This Presidential campaign has been like turning over a rock and seeing the cockroaches scamper out. I really didn’t think it could get any worse.
And I never, ever expected to agree with Charles Krauthammer about, well, anything. But even he was appropriately appalled by Trump’s “lock her up” descent into banana Republicanism–and the hypocrisy of denouncing him only when the “groping” tape emerged.
His views on women have been on open display for years. And he’d offered a dazzling array of other reasons for disqualification: habitual mendacity, pathological narcissism, profound ignorance and an astonishing dearth of basic human empathy.
All true. But everything we already know about the Orange One really does pale before his “unshackled” version, which is unabashedly embracing every white supremacist fever dream and unhinged conspiracy theory floating around the sewer of the “alt-right.”
Donald Trump has indulged in conspiracy theories about President Obama’s birthplace, the FBI’s “rigged” probe of Hillary Clinton, the Federal Reserve’s “political” agenda and whether Ted Cruz’s father was linked to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
With his presidential campaign in full-blown crisis on Thursday, Trump was at it again, putting a new spin on a familiar tactic.
This time, there was a bigger, badder villain — “a global power structure” of corporate interests, the media and Clinton engaging in subterfuge.
As I read reports of his bizarre speech to a rally in West Palm Beach, I remembered a friend’s wry comment from our days in the Hudnut Administration. A neighborhood group had accused the administration of a conspiracy of some sort; after noting that we really weren’t capable of pulling off sophisticated plots, he remarked that simple incompetence explains so much more than complicated conspiracies.
Unless, of course, you are a bat-shit insane megalomaniac absolutely incapable of accepting responsibility for your own behavior.
“For those who control the levers of power in Washington, and for the global special interests, they partner with these people that don’t have your good in mind. Our campaign represents a true existential threat like they haven’t seen before,” Trump said…
A day earlier, Trump appeared to allege, without evidence, that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and other GOP elected officials who distanced themselves from him were involved in a mass scheme to undermine him.
“There’s a whole deal going on — we’re going to figure it out. I always figure things out. But there’s a whole sinister deal going on,” he said.
Trump charged that Clinton “meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special-interest friends and her donors.” As Martin Longman put it, at Washington Monthly,
Yesterday, he might as well have put the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in his teleprompter for all the subtlety he used in going after the media and international bankers. He will be the new Father Coughlin and he’ll make plenty of money.
“International bankers” thus joins the racism of Trump’s “birtherism,” the xenophobia of his rancid anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and his “Alpha male” misogyny. His anti-Semitism–previously a bit more subtle–has now become more overt.
Donald Trump’s supporters in the white nationalist movement have found who is to blame for the tape in which the Republican nominee brags about sexually assaulting women: “The Jews.” Trump’s racist supporters are claiming that Republican consultant Dan Senor leaked the tape, and are responding with anti-Semitic attacks.
Members of the “alt-right” and white nationalist movement have been heavily supporting Trump’s campaign, and the candidate and his team have been courting members of the movement, including by appearing in white nationalist media, refusing to denounce them, and retweeting their messages.
The Daily Stormer is a virulently anti-Semitic website that celebrates Nazism, purports to document the “Jewish Problem,” and attacks “kikes.” Editor Andrew Anglin wrote an October 11 post claiming that “we knew whoever leaked the tape was a Jew. And a #NeverTrump Jew advisor to Paul Ryan is currently being pointed at as being responsible. Dan Senor.” He called Senor “a #NeverTrump kike” and concluded:
If we lose this election, it is going to be because of this pussy-grabbing tape. And having it be known that it was a Jew is extremely important. One of the GOP’s Jews being responsible makes it all the better.
Because if we lose, this country is going to enter a new age of anti-Semitism.
The 35% or so of the country that is hardcore pro-Trump is going to know that it wasn’t “liberals” that defeated Trump, but traitors within the party who abandoned him. And they are going to want to know why that happened.
And there is only one answer:
The Jews did it.
Yes, we Jews–in league with the Clintons, the banks, the Republican establishment, the media, the Kenyan Muslim in the White House (and probably the aliens who landed at Roswell)….all of whom are expertly and covertly co-ordinating a conspiracy to destroy America by defeating Donald Trump.
We do not have enough mental health professionals in this country.
Thank you for writing about this.
I like the reference to the aliens. I guess one of his minions has been checking out Area 51 to see what is stirring. But don’t forget the Illuminati.
