Over the past few months, I have seen increasing numbers of news reports like this one about a man who stabbed an interracial couple after seeing them kiss in a bar.
“He tells them, ‘Yeah, I stabbed them. I’m a white supremacist,’” Lower said. “He begins talking about Donald Trump rallies and attacking people at the Black Lives Matter protest.”
And this one:
Wichita State University student body president Khondoker Usama, a 23-year-old Muslim student from Bangladesh, and a Hispanic friend stopped at a local Kwik Shop late on a Friday in March. In an interview with the Washington Post, Usama says he noticed a white motorcyclist verbally harassing a black man, “calling him a lazy ass, saying, ‘You guys don’t work.’ He was using racial slurs.”
He says when the man took note of Usama and his friend, he began shouting, “Hey, you brown trash, you better go home.” Usama’s friend insisted, “It’s my country. Who the hell are you to tell me, ‘Go home?’”
“He seemed to be looking for a fight,” Usama told the Post. “The man started punching my friend. My friend dodged the first punch. I got in the middle of them—I told my friend to get back in the car. [The man] pushed me and he hit me over.” He began “kicking [my friend] in the stomach, indiscriminately punching him.”
Usama called the cops and the motorcyclist took off, but not before endorsing Trump.
“He was chanting, ‘Trump! Trump! Trump!’” Usama told the Post. “‘Make America great again! You guys are the losers! You guys, we’ll throw you over the wall!’”
And stories like this one.
Tracey Iglehart, a teacher at Rosa Parks elementary school in Berkeley, California, did not expect Donald Trump to show up on the playground.
This was, after all, a school named after a civil rights hero in a progressive California enclave, with a melting pot of white, African American, Latino and Muslim students.
That has not stopped some children from channeling and adopting the Republican presumptive nominee’s xenophobic rhetoric in playground spats and classroom exchanges.
“They said things like ‘you’ll get deported’, ‘you weren’t born here’ and ‘you were born in a Taco Bell’,” said Iglehart, 49. “They may not know exactly what it means, but they know it’s powerful language.”
As Nicholas Kristof recently wrote in the New York Times,
This community of Forest Grove, near the farm where I grew up in western Oregon, has historically been a charming, friendly and welcoming community. But in the middle of a physics class at the high school one day this spring, a group of white students suddenly began jeering at their Latino classmates and chanting: “Build a wall! Build a wall!”
The same white students had earlier chanted “Trump! Trump! Trump!” Soon afterward, a student hung a homemade banner in the school reading, “Build a Wall,” prompting Latinos at area schools to stage a walkout.
Hillary Clinton recently accused Trump’s campaign of taking racism mainstream. Given the daily drumbeat of articles like those referenced above, Trump’s continued rhetoric, and his clear reluctance to distance himself from the white nationalists who enthusiastically support him, it’s hard to argue with that accusation.
Most political observers expect Trump to lose the election, and many expect the margin to be substantial. That’s well and good–but this is a genie that will be very hard to put back in the bottle.
I believe that most Americans–including most Republicans–reject the racism, misogyny and xenophobia that have formed the basis of Trump’s campaign, but the sudden prominance of a politically significant white nationalist movement in the U.S. will challenge us for the foreseeable future.
Americans who have shuddered when considering Le Pen’s National Front in France and similar hard right movements elsewhere in Europe can no longer comfort ourselves with the fiction that we are less susceptible to that particular kind of ugliness.
For that disquieting epiphany, we have Trump to thank.
Prof K writes:
“I believe that most Americans–including most Republicans–reject the racism, misogyny and xenophobia that have formed the basis of Trump’s campaign,…”
BUT the base of the Republican party decided this was their guy. The nominated him.
They LOVE what he stands for. They always have.
Sheila: I can tell you three stories like this from friends of mine here in Indy who have either adopted or biracial children. References to deportation are rampant.
