the names Trump’s regime calls themselves* universally acknowledged slurs.

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MAGA is the one. Trumpist won't cut it because MAGA is bigger than Trump (they're already fighting over a rapidly-approaching post-Trump future.) Republican doesn't cut it either because it's too broad (Abe Lincoln was the OG Republican.) But MAGA - that's specific, clear, and openly treasonous.

That is interesting. I’m thinking, if they were to lose Trump – if he, let’s say, fell down some stairs – they would lose their one idol and they would implode. Wouldn’t they?

I don't think so. The unnerving thing about the last decade is seeing the rock-solid 30% or so that are *clearly* fascists at heart. Until recently, they were properly marginalized. Now that they've coalesced in a self-aware identity they don't need Trump, they just need another Nazi. Any will do.

Like, there was a point where that may have been true, but not anymore. The only way to stop it now is by acknowledging that it is fundamentally hostile to the very concept of the Constitution, this they're the very problem representative democracy exists to solve...

ICE? MAGA. Kennedy the Eugenicist? MAGA. The PayPal Mafia? Turbo MAGA. The FOP? Literally endorsed MAGA. The ~30% of polled Americans who invariably support MAGA? That's MAGA in the flesh.

Great post. I fully agree and endorse the idea of turning the names they use for themselves into the pejorative name for their movement.

America needs to follow the lead of Estonia in escaping Russian oligarchs by creating a modern digital democracy with access to gov services and accountability from our reps with #ElectronicGovernance like this demo: MyVoteGov.org Tim Cook and Apple could lead the way instead of bowing to fascism.

A really excellent post and a very sharp point. But the fact is these guys *are* Nazis and even debating these fine points is beside the point. Interestingly, journalists at the time called them gangsters and thugs to communicate what they actually were. These terms remain apt.

The best mea culpa that Rauch can muster for why he's only seeing this now is, "When the facts change, I change my mind.". The facts were there all along - Trump's just (not surprisingly) having more success with his plan in his second term.

You are right, these labels are superficial and mostly false. ICE is not Gestapo, the Ge stands for geheim (secret). Comparing a whimp like Bovino to "real" Nazi leaders, come on. The USA has many flaws and MAGA is a big one. Use your one labels. Everything else is a diversion.

Overall point is great, but a narrower piece of critique: I'd use a different term than "slur" here. "Slurs" are bigger than political beliefs. To quote a friend, the test of whether something is a slur is whether "I kicked them out because they were being a ___" describes a human rights violation.

And it may seem like a small critique, but consider that on X The Everything App, "cis" is considered a "slur," and there's no world where calling someone a Nazi is the same as calling someone a f*g.

Hirohito's role in Japan's WWII-era authoritarianism was complex and remains highly contested. I think a better example for your purposes might be Tojo, who was executed in 1948 for war crimes.

Not to disagree with your broader points, but "Nazi" was in fact a slur invented by the enemies of Hitler's party. Before Hitler, "Nazi" was a pejorative nickname for "Ignatz" with a connotation like "yokel" or "hick". Hitler's enemies shortened "Nationalsozialistische" to "Nazi" to mock them.

A surprising number of political party names in history originated as slurs that the party eventually adopted. In 18th Century Britain, "Whig" and "Tory" were both like this. In 19th Century France, so were both "Ultra-royalists" and "Doctrinaires."