Friday, July 22, 2016

Donald Trump and the Nightmare in America



I think I've mentioned this before. I once had a lot of trouble calling Donald Trump a fascist.

I didn't want to diminish the word. Or the suffering of its many victims.

I also knew that he was planning to use Richard Nixon's 1968 law and order speech to the Republican convention as a template for his own.

But the deranged rant he delivered last night, wasn't even warmed up Nixon, it was far worse.



It was pure fascism.

Donald John Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night with an unusually vehement appeal to Americans who feel that their country is spiraling out of control and yearn for a leader who will take aggressive, even extreme, actions to protect them.


With dark imagery and an almost angry tone, Mr. Trump portrayed the United States as a diminished and even humiliated nation, and offered himself as an all-powerful savior who could resurrect the country’s standing in the eyes of both enemies and law-abiding Americans.


For even Nixon leavened his speech by offering up the possibility of hope. But there was no hope in Trump's deranged rant. Just a ghastly attempt to appeal to the worst instincts of Americans.

And try to scare people into voting for that dangerous demagogue 

As Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for Obama, wrote on Twitter, this was Trump’s "Nightmare in America" speech. The address had one goal, and one goal only: to persuade Americans that their country is a dangerous, besieged hellscape, and only Donald Trump can fix it.



The bloated Trumpenstein, who although the situation in America is not as apocalyptic as he would have its people believe, is now posing as the Great Liberator who has come to deliver them from fear.  

"Liberate." The America Trump speaks of requires an occupying force sent by a strongman to free and stabilize cities that have fallen into anarchy. But our cities have not fallen into anarchy. Our borders are not swarming with illegal immigrants. Murder rates remain far below what the America of the '70s, '80s, and '90s experienced. Terrorism is a horror, but successful terrorist attacks are a rarity, and one that would be most straightforwardly addressed through gun control. No liberation is necessary.

While deliberately stoking it, as every would be fascist has always done...



So it can be deployed as a weapon, used to panic the population, bluster or bludgeon their  way to power.

And turn countries into police states...



But at least now there can be no doubt who the real Donald Trump is, or what he might become.

For these are the words of a would be dictator.

"I have a message for all of you: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end," he said. "Beginning on January 20, 2017, safety will be restored."

Or a madman...



So there is no longer any excuse for progressives in that country not to unite to make sure he is stopped.

For he must be stopped.

And hope must trump fear.

Before that dangerous demagogue takes us all down with him...



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9 comments:

jrkrideau said...

I think you are being a bit too kind to call Trump a fascist. That label implies a coherent political/social philosophy. I doubt that Trump capable of that.

He is much more a narcissistic, opportunistic grifter out to make a buck or, in this case, grab a country. I am sure he would be running for the Communist Party USA if they were a better bet to win the election.

Say what you will about Hitler (raving sociopathic, incompetent, etc ..) or Josep Stalin (sociopathic murderer but competent) they had a history of actually campaigning, fighting (and in Joe's case bank robbing) for the case, evil as they turned out.

Trump, instead, has a long history of incompetence, business failures and frauds. No sign of any ideological commitment to anything but the Cult of the Donald.

Marmalade said...

"The chickens have come home to roost".....

Anonymous said...

And... supposing he does win the election then what Simon? Do we have back-up plan?

-MC

Anonymous said...

I was going to avoid Trump's speech for the sake of my blood pressure and state of mind. I suppose it's like a band aid, just need to get over it and rip it off. So I watched :(( It's disturbing that no one in media are reporting on this event with any sense of objectivity. The only "sane" one seems to be Ted Cruz (the Canadian, lol).

Really appreciate your blog right now Simon. Hoping to see some objective reporting, rather than focussing on frivalry like his primmed up family. How do you spell Slavic mail order bride (hint Melania).

Thank you,
TS

Anonymous said...

I am not sure Donald really wanted the Presidency, I think it was more a publicity stunt. I also think his staunch supporters operate out of the misguided belief that they will somehow be rewarded by electing him, although the reverse is likely and they will be left worse off. I can see no upside to him being elected, and I can see disaster for the middle class and poor. Out of 300 million people, there must have been better choices than the two with which Americans are presented. It shows a failure of the education system, a total lack of understanding of Christian values by those professing Christian beliefs, and a shortness of moral integrity. GS

doconnor said...

Millions died under Hitler's Fascism, but that was pretty much the worst case scenario (given the technology of the times).

There are many ways Trump's Fascism could turn out not as bad, but it would still be Fascism. (Of course delaying global warming action could kill millions all on its own.)

Anonymous said...

I found this Republican Convention extra scary and comical. Don the Con was super angry and slow, halting monotone delivery in giving his speech. The whole show comes close to how I imagine Frank Costanza airing his grievances during Festivus. Welcome, new comers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you're gonna hear about it! It would have been funnier if the out come didn’t gamble on our survival as a species. DN

Anonymous said...

To shake his little fist at sky or something.

Steve said...

America is a nightmare, has been since WW2. The stas Quo will not last, so who can best deal with the anarchy?