True Lies: Disinformation and blatant political tampering, pre-dictatorial in texture, have come to define these times. Israel, for many decades among the world’s toughest but fairest countries, has slid into the darkest corner of reactionary thinking. It speaks of decimating the “murderous” Iranian regime while making no mention of its own bloodletting in attempting to create a Greater Israel from Gaza and the West Bank, a Jewish political project dear to Benjamin Netanyahu’s proudly extremist government. In Italy, whose Giorgia Meloni is no more than a charming version of Marine Le Pen, voters are being asked to support a referendum that would give political parties sweeping control over the judiciary, another far-right nirvana. Why all this now? Because the American ruler has set a shiny new example, irony intended, and many wish to strike while the iron is hot. For those who missed the insidious rise of Fascism and Nazism, here’s a latter-day primer.