Patmcc has a point. AND the Republican Party leaders included blatantly anti-gay planks in their platform and routinely push policies and legislation that, at their core, are racist and misogynistic. So I’m not sure about “most Republicans” rejecting racism, misogyny and xenophobia. I think some do… I wish more did…
As I read history this is how progress happens in a democracy. By fits and starts. The messenger only brought out the underlying emotions, as did the President. No reason to blame no reason to wish it didn’t happen.
Until the Teamsters endorsed Clinton yesterday I was sure Trump would win.
Now I give her a 3 to 5 point lead. The Teamsters speak for many of the Trump would be supporters.
This is an important time in the United States, more important than the peace/environment movement of the 60’s by far. In my opinion.
Sheila, you write “I believe that most Americans–including most Republicans–reject the racism, misogyny and xenophobia that have formed the basis of Trump’s campaign.”
I don’t. Not any more.
Republicans have been blowing that whistle since Nixon’s “Southern Strategy.” It might have been a dogwhistle then, but it became audible to those with sensitive ears when Reagan announced his candidacy and his support for “State’s Rights” in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
Money Republicans have known for decades that they were buying the votes of Racist Republicans with winks and nods to hatred, from “the Silent Majority” to “Welfare queens in Cadillacs” to Willie Horton and beyond. We’ve all heard it. The only difference is where Reagan substituted Nixon’s dogwhistle for a quiet whistle, Trump replaced the real whistle for a trumpet.
But Republicans don’t get to pretend they haven’t been the party of racism almost half a century now. If they want forgiveness, “I didn’t know” isn’t enough. “I’m sorry and I was wrong” is the only acceptable starting point.
Sheila: “Most political observers expect Trump to lose the election, and many expect the margin to be substantial. That’s well and good–but this is a genie that will be very hard to put back in the bottle.”
Donald Trump is just riding a Tsunami of hatred that’s been built up over 50 years with the help of the Republican establishment in response to the Civil Rights Movement. Don’t be so sure that Trump won’t ride it into the White House.
The Tsunami is much more powerful than you think. You’re just observing the surface. You have to read the multiple levels within the sub-surface to realize the awesome power of the WAVE. It’s much more powerful than anything the Europeans are facing.
It’s the second coming of the Confederacy’s “Lost Cause,” but using a Nazi playbook this time around. The mask of Christianity is now being removed more and more.
The Europeans have experienced it first hand before. They still have some immunity. We have NONE.
Difficult but not impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. Afte all, we now have “Jap and Heinie friends. We have Nigger and Spic and queer friends. Trump is calling the genie and it’s part way out of its bottle again.
It isn’t only Republicans; people are people and racism by any other name smells the same. Republicans are wealthier and stronger. The Democratic party is filled with weak links and are grovelling for money at every turn. Racism is NOT the only issue in this disasterous presidential – and state level – election year. The elderly are in danger of losing what little benefits we have left of what we paid for; our children are being terrified and bullied in schools, those who are employed live in fear of losing their jobs, they also fear being unable to support themselves and their families on current income. Will we have health care or won’t we? Will we stop polluting the air we breathe, the food we eat or won’t we? Will we continue supporting politicians who agree to and give tax breaks to businesses moving jobs out of the country or won’t we? Will Trump release his well-armed minions on us if he wins or won’t he? Will Clinton support our economic and health care issues which we need to survive or won’t she? Does anyone really expect her to go against Bill and work to create a 21st Century Glass-Speagall Act to control the money-gouging banks which he repealed totally in 1999? Trump isn’t the only joker in the deck. He is the one most likely to declare war…on somebody…before or after he cuts the military budget is the question.
I live in fear of both candidates; yes, more so regarding Trump but between Trump and Clinton they cover the gamut of political, civil and human rights issues which control all our lives. The hatred and supported violence from the Trump faction regarding all groups he and his supporters are against has unleashed long covert, somewhat controlled, violence. Clinton, being a dues-paying member of and supported by corporate America controls our economic futures. We must not only decide which candidate, which party to vote for or against but must choose which way we want to be fucked by our government beginning January 1, 2017, at the state level and January 20, 2017, at the federal level.
