America’s fascist, collaborationist past Russian meddling in the 2016 election will be a factor in Donald Trump’s trial on his (alleged) attempt to overturn the 2020 election. See, he had good reason to think 2020 might have been rigged (AP): To hear his lawyers tell it, Donald Trump was alarmed by Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, motivated as president to focus on cybersecurity and had a good-faith basis four years later to worry that foreign actors had again meddled in the race. But to federal prosecutors, 2016 is significant as the year that Trump spread misinformation about voter fraud and proved himself resistant to accepting the outcome of elections that might not go his way. But for now forget about the former Liar-in-Chief’s motivations and focus on Russia’s (in a moment). “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man. Rachel Maddow’s “Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism” expands on her podcast‘s tale of U.S. government officials’ collusion with the Nazis and the largest sedition trial in U.S. history. “Prequel” gives readers more background on the Americans who exposed the plot. The Nazis’ well, well funded propaganda effort to keep the U.S. sidelined while Hitler marched across Europe began six years before der Führer invaded Poland. Hitler was playing a long game. To win it, he knew he had to keep Americans out of the fight. He stoked American fascism, antisemitism, isolationism,…