We have all known from the first day that Obama took office that these ugly ideas and forces were a part of our population. Under the cover of restrained contempt many of our neighbors, and even family members, seethed and waited for a time when some leader would step forward and they could “take their country back again”. Enter Donald Trump. The rock has been kicked over. The cockroaches are scurrying about out in the open. We can now see them. We are able to know who they are. Eventually, they will realize that their true selves have been exposed and that their hatreds and intolerances, their bigotry and misogyny have isolated them for the majority. I do not expect them to change and crawl back under the rock because of such exposure, but at least we all know who they are. And that is a good thing to know even if it breaks our hearts.
Anyone who watched Trump’s speech yesterday and did not see the rampant paranoia, is either blind, deaf or brain dead. His carefully veiled threats against President Obama “possibly” becoming the recipient of the same sexual abuse accusations he is facing needs to be investigated thoroughly. Rachel Maddow was right in her recommendation that the Democratic party relax a bit and let him hang himself; run with his balls in his tiny hands in my words.
At 5:20 this morning I pulled my Indianapolis Star out of the plastic sleeve to find this incredible, unbelievable, irrational, idiotic headline: “Pence to crowd: Ignore ‘whatever is in the news’ This is a typical Republican paraphrased version of a famous line from the movie, “The Wizard Of Oz”…”…pay no attention to that man behind the curtain…” Pence is out fighting for Trump’s heavily tarnished reputation, trying to cover the many “blots on his escutchson”, yelling “liar, liar, pants on fire” at the opposition while Indiana is losing another business to Mexico. Rexnard Corp. will be closing, putting 295 employees out of work and the transfer is to be completed by next June. Mike Pence is sitting governor in Indiana; his replacement choice Holcomb is currently 12 points down from John Gregg, our virtual “ghost Democratic candidate” in Indiana. Well; let Pence play out enough rope to hang himself along with Trump, this state will see improvement when John Gregg takes over the governor’s chair. I say again; my “Pence Must Go” yard sign stands proudly in my front yard and will remain there until he is “Gone With The Wind” of Trump’s endless speeches of innocence and having many plans.
Actually; if Pence were not governor of my home state, and I were not aware of his racism and bigotry…I might begin to feel sorry for the precarious position he has put himself in by accepting Trump’s invitation to run with him. Wouldn’t you love to be fly on the wall during Pence’s private times; and more so a fly on the wall of Trump’s home ground and behind the scenes at campaign headquarters in all 50 states?
I am reasonably confident that people who create their own version of reality do not usually show up for treatment. Not until that strategy for dealing with their own pain by projecting it on other people or groups fails. That is when things really fall apart for them. That is when they are most likely to become a much bigger danger to themselves or others.
“From all this we may learn there are two races of men in this world, but only these two—the ‘race’ of the decent man and the ‘race’ of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society.” Victor Frankl ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’
Anthony; thank you for your reminder of this quote by Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”. I remember reading it long ago but had forgotten it.
I have referred to Alan Watt’s statement in one of his books about the same time; “Man is going to computerize himself out of existence.” This is part of the jobless problem today; along with the exodus of so many businesses to foreign countries. Owners and CEOs continue to get richer while paying less for labor and we pay the same or more for their products. They comprise many of those “cockroaches running from under their rocks” Sheila referred to today. Not all of them are politicians…but many of them do own politicians she referred to.
Why don’t we simplify the problem?
I don’t agree with the Reverend Jerry Fallwell who said that the anti-Christ when he comes must be a Jew. Jewish folklore has something comparable in the Golem who is sort of a monster figure. I’m positive that whether you’re into the anti-Christ or the Golem that the “monster” is here right now in the form of that groteque figure: Donald Trump the Republican Party nominee for the President of the United States of America.
Is there anyone who disagrees?
Keep FALWELL with two L’s. I like it better that way.
Marv, the monster is not just Donald Trump. The monster is what he has unleashed.
And this is in spite of the fact that his son-in-law is Jewish, and I believe I read that his precious Ivanka had converted to Judaism.
Let’s see if the Donald can play HARDBALL. I don’t think so. He’s already falling apart. He reminds me of Humpty Dumpty.
Theresa,
You’re right. But first, you have to neutralize him. That can be the first step in tackling the bigger monster which is going to be very difficult to do at this stage of the game. But, I believe it is still DOABLE.
The exposure of the alt-right to mainstream America may turn out to be the second most historically significant thing about this election. The first, of course, may be America catching up to the third world and electing a woman to the Presidency.