Either way we stand to lose more than we win with this election results.
“most Republicans”? I fear not. They may not attend Trump rallies, put Trump bumper stickers on their cars, or yard signs up, but that support is there even in people I never thought would go that route. Case in point, a friend I have always known to be a Republican recently posted her reasons for supporting Trump. It was all anger at the political establishment, both sides, for letting in all of those illegal immigrants. In her tale it was like having a bunch of “raccoons” in your house that needed to be removed by an exterminator and you didn’t care who the exterminator was. Trump the exterminator…. that’s it.
My questions are basically simple ones while their answers will not be. How do we rein this xenophobic, bigoted rage in and if we can’t will this be our lot from now on? If we can’t the social cohesion of this country, what there is left of it, will be a terribly sad spectacle to see and experience. As the antiwar demonstrators of the 1960s used to chant, “the whole world is watching, the whole world is watching!”. They already are with both glee and alarm.
We don’t have to worry about Russia or China knocking us off our position at the top of the heap, we’re going to do it all by ourselves. Stupidity on a scale heretofore unimaginable and Donald Trump is only the poster boy for it.
Theresa,
Ditto….that’s it.
The other day, I noted that we are in a post-industrial period. No matter what happens in government, manufacturing jobs won’t be coming back. The reason is that robotics have advanced to the point where they can do the tasks that used to be done by humans on assembly lines.
Coal miners are mad at Democrats because their jobs are going away. Right now that’s because gas is cheaper to find, retrieve, and process, but eventually it will be because we have no more coal available to be mined.
We need to train people for jobs monitoring, diagnosing, and repairing robots. We need to take advantage of the wind that whips the mountaintops and design wind energy systems and train the miners and their children to design and maintain those systems.
There must be thousands of other jobs that will be available in our new economy. Smarter people than I will have to divine those futures and train our children for a different kind of world.
If we fight to go back to a world that no longer exists, we put ourselves at a disadvantage that will be nearly impossible to overcome in the next 50 to 100 years. That’s what we would get with Trump.
This all started with a sociopath and now it’s ending with another one. Should we have expected more? I don’t think so.
I would suggest that we have our version of the “Nuremberg Trials” NOW not later.
Marv; I agree and nominate Judge Ruth Bader-Ginsberg as chief judicial representative on the bench.
Peggy, I so agree with you. Renewable energy sources have shown us that new jobs in new areas are possible. We just have to find the jobs and develop them and train people. I’m angry at legislators in coal states-why are they mistreating their constituents by not finding ways to help instead of telling them “the jobs will be back” with a different President. Why haven’t we looked for ways to help areas of our country that need help? Pandering to rich people with lower tax rates for them have gotten us nowhere.
Studies have shown that people are inherently racist-BUT, if we take the time to know the “others”, the racism goes away. each one of us, in our own way and place, must get past the first thought to the second or third thought and respond to people in the way we want to be responded to. That’s one way to starting getting that genie at least near the bottle.
JoAnn Green writes: “Will Trump release his well-armed minions on us if he wins or won’t he?” That question should be asked whether he wins OR loses. Remember, in their twisted version of the Second Amendment, they have the right (duty?) to rebel against a “tyrannical” government. And now they are already being told that the election is rigged. God help us…
JoAnn Green writes: “Will Trump release his well-armed minions on us if he wins or won’t he?” That question should be asked whether he wins OR loses. Remember, in their twisted version of the Second Amendment, they have the right (duty?) to rebel against a “tyrannical” government. And now they are already being told that the election is rigged. God help us…
Alphons writes:
“Remember, in their twisted version of the Second Amendment, they have the right (duty?) to rebel against a “tyrannical” government. And now they are already being told that the elections is rigged. God help us….”
Do we need more EVIDENCE than this to understand why we must make OUR stand now?
