The tipping point: Charlottesville
Donald Trump’s amended statement about Charlottesville is what is technically known as a “steaming load.”
For him to say “We must love each other and show affection for each other” is an insult to the words “love” and “affection.” This man has trafficked in hatred, resentment, fear-mongering, smears, lies, insults, bullying and sexual predation for his entire life. He has shown as much “love and affection” for others as James A. Fields, Jr. showed to Heather Heyer, a martyr to The Resistance.
His little revision yesterday was disgusting, pitiful and irrelevant. Nobody believes a word of it, except the racists who drool over Fox “News,” and even they are dubious. I am as angry as I’ve ever been in the seven months of his disastrous regime.
Now, onto the immediate future.
I see no reason why we shouldn’t be concerned that Trump has no intention of leaving the White House.
For any reason. At any time. For as long as he lives.
He is a dictator manqué. Is that a hyperbolic thing to say? Am I paranoid, a victim of a libtard’s perfervid imaginings?
Most of us see the authoritarian impulses in him. His admiration for foreign strong men (Putin, Duterte, Erdogan, Assad, Kim Jong-un), his disdain for both the Republican and Democratic parties, and his customary habit of being answerable to no one as a CEO all suggest that this is a man who will brook no quarrels, accept no compromises, see anything from anyone else’s point of view, or tolerate even the existence of those he perceives to be his enemies, which is more and more people and institutions in America.
Were Trump merely a megalomaniac, fantasizing about ruling the world, we could laugh at him and dismiss him, as the world laughed at and dismissed Hitler before he took power. But Trump is President of the United States of America, the most powerful man in the world. Compounding the problem is that millions of his followers love him, do not want him to cease being President, and have suggested that they are willing to take extreme action to prevent him from leaving office against his will.
There was, for instance, that notorious Washington Post poll last week showing that “52 percent of Republicans said they would back a postponement of the next election if Trump called for it.” This didn’t receive the national attention it warranted; in the tsunami of breaking news we’ve become accustomed to, this lacuna is understandable. But think about it. More than half of all Republicans are in favor of suspending or revoking Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the one that mandates presidential elections every four years.
If Republicans are willing to suspend one Article of the Constitution, obviously they’re willing to suspend others, especially the first ten Amendments (Bill of Rights) that guarantee Americans our religious, political, personal, judicial and civil liberties.
This is what dictators do. Not for them a clamorous free press, a noisy political opposition, the inconvenience of street protests. Dictators prefer the quiet efficiency of absolute rule: the Fuhrer, or Caudillo, or Duce, or President issues his edicts, and his underlings carry them out, all the way down the line. Those who object, or stand in the way, are dealt with, often summarily.
No less than Plato pointed out how democracies, in the throes of political chaos, may morph into tyrannies. The Founding Fathers, who certainly read Plato, understood this, and built in a system of protecting the new Republic with a series of safeguards, based on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. So undermining the Constitution is the first step towards fomenting tyranny in America.
It’s ironic that Trump, who never set out to start a national conversation about freedom and the Constitution, nonetheless by his insanity has done exactly that. Charlottesville, I believe, will go down in history with Lexington and Concord as pivot points in America’s long march into the future. Trump’s stupidity was exposed, and the viciousness of his storm troopers revealed. He is a fool and an idiot, an embarrassment for the entire world, the greatest stain on the American flag in the last hundred years, maybe ever. My patience has now worn entirely thin. So should yours. The Republican Party, starting in the Senate, must denounce this illegitimate President and demand his removal. If you’re as upset as I am—and I hope and think you are—then your work is clear: find every Republican you know: mother, father, sister, brother, cousin, in-law, friend, neighbor, co-worker, and tell them, plead with them in the name of God to get rid of this infection before it is too late.
RIght on, Steve. Keep writing. Your clear voice is required in these times.
Thank you Lee Schneider. It’s always nice to know that somebody is appreciating what I write!
Totally agree, Steve. I have never been more scared or embarrassed to be an American. Dictator is indeed the correct word, he will undoubtedly try and find a way to overstay his term should make make it without being impeached.
Dear Emmett Malone, thanks for your comment. I issued this warning because we have to be prepared, mentally and physically, for the day he digs in, when and if it comes. We can’t let him take us by surprise, because if we dither, it might be too late. At the first sign of anything like what you describe, we need to mobilize, in huge numbers, all around the country. Take it to the streets and State houses and to the halls of Congress and let them know we will not tolerate any attack by this awful man on our Constitution.