Exposing the alt-right will finally determine who we are as a people. If enough of the 40% of Americans who support Trump regardless of what he does will look deeply enough at what they have agreed with to become as appalled as the rest of us, we may look forward to a bright future. If November 8th (or is it the 28th as Donald maintained) turns into a landslide, that might just happen. If it’s close, it will be a difficult four years.
Marv,
Hopefully, the neutering will take place on November 8th. As for the rest of the monster we will all have to step up and do our part. That means that we continually speak up against the ideology of the far right. Know the facts. Screw up the courage and be willing to stand against all that the crazies throw at you… even the hatred. This horror in our society will not just go away. It will only be eradicated if good people speak the truth to it at every opportunity and insist that our leaders do the same.
Peggy,
That’s the end game. It’s possible. Anti-Semitism is at all time highs right now in America. That’s nothing new to the Jewish experience. Using anti-Semitism as a strategy and tactic for political control is entirely another thing.
Anti-Semitism as a strategy and tactic worked “beautifully” in Nazi Germany. The Jewish community was less than 1%. There were few people of color. They were all treated just like Jews.
America is much different. The minority community now, I believe, constitutes over 40% of the population. Does the IDIOT propose that all the other minorities are going to turn on the Jews while he is sitting in the White House? And what advantage would they have in doing so? They aren’t nuts. There is no doubt he is.
I have been blogging lately that Trump needs to spend the next four years or more in some quiet secluded sanitarium rather than in the Oval Office, and I think his recent performances on the stump validate that opinion. He is clearly a sick man who is appealing to the lowest denominator of his base’s instincts to explain his coming defeat. Though born on third base, he is running backwards to home plate, as in Narcissus, move over. There is only room for one of us at this pool. He is now in rule or ruin mode with no sense of what collateral damage he is doing to America and indeed the world in playing out his psychotic game. Come November 8, it is our job to drain the pool and do him the favor of exchanging his visage there for the couch.
A week or so after Donald Trump announced he was going to run, I purchased the URL….TrumpCard.video.
I decided to go in another direction, so I didn’t renew the URL.
Nevertheless, I believe it’s time for me to play my TRUMP CARD. We need the “landslide” that Peggy has suggested. Better late than never.
This is what I don’t understand: Trump’s kids are no prize themselves, but they have to be concerned that Dad’s crazy is going to destroy everything. Why aren’t they doing anything? I can’t imagine that it would be that difficult at this point to seek a medical guardianship; the man is clearly insane, and the whole world has seen it.
Ginny F,
“….but they have to be concerned that Dad’s crazy is going to destroy everything.”
Don’t forget the family has a friend in Vladimir Putin. With their money, there is always a place to emigrate.
George Bush and the Republican Party played the anti-Semitic card in 1991. See http://www.TheAlarmReport.info. It backfired and cost Bush his re-election.
Now Trump/Pence is playing the same card again after 25 years. You would think after “fucking up” the first time, the Republican Party could at least be a little more creative this time.
I have just heard a Trump surrogate on TV who said that she is tired of all this sex talk of the past week and wants to “move on” with “the issues.” I have two observations to make in this connection. First, if Trump wants to talk about the real issues, it will be the first time (and obviously designed to beat the sex heat). His campaigns both primary and general have not been about the real issues faced by America and Americans; they have been putdown and insult almost exclusively with the result that we do not know his stands on, for instance, wage and wealth inequality. He has been too busy articulating attacks on “Crooked Hillary,” the media et al. to pay attention to a vision of the future of America and Americans, which is where we will be living long after leaked emails and sexual conquests are relegated to the dustbins of history.
My second observation is that his predatory nature and hatred has become an “issue” in and of itself since they are likely to spill over into matters of state among such of the demented he represents in real time. How he treats (or mistreats) women, for instance, would find an equal pay statute subjected to his veto given his obvious hatred of women. Likewise his hatred of Mexicans would show up not only in “building a wall” but also in ending or drastically amending NAFTA (all without reference to the third member of NAFTA, Canada), and without any specifics on just how he proposes to avoid destroying the thousands of contracts between American multinational corporations and those of Mexico and Canada which are based upon sections of this trade treaty. So yes, his personal conduct (or misconduct) while not an issue in general becomes one when it is that of a candidate for president of the United States of America, especially when there is strong evidence that such candidate has a screw loose north of the neck.
Fight or flight are instinctual reactions to perceived threats that overrule cognitive action.