“I skate to where the puck is gonna be, not where it has been”
~Wayne Gretzky, NHL all-time hockey great
Three points I would like to address:
1) I DVR’d (I suppose “DVR” now is a verb) some documentaries week before last. A populist leader rallied voters through a promise to make the country great again. When I later watched the documentary in question, I went back (not “re-wind” on a DVR) to make sure I had caught what was said—in sub-titles, because the original sound was in German. I do not seek to “Nazify” a conversation. Donald Trump’s campaign slogan was his choice.
2) The Donald was a “player,” one may reasonably infer, in the 1960s and 1970s. He now professes a great belief in Jesus, etc. If The Donald was “responsible” about birth control, the question I would ask is moot. Condoms were uncommon in the mid-1970s on college campuses (at least at DePauw). Women took the responsibility (unlike males) and usually were on the pill. My question for The Donald would be: did you ever pay for an abortion? I believe a woman has the right to choose. He thinks a woman who has an abortion should be punished. I wonder how the anti-choice crowd would view him. A major problem with this question and what might ensue is the woman, or women, to whom Trump provided money for abortion would have their lives opened up and they would be vilified.
3) He attended military school, was able to avoid service in Vietnam because something was wrong (or so one report has it) with one of his feet, then made fun of people who went to Vietnam as too stupid to avoid the draft and Vietnam. Now he campaigns on bellicosity as a positive value.
The points are silly. People who are “for” Trump still will vote for him. I’m surprised his campaign people haven’t begun to goose step and wear brown shirts. I, for one, might put a Trump sign in my front yard. When I put a candidate’s sign in my yard (with one exception), the candidate loses.
Alphons; I have said the same thing regarding a Trump loss, I do believe the more rabid of his supporters WILL retaliate…and in spades. No pun intended but the Archie Bunker faction will probably see it that way. We have reached such a ridiculous time in our history that simple terms, innocently used for many years, now have different and often unPC meanings. I’m going to let it stand.
JoAnn,
“Marv; I agree and nominate Judge Ruth Bader-Ginsberg as chief judicial representative on the bench.”
Sorry, but this time, it needs to be a jury trial. Are you available?
I’m the “Chief Prosecutor without a license” of the Jacksonville [Nuremberg] Trial, aka The Recall of the Tea Party Mayor: Lenny Curry.
JoAnn, I did not mean it as a criticism at all. Your statement just gave me the opportunity to voice what I have been thinking for a while. These people scare the hell out of me with their open carry nonsense (except of course at Trump rallies!) I read your comments regularly and almost always agree.
I think that much of this discussion is about symptoms instead of disease.
Trump is merely playing his normal celebrity game offering up what people will stare at. He’s a side show freak and always has been.
The disease is change. Relentless change stirring the pot and changing society in ways that disenfranchises the formerly entitled.
Ignorance prevents many from realizing and accepting what’s inevitable. So they blame.
Two irresistible forces are in play. Demographics and climate change. By themselves each is benign, merely environmental change that cultural evolution should easily allow humanity to adapt to.
What’s malignant is blame.
But blame, as Herr Hitler reminded us not so long ago, is also a powerful tool, especially in chaotic times, to build new power structures.
Many people have already picked who they’d like to blame. People with power agendas like Trump merely fan the flames and hope that the conflagration can be contained. Of course history says it can’t be, Hitler taught us that too, but we’re dealing with unteachable ignorance here.
Contrary to Joann’s belief that the flames are already out of control and devastation is inevitable, I see hopeful adaptation growing too. Another just in time great enlightenment.
Marv; I am available but due to my disabilities I am unable to travel. Could this jury trial be moved to Indianapolis; we ARE one corner of your reputed triangle.
