I found it incomprehensible that people could vote for Donald Trump in 2016.
However, although subsequent research found a very high correlation between “racial anxiety” (i.e., bigotry) and a vote for Trump, I did recognize that not every Trump voter was a racist; lifelong Republicans voted their party, people who hated Hillary Clinton held their noses and pulled the Trump lever, and there were some voters who wanted to “shake things up” and assumed that, if elected, Trump would “pivot” into something vaguely resembling a President.
Two years later, we owe him a debt of gratitude for clarifying who he is, and making it impossible to miss what is at stake in Tuesday’s election.
As the midterm election has neared, Trump has ramped up his White Nationalist street “cred.” No American who is remotely honest–or sentient, for that matter–can miss the message: a vote for any Republican is a vote for Donald Trump’s relentless war on blacks, Jews, gays, Muslims and any and all brown people who may be among those “huddled masses yearning to breath free.”
Trump’s racism has always been obvious, from his early refusal to rent apartments to blacks, to his vendetta against the (innocent) boys accused of raping a Central Park jogger, to his shameful birtherism and his insistence that “many fine people” are self-proclaimed Nazis. He has made unremitting attacks on Muslims. In the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, a number of news outlets have published lists of his anti-Semitic remarks and tweets.
In the last month, his horrific, untrue characterizations of the desperate people in the caravan fleeing Honduras, his despicable “Willie Horton” ad, and his ignorant attacks on the 14th Amendment’s grant of birthright citizenship have all been transparent efforts to remind American bigots that he is on their side, and to mobilize them to vote Republican.
A couple of days ago, the New York Daily News reported on a speech by former KKK member Derek Black.
“The government itself is carrying through a lot of the beliefs (white nationalist groups) have and a lot of the goals — things like limiting immigration, and as of today, the goal of ending birthright citizenship. That has been a goal of white nationalists for decades, like explicit: this is what they want to do,” Black told The News.
“They have a person in the White House that is advocating the exact white nationalist goal that is one of the cornerstones of their belief system,” he added.
Black said he has firsthand knowledge of leaders within the white nationalist movement who are convinced the country’s commander-in-chief is going to fulfill all their wishes.
“They’re very open within their groups that it is better if they do not advocate this openly,” he said, “because it might actually hurt some of the efforts in the federal government itself.”
Black said Trump — who last week proudly identified as a “nationalist” at a rally for Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — is bolstering the confidence of white supremacist groups whether he realizes it or not.
He realizes it. And so do those who agree with him.
It’s no longer possible for Trump supporters to claim they don’t see his bigotry, or to pretend that their votes for what the GOP has become are based on anything other than their rejection of civic equality for people whose skin is a different color, or people who love or worship differently.
On Tuesday, we will find out just how many of our fellow Americans endorse Trump’s enthusiastic public attacks on everything America stands for.
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First a question: why the advertisements, including the blank spaces?
“No American who is remotely honest–or sentient, for that matter–can miss the message: a vote for any Republican is a vote for Donald Trump’s relentless war on blacks, Jews, gays, Muslims and any and all brown people who may be among those “huddled masses yearning to breath free.”
Trump is running the entire republican mid-term election campaign on scare tactics regarding immigrants, all immigrants in general and the Honduran “caravan” he claims is coming for us. On Thursday he said the military will have orders to shoot if Hondurans throw rocks; he considers throwing rocks to be rifles. On Friday he said that Hondurans throwing rocks would be arrested and DENIED he said the military could shoot them. Obviously we need an army trained and led by Ernest T. Bass…fans of the “Andy Griffith” show will be familiar with Ernest T. Has there been any rock throwing by those stopped at our southern border; have there even been threats of throwing rocks?
The Republicans are concentrating on our admitted illegal immigration problem while the Democratic party seems to be ignoring it. That it IS a problem is not in doubt; but the problem had been virtually ignored by generations of both Republican and Democratic administrations, as has racism in general and anti-Semitism, allowing all to escalate to levels which seem insurmountable at this time. Other than Trump’s solution of building a wall and sending our military to assist border guards and ICE agents; still nothing is being done.
Trump’s racism has always been known; his campaign rallies were successful in rounding up racists from the general population and according to Southern Poverty Law Center their organized groups have increased at an alarming rate. They make up a high percentage of Trump voters – all Republican candidates in this mid-term election are garnering votes for Trump. Those Sheila mentioned who BELIEVE they are voting for the Republican party are those Biblical sheep being led by the Judas goat but we will ALL be herded into the slaughtering pen if they continue and increase their control of this government.
“On Tuesday, we will find out just how many of our fellow Americans endorse Trump’s enthusiastic public attacks on everything America stands for.”
Tuesday still seems to be in the distant future; the salvation of this country depends on the outcome, which can or will be a new beginning…or if Republicans maintain their stranglehold it can or will be the beginning of the end. Will it result in violence and blood in our streets either way?
VOTE BLUE!
Jo–and others who saw it–the advertisement was inadvertent, and has been removed. (Evidently, it “migrated” with