Democracy requires informed cognitive action based on perceived opportunities for better. We are always hiring to staff future government.
Facism replacing democracy requires the movement of culture from focusing on the opportunity for better to the perception of threat.
Nobody should be surprised that fascist politics work. We have had proof of that for decades.
We should be dismayed though that we waited until the Tea Party led to Donald Trump to accept the threat that it is to democracy.
Here’s a short pod cast (sorry JoAnn) that I believe accurately and honestly reveals the trajectory of descent of good decent Americans into Facism.
http://www.npr.org/2016/10/15/498056601/long-island-woman-feels-a-trump-presidency-will-rescue-america-from-its-elites?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2041
To understand better the threat of an anti-Semitic move by Trump/Pence the following might be helpful:
“The Jewish posture in the face of destruction [of European Jewry] was not shaped on the spur of the moment. The Jews of Europe had been confronted by force many times in their history, and during these encounters they had evolved a set of reactions that were to remain remarkably constant over the centuries.
This pattern may be portrayed by the following diagram. [diagram omitted, but the headings are: Resistance, Alleviation, Evasion, Paralysis, and Compliance]
PREVENTIVE attack, armed resistance, and revenge were almost completely absent in Jewish exile history [this includes the U.S.]. The last, and only, major revolt took place in the Roman Empire at the beginning of the second century, when the Jews were still living in compact settlements in the eastern Mediterranean region and when they were still envisaging an independent Judea. During the Middle Ages the Jewish communities no longer contemplated battle. The medieval Jewish poets did not celebrate the martial arts. The Jews of Europe were placing themselves under the protection of constituted authority. This reliance was legal, physical, and psychological.
For the Diaspora Jews, acts of armed opposition had become isolated and episodic. Force was not to be a Jewish strategy again until Jewish life was reconstituted in a Jewish State. During the catastrophe of 1933-45 the instances of opposition were small and few. Above all, they were, whenever and wherever they occurred, actions of the last (never first) resort.
On the other hand, alleviation attempts were typical and instantaneous responses by the Jewish community. Under the heading of alleviation are included petitions, protection payments, ransom arrangements, anticipatory compliance, relief, rescue, salvage, reconstruction–in short, all those activities designed to avert danger or, in the event that force has already been used, to diminish its effects.”
“The Destruction of the European Jews” by Raul Hilberg (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985)pp. 19-20. An earlier edition was published in the 60’s. For many years Hilberg’s work was forbidden in most Jewish libraries. Eventually, this book was recognized as the most accurate by even the staff of the Holocaust Museum in Washington.
Fortunately, I was privileged to have had a very long discussion with Professor Hilberg in the early 90’s.
The reason why I have posted the above is that I am very aware that once the anti-Semitism becomes what is called “physical,” or out in the open and not just in the minds of men, it is UNSTOPPABLE until it runs its disastrous course. There have been no exceptions. Like in Nazi Germany, everyone eventually loses.
Raul Hilberg was a Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. He died in 2007.
Silly me, I thought when Trump started getting classified briefings that his tone and content would improve a little. They don’t seem to have made a dent at all, but then he doesn’t listen or take in new information, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. In the meantime, it has become clear that he has all the characteristics of an abuser, including threatening violence to try to maintain a semblance of control.
Maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on the Republicans who have stayed with him so long. It’s hard to leave an abusive, manipulative husband. Or maybe they are a little off themselves, like Woody Allen’s joke from Annie Hall: “…a guy walks into a psychiatrist’s office and says, hey doc, my brother’s crazy! He thinks he’s a chicken. Then the doc says, why don’t you turn him in? Then the guy says, I would but I need the eggs.”
Trump is no more or less than he’s always been, a legend in his own mind. What would ever motivate someone in that position to ever learn or improve in any way.
He deserved nothing but got everything why change.
Let us not forget that the republican primary was conducted in a democratic manner whereas the democratic primary was heavily weighted in favor of Clinton. The populace is not content with business as usual in DC. I am afraid if HRC or when she is elected the vested interests will move in a protective mode Instead of a manner that would favor the electorate or common good. Robert Reich compared the election to a fast train to different places. I think Clinton is a slower train to the same fascist place that Trump is going. Unless she actually manifests her party platform we’re going to hell in a hand basket
Gail. I wish we could sit and drink coffee. Could you talk about the Dem platform? This is a rich discussion by everyone. You know, when Clinton got the nomination, it was a big relief but since then we are still missing Bernie. And I worry about the Clintons’ safety.