Alphonse; I didn’t take it as criticism, you voiced what I have been saying and should have added to my comments. This election has at times physically nauseated me to the point of being unable to eat. How this country…and it is far too many in this entire country…has allowed our once national fool to rise to his current position is beyond all scope of reason. Sheila and I worked for the progressive Republican administration of Mayor Bill Hudnut; she was once a member of the GOP and I was an Independent voter who did vote for qualified Republicans…YES, there really used to be qualified Republicans. I have three biracial great-grandchildren, one Mexican-American great-granddaughter and a Mexican granddaughter-in-law so I have a personal stake in Trump’s terrorizing campaign. My beautiful, intelligent, teenage biracial great-granddaughter is being targeted personally at school. The boys not targeted so much.
Pete; the symptoms ARE the disease. Lose those rose-colored glasses and please stop trying to play Devil’s advocate. You are losing points.
The following is an excerpt from “You Can’t Do Business with Hitler: What a Nazi Victory would mean to every American,” by Douglas Miller (New York: Little, Brown & Company, 1941) 4-5:
I (Douglas Miller) make these statements on the basis of my long residence in Berlin, my close association with Nazi leaders and their party, a detailed study of National Socialist books, pamphlets, and newspapers from the very BEGINNING of their movement when they were less cautious about discussing ultimate objectives. These convictions I formed slowly under the pressure of OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE.
One and a half years before Hitler assumed power, that is in October 1931, I prepared a report to Washington of how the coming National Socialist State in Germany would operate. This account still stands substantially CORRECT. Several years before the outbreak of the present war I had arrived at the belief that war was coming and that further commercial relations between Germany and the United States would end. Accordingly, on September 1, 1938, I cabled a request to return to the United States, which later was acted upon. In the American press I FORETOLD that war was imminent in the summer of 1939. I believe that this record ENTITLES ME to make public some of my experiences with the Nazis and—after drawing conclusions from them, discussing Nazi aims and methods—TO PROJECT existing Nazi policy INTO THE FUTURE and describe what sort of world we have to live in if (Trump, excuse me) Hitler WINS.
Pete,
“Pete; the symptoms ARE the disease.”
I’m with JoAnn on this one. We’re dealing with more than one malady. JoAnn’s fears are more important RIGHT NOW than the ones you are dealing with.
Marv; I found “The following is an excerpt from “You Can’t Do Business with Hitler: What a Nazi Victory would mean to every American,” by Douglas Miller”…and your personal ending to be of great interest. It brought to mind an issue I have not seen publicized regarding the Abdication of King-Emperor Edward VIII of Great Briton in December 1936 and how different WWII probably would have ended had he maintained his throne. I believe the entire world was fortunate that he “couldn’t rule without the woman he loves at his side”. He married his beloved American socialite, divorcee Wallis Simpson a year later; I have seen old newsreels of them sitting on the front row with German dignitaries at Hitler rallies. Do you believe Germany would/could have won WWII with King-Emperor Edward VIII ruling Great Briton? He and his beloved Wallis were apparently in agreement with Adolph Hitler’s leadership abilities.
He was later appointed Governor of Bermuda, did little governing but much socializing. I have read books connecting them socially with J. Edgar Hoover and the three of them having mutual friendships with Wall Street brokers and underworld and gambling connections. The war seemed to distract attention from these friendships and their “social” activities. Fortunately Wallis had Edward so enthralled he chose to abdicate his throne or we might all be speaking German today.
The Republican party of Hudnut is gone. It left with Goldsmith and Daniels. The individuals that are still in the GOP are closed minded, want to regular our private lives in the name of Jesus and to permit/encourage corporations maximize their profits, even if it hurts the country.
Recently, I’ve begun doing something that very much is against my quiet, bookish nature. When I see something like this sort of race-baiting I step in and call it what it is. It’s only happened twice and both times I’m sure my BP was 210/135, but in both cases it was really the only option. Probably going to get myself killed.
JoAnn,
Very, very astute point. What’s happened over time, is that there has been a concerted effort in the U.S. not to look at the EARLY Nazi path to victory. Almost all our attention has been drawn to the holocaust, the success of the Normandy invasion, and Germany’s ultimate defeat.
