The boy who cried “fascist!”

The outcome of next Tuesday’s election is uncertain. What’s not uncertain, in some circles, is that Donald Trump is a “fascist,” or worse, Hitler himself!

Don’t believe me? Ask his opponent for the presidency, or any of the thousands of pundits who have latched onto the “October surprise” recollections of a disgruntled former cabinet member.

Of course, almost every Republican candidate for president over the last 60 years has been labeled a fascist, racist, or misogynist. Plenty have specifically had comparisons to Hitler drawn by critics.

(Lest there be any doubt, I think Hitler was a real jerk.)

The rostrum includes men now elevated as honorable by the same folks who once demonized them, people like John McCain, George W. Bush and Mitt Romney.

A friend who vigorously opposes Trump argued to me recently that those men were essentially the victims of campaign hyperbole, but Trump is actually a fascist.

But therein lies the problem. When you label literally everyone you disagree with in the most vicious manner imaginable, those words lose their impact. “No really, this time I’m serious,” becomes less than compelling.

To be clear, this is not a one-sided partisan observation. The same could be said for Republicans calling everyone, and everything, they dislike communist.

It’s the classic “boy who cried wolf” dilemma — a political palate so blown out by extreme flavors that it can no longer detect what is actually sour when it comes.

And so when supporters of former President Trump hear Hitler characterizations in The Atlantic, or on MSNBC, they roll their eyes. The charges have become meaningless, or worse, proof of a conspiracy that makes them even more recalcitrant against what they perceive to be a dishonest persecution.

Accuse Trump of threatening his political opponents with legal retribution, and his supporters say, “what do you call the endless prosecution of Trump by the Biden White House and its allies?”

Bring up January 6th as an assault on democracy, and expect an earful about how Vice President Harris became her party’s nominee without winning a single primary state, pushing the rightful nominee — her boss — out.

Throw out the other F-word (fascist), and be reminded that there are people like far-left pundit Keith Olbermann openly pushing for Elon Musk to be arrested and for his businesses to be seized by the government.

It does not matter if the equivalencies drawn in the current environment are fair or false. What matters is the perception that the political field is awash in inflammatory overstatements and hypocrisy.

With just days until a contentious election, I have no expectation that rhetoric will be tamped down by either “side.” But if we ever want normal political discourse again, we need to normalize not turning every politician or political act into a five-alarm fire.

They can’t all be wolves.