Had lunch yesterday with my friend and former student, Paul Eppler. He pointed me in the direction of this piece by Umberto Eco, excerpted from a longer piece titled, Ur-Fascism. By ur-fascism, Eco means a basic template, consisting of fourteen bullet points, hiding behind most forms of fascism. 

For a fun, family activity, count how many of these bullet points correspond to rhetorical elements of Trump's campaign and presidential transition. I count thirteen!

In attempting to 'drain the swamp,' Trump is considering and appointing only swamp-people.

After a nearly sleepless night, and after having to face my children this morning, I have no words of my own to describe what I'm feeling, and besides, others have already said it better than I ever could.

Van Jones: "How do I explain this to my children?"

Ruth Ben-Ghiat: "Today this former nation sent a message to the political establishment - and the nation's nonwhite populations - by electing Donald Trump. Instead of 30 years of leadership, we have a political neophyte who saw a gap in the political marketplace and sold himself as a racist who would avenge eight years of an African-American in the Oval Office. Instead of a former secretary of state, we have a man who knows little about foreign relations. Instead of a commander in chief, we have a man who insults our troops past and present, and a man so impulsive his campaign had to take his phone away from him to stop his destructive tweeting, as though he were a child. 

I feel great sadness and trepidation for America tonight. We are better than this. Our task as citizens will be to let Donald Trump know it, in the strongest possible terms." 

From CNN: "FBI: Review of New Emails Doesn't Change Conclusion on Clinton." 

I wonder if the media will spend as much time and energy trumpeting this headline as they did buzzing about Comey's irresponsible announcement concerning the new emails. Doubtful. The 'nothing to see here' headline isn't nearly as sexy as vague insinuations stoking the fires of distrust.