How ALL of this came about has been “hushed-up” since WW. II by forces both in the Christian and Jewish communities. There was complicity on both sides. So there has been a long-standing “gentleman’s agreement” between both groups to stay away from a “deep look” into how the Nazi’s were able to take control.
What’s happening now is that all of that is coming back to “bite” us.
Ron,
“Probably going to get myself killed.”
There’s a good chance you’re right. But you’re going to lose in many other ways if you don’t continue to speak up, especially right now. So will many, many others.
JoAnn and Marv. I’m looking for solutions not rehash. Solutions require action, doing. There are no perfect solutions that I’ve ever come across but there are always actions to make progress. Sometimes you take step 1 without knowing exactly what step 2 might turn out to be.
JoAnn lately has preached that we have no options for progress. Not from Trump, not from Clinton, our only options.
My fear of the deer in the headlights approach is that it breeds inaction.
Pete,
“JoAnn lately has preached that we have no options for progress. Not from Trump, not from Clinton, our only options.”
Those are not our only options. I believe you’re putting words into JoAnn’s mouth.
“I am telling you this not to ridicule my allegedly reasonable fellow citizens, but for a very different reason: to show that it is never pointless to think about alternatives that may at the moment seem IMPROBABLE, IMPOSSIBLE, or SIMPLY FANTASTIC.”
“The Art of the Impossible: Politics as Morality in Practice,” by Vaclav Havel (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) p. 34
Off to the big rally at Hemming Plaza!
As an aside, but nevertheless relevant, for those of you and your family members experiencing racist comments such as ‘build that wall’, much of the southwestern and western US was once part of Mexico. Not surprisingly, there were thousands of Mexicans scattered throughout the area. In 1848 when the land was ceded to the US, those inhabitants became US citizens. Their descendents live not only in their ancestral lands, but also all over the US. We cannot assume someone with a Spanish surname is an immigrant or even descended from immigrants, Donald Trump and his lackeys to the contrary. Sooooh, teach this bit of US history to your families, and discuss it often, so your family members can teach it to their taunters, schoolmates, and even their teachers.
Trump will lose the election and his followers will not succeed in destroying the American experiment in democracy. There! I have said it! After Hillary shellacks Trump but good this fall and we have retaken the Senate and cut the Republican margin in the House, a measure of sanity will return (with isolated instances of racism here and there – as we had before Trump made the scene). Trump did not and cannot give an O.K. to antisocial conduct, and if some of his disgruntled supporters try their luck as though he could, have fun in federal prison. The tide of history will not be disrupted by fruitcakes; the majority has a place in all this, too.
Karen Taylor; thank you so much for your timely and astute reminder of “our” American history. I do not celebrate “Columbus Day” nor do I “Remember The Alamo”. I instead wonder at the audacity of those who discovered a land inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people with homes and families and their own religion and not long after claimed as their own, lands owned and inhabited by it’s own people.
We white folks are a nervy bunch. Not enough to steal lands from their rightful owners but also sent missionaries far and wide into other lands to cram “our” religion into them, believing it to be the only religion. Oh my; this belief is now being crammed into native Americans by our elected officials…perhaps saving air fare?
Love to hear about our other options Marv.
I just saw our former governor and the current republican VP candidate on Jake Tapper interpreting what Trump meant by his bragtweet about the senseless killing in Chicago yesterday and justifying it. How can someone that decries Christianity so assertively be so soulless (rhetorical question)? And, similar to Marv and others here, I have been watching the trajectory on fivethirtyeight.com and I am not at all convinced that Trump will lose.
JRS; I have tried in vain to reach formerly rational, logic-minded people who are so sure Hillary is going to “win in a landslide” that spreading that belief around will assure many will not bother to vote, believing their vote is not needed if Hillary is going to “win in a landslide” anyway. They are as unreachable as Trump and his supporters. Like you; I am not at all convinced Trump will lose, I greatly fear the opposite is true.
