Right-wing fascism, left-wing fascism

Chicago rally cancelled

Beyond Chron's Randy Shaw thinks anti-Trump "activists" forcing the cancellation of his Chicago rally was a Good Thing (Activists must protest Trump):

...What most critics have missed is how activists are using these protests to redefine the entire election. They are saying that this is not just another presidential campaign, but rather that Trump has raised the stakes to a new level. In so doing these young activists have demonstrated a deeper understanding of why Donald Trump must be stopped at all costs, a reality the traditional media has been slow to grasp...If you think activists are being too disruptive now, wait until a President Trump issues a deportation order for 12 million. The United States would see a reprise of the Civil War. Activists have called out Trump for what he really stands for. And if many see disrupting Trump events as the best way to highlight the social upheaval his election would trigger across America, they should not be condemned for offering this preview.

Right-wing fascism should be fought with left-wing fascism? Jonathan Chait explains why this is a bad idea:

...Donald Trump may or may not have been forthright about citing safety fears in canceling his speech in Chicago, and disrupting the speech may or may not have been the protesters’ goal. But it is clear that protesters view the cancellation of the speech as a victory, breaking out in cheers of “We stopped Trump!”

Preventing speakers one finds offensive from delivering public remarks is commonplace on campuses. Indeed, more than 300 faculty members at the University of Illinois at Chicago signed a letter asking the university administration not to allow Trump to speak...

But the whole premise of democracy is that rules need to be applied in every case without regard to the merit of the underlying cause to which it is attached. If you defend the morality of a tactic against Trump, then you should be prepared to defend its morality against any candidate. Now imagine that right-wing protesters had set out to disrupt Barack Obama’s speeches in 2008. If you’re not okay with that scenario, you should not be okay with protesters doing it to Trump...