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It
seems like I have always been interested in politics ever since I was a
teenager and joined the thousands of people my age who were swept up in
the energy of John F. Kennedy’s campaign for President. Watching his
rallies and campaign speeches I first became aware of the need to help
the poor, the disadvantaged and those of color, as well as all
minorities. Throughout numerous political campaigns I reveled at
speeches by Democrats and Republican alike promising to bring Americans
together, to help the poor and homeless, the unemployed and the middle
class. The only disparaging words were directed towards our enemies
which at the time included Communism, Fascism, poverty, drugs and crime.
After the the presidential election the rallies came to an end and the
rhetoric turned to uniting Americans and putting forth policies and
programs to serve the economic and social well being of the American
people. Those who voted both for and against the elected president were
treated equally, for the most part. The opposition party was mentioned
in terms of probably not being able to serve the country as well as the
party in power, but never vilified. Republicans and Democrats were
actually friends, who just happened to disagree upon how best to create
and maintain policies to best benefit the country. Whenever the
president made a public appearance it was to tout the benefits of his
party’s agenda. As thoughts turned to the re-election of the president,
in the latter part of his term, the presidential assemblies turned into
campaign rallies where the president boasted of his perceived
accomplishments, often stretching the truth, but rarely blatantly lying.
How
things have changed! The presidential election of 2016 was probably the
most vicious and disgusting campaign I have ever witnessed, thanks to
Donald Trump. He didn’t rail against the old enemies, Communism, poverty
etc. He railed against his own invented personal enemies! The Press,
immigrants, Muslims, women, the educated and especially Barack Obama
were all the “Enemy”! He constantly spewed forth a tirade of hateful
insults directed at his opponent Hillary Clinton and Obama along with
derogatory denunciations of the press, except for Fox News, which
eventually became the propaganda arm of his campaign and later his
administration. He attacked and belittled his political opponents
throughout his entire campaign to win the Republican nomination. For the
first time in my memory I heard a candidate for the esteemed office of
the President of the United States refer to his opponents with names any
third grader would use to bully his classmates. Names such as Lying
Ted, Crooked Hillary and Little Marco, which belong on an elementary
school playground, came into common usage by this presidential
candidate. At his lowest point he even mocked a physically handicapped
reporter and derided the mother of a Gold Star Mother, solely because
she was a Muslim! He has also attacked women and mocked them because of
their physical appearance.
As
a result of his campaign rallies our fellow Americans and immigrants of
Mexican descent became rapists, drug dealers and criminals. Our Muslim
neighbors all became terrorists. He attacked John McCain, one of
America’s most beloved war heroes because he was captured by the
Vietcong. This was from a 5 time draft dodger, don’t forget! A complete
record of Trump’s attacks during his campaign can be seen on Newsday.
Now
that Trump is president his hateful and divisive rhetoric has not
diminished, on the contrary it has intensified. He has not attempted to
unify the country, but to further divide it along racial, political and
religious lines. He has doubled down on the press and has even incited
violence against them, except for Fox News that is. Five people were
killed in a newspaper office in Maryland and Trump hesitated to mention
or condemn the killings until a national outrage forced him begrudgingly
to address the situation. After the Charlottesville, Va. white
nationalist rally, where a counter-protester was intentionally run over
and killed by a white nationalist and 13 other people were injured in
the violent protests, Trump refused to condemn the violence, instead he
offered tacit support for Neo-Nazis. Addressing his supporters he has
praised Vladimir Putin as a strong leader as well as supporting
Philippine dictator Duterte. By meeting with North Korean strongman Kim
Jong-un he has legitimized the tyrant and he even praised him as being
much loved by his countrymen during some his rallies.
As
the investigation into the Trump-Russia collusion heats up and some of
Trump’s closest campaign advisors have either been indicted or pled
guilty and the investigation is getting closer to Trump and his family,
Trump is moving closer to his base of supporters. He knows that his base
will support him no matter what. He once said “I could stand in the
middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any
voters” and he truly believes it. Whenever things get hot with Mueller,
Trump turns to rallies with his cult like base. He knows he can say
anything he wants to his supporters, even racially charged speeches in
which he can denigrate people of color, especially Black athletes,
journalists and entertainers. He ridicules and blames immigrants for the
imagined sufferings of his supporters and attacks our allies in order
to fire up his supporters. He promises to bring back jobs that will
never return. He promises to return their country to a time basically
when white people were in charge and women and Black people knew their
places. His continued attack on the press has resulted in TV networks
having to provide their journalists with security to prevent possible
physical attacks, as Trump gleefully incites his supporters to chant
vile hateful chants directed at the press. Despite his attacks on the
media the press continues to cover his rallies,even though they produce
no news, only pure unadulterated hate. There is no reason to cover these
rallies other than to aid Trump in the dissemination of racist
propaganda. He does not promise his base a better life, instead he seeks
their help in destroying his enemies, anyone who disagrees with him,
criticizes him or stands in the way of his taking authoritarian control
of the country.
Now
to the purpose of Trump’s rallies. When he is among his racist and
bigoted followers Trump feels safe engulfed in their admiration of the
man who makes their expressions of hate not only possible but normal.
For years these people have been hiding in the shadows and now they can
come to the forefront. Trump knows this and he is using their fervor to
hold onto his position of power and to help him exact his revenge on
Obama. He is using the same tactics as his idols, Putin, Duterte,
Erdogan, Kim Jong-un and the most notorious madman in history, Adolf
Hitler. One may say that it is not fair comparing Trump to Hitler, but
it cannot be denied that Trump is using his rallies in the same way
Hitler fired up his supporters. Hitler’s enemies, as well as Trump’s
enemies are the press. Hitler demonized Jews, the educated elite and
minorities. Trump has replaced the hatred of Jews with his hatred of
Muslims and Mexicans. His rallies offer no hope for a better life for
anyone, but Trump himself and his family. If we Americans don’t wake up
and see the similarities between Trump and any authoritarian regime, we
will find ourselves living under that regime.