The Union won the Civil War militarily, but lost the cultural and moral war after wards, when Jim Crow was allowed to assert itself. Large Religious institutions, Corporate power and the oligarchs had no problem with this. Order was the tantamount concern, equality was not. Unions, Civil Rights marches, and the Anti-War movements were challenges to Order.
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s greatest stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice.”
“I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: “Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
From an article I read, The Corporate Liberal in America by Jason Hirthler: – Whether seated in Congress or exiting a voting booth, a corporate liberal is someone who supports anything progressive that does not challenge corporate power. In practice, this means corporate liberals will fight for progressive identity politics. If it has to do with race, sexual orientation, and gender, it generally doesn’t challenge corporate power.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/20/the-corporate-liberal-in-america/
================================================================
This is why the Corporate Liberal or Corporations can support gay rights, woman’s rights and other identity politics, it does not challenge corporate power and preserves the economic Status Quo.
The other side of the coin is opposition to gay rights, woman rights, and identity politics (other than my group) also preserves Corporate Power and the Status Quo.
The Status Quo and the Corporate Oligarchs could allow back in the 1920’s and 30’s in Italy, Germany and Japan aggressive militancy as long as it maintained their seats at the table of control.
Pete,
“Love to hear about our other options Marv.”
We have very little immunity to the TSUNAMI WAVE OF HATRED Trump is surfing. Our only chance is a CRASH PROGRAM to develop an ANTIDOTE of TRUTH that will be powerful enough to make the Republican Party think twice before allowing a sociopath like Donald Trump to become President. We still have time.
Hitler was able to come to power after the devastation of WWI by creating foreign and domestic scapegoats to blame for Germany’s economic strife. Ultimately, Hitler’s real goal of world domination – via a war to achieve it – further devastated the entire European economy and infrastructure.
Harry Truman was a student of history and recognized that economic starvation would invite another dictatorial demagogue to emerge without bold – REALLY bold – action. He asked the Congress for an astronomical amount of money to rebuild Europe and put his reputation and re-election and that of the Congress on the line to pass it. Thanks to his foresight and immense investment of political capital, the Marshall Plan passed and post-war Europe did not see another Hitler or Mussolini or a Communist take-over.
Fast forward to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Anyone who lived through that crisis remembers wondering if each day would be our last before nuclear obliteration.
We’ve learned years later that Castro was begging Kruschev continuously to bomb America first before America bombed Cuba. Thankfully Kruschev thought Castor was unhinged and held his fire. So did John Kennedy even though his generals – like Castro – also wanted to fire first. The only reason any of us are here today to discuss this election is because both Kennedy and Kruschev realized that nuclear war would guarantee the mutually assured destruction of civilization. I don’t even want to imagine how Donald Trump would have reacted in that very nervous period nor in the future when more nations have nuclear weapons and when a complex tangle of international relationships with leaders of various colors and religions can set them off.
Marv, our option is only Clinton and that’s only the beginning.
Pete,
“Marv, our option is only Clinton and that’s only the beginning.”
You mean that’s your option. We have a major difference in political reality. It comes from our difference in the “social construction of reality.” Check out the work of Peter Berger.
We have a significant difference of opinion. It comes from a different political reality.
Bullying, unfortunately, has increased substantially in our school system in Bloomington since spring. We had made sure strides in addressing issues immediately. Teacher friends tell me the Trump supporting parents are doing a real head job on their kids.
Valerie,
Thanks for the information. It’s going to get worse and worse and eventually expand exponentially into an uncontrollable situation unless something is urgently done about it.
I feel the need to embellish on David Honig’s astute observations.
Part of this drip-drip increase in overt expressions of xenophobia and racism over time is due to the reaction of the rest of society and the media. They equivocated (and still do), refusing to say “this is a move towards racism and reactionary politics” and instead saying that this was merely the new “center right”, “conservative” majority and that the other side was just as bad.