It’s time we stop being polite about what is going on. It’s time we stop sending out the funny memes and making cheap comparisons. It’s time we stop dancing around what is truly, frighteningly, happening in this country.
We can no longer deny that Donald J. Trump is running a fascist, hate-filled campaign based on absolutely nothing but fear and hate. We’ve said these things before. We’ve talked about it among ourselves, at home, with friends. We might have even posted a meme or two. We also thought it wouldn’t last and believed there would be no way he would gather enough support to be elected. We didn’t take into account his playbook, which will be addressed later.
First, let’s look at what we know so far:
A lawsuit was filed against him for attempted rape. When The New York Times ran the story, the Trump campaign contacted the victim in question, Jill Harth, and tried to pressure her into recanting her account of the events and to say that she made it all up. Ms. Harth is standing by the account as described in her lawsuit. He sexually assaulted someone and wants them to shut up about it.
Trump would have no qualms limiting our Freedom of Speech. He has repeatedly stated he would shut down parts of the internet (if that were possible), he sends cease and desist letters to anyone who criticizes him with the truth, just ask Tony Schwartz, the ghost writer of “The Art of the Deal”. This is a man who undoubtedly would crush anyone who would dare to talk about him in the same manner that he has talked about President Obama and countless others.
Freedom of the Press would be history. You just need to look at how he handles publications that run articles viewing him in a less than favorable light. The country would be left with propaganda rags who run only pro-Trump messages.
Muslims who are U.S. citizens could face being deported for no other reason than the sheer fact that people they have no contact with and share no common traits with other than religion are extremists. Trump would kill the families of terrorists even if they were against radicalization. This, by the way, is a war crime.
Trump is a man who admires inhumane dictators. He has openly praised fascist leaders who oppress their people. He admires their power and their strength. In other words, he has no interest in and does not care about people. He cares about power and strength keeping people in line.
He thinks it’s acceptable to put guns in schools. There’s no justifying that.
In an interview with Lesley Stahl, he talked about how he knew his Vice Presidential pick, Mike Pence, voted for the Iraq war. He has used Hillary’s vote for the war against her and repeatedly called it an indication of bad judgement. Ms. Stahl cornered him on that. Trump said Mike Pence was “allowed to make a mistake once in awhile.” Lesley asked, “But Hillary’s not?” Trump answered, “No, she’s not.” Hypocrisy at its finest.
He has made up things as he goes along that have no basis in truth whatsoever. He claimed someone had a moment of silence for the shooter responsible for the deaths of the five Dallas police officers. That never happened. In fact, he makes a lot of claims that have never happened, including that he was against the Iraq war from the start. He makes up stats, i.e., “in fact, the unemployment rate is up near 42%”. And people believe him!
As far as women are concerned, you can sum that up by his comment that it doesn’t matter if he gets bad press as long as he has a beautiful piece of ass next to him.
Trump has never talked about caring for the working people, the poor or the disenfranchised. He takes every issue, every topic, every opportunity to talk about himself. He is beyond the text book example of an egocentric. Nothing is about the American people, it is all about Donald Trump.
Then there are the things we’ve already seen over and over, the “Mexico sends rapists” comment, the mocking of a disabled person, the clip of “I can shoot someone in the street”, the self-congratulations after domestic terrorism, and on and on.
So, why are people following him so blindly? To answer that, let’s look at his playbook:
He made immigration a front-and-center issue and preyed on fear that these immigrants are criminals who are stealing our jobs and worse.
He preyed on the fear of terrorism. He has made it sound as if terrorists are washing up on our shores in the thousands and hiding under our beds when this is not the case.
He takes every opportunity, including domestic terrorism carried out by U.S. Nationals, to say that he was right, only he was correct about radicalization. This isn’t true but that doesn’t matter.
Trump portrays our current leadership as weak and ineffective. He insinuates they have exposed us to international threats. How many times have we heard him say President Obama is weak? How Hillary has exposed us? How unsafe we are?
He talks about being strong, how the world must fear us. He says we must be smart but also says we must be forceful and feared.
He encourages violence. He does not denounce the vile and dangerous comments of his supporters. He is happy when he hears the crowd yell “lock her up”. He did not denounce the comment that Hillary should be shot. He encouraged violence at his rallies.
Now, let’s look at some history:
In every case of a dark mark in history, you will find a common thread: the mix of fear and deeply held beliefs, which lead to a herd mentality. This has been a very successful tool from the Salem Witch Trials to Nazi Germany to the McCarthy hearings. Every dark event in history bears this trait.
You will find in every rise of a dictator a common thread: making people think they are under attack and unsafe while convincing them the current leaders are weak and they, and only they, can keep the people safe.
Common traits among fascist regimes, including Hitler, Mussolini and Franco: the use of patriotic symbols and mottos, identification of the enemy, supremacy of the military, controlling of the media, sexism, intertwining of religion and government, corporate power is protected, an obsession with national security.
From Hermann Goering, a leader of the Nazi Party: “. . . . . it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace makers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
THIS. This is Trump’s playbook. He has literally taken pages from the rise of dictators to the rise of Hitler. This is not a cheap comparison. This is actually what he is doing.
He preys on fear and mixes it with religion, which is why he insists on calling it “radical islam” because it ties it to the religion and not the individual terrorists.
He has successfully convinced people they are under attack from all sides, that President Obama is weak and only he can keep them safe using power and force.
Trump is a man who wants power. He does not care about the citizens in this country. He wants power. He wants control. He wants to be America’s first Dictator.
This cannot not be denied. It cannot be shoved aside any longer and it’s time we stop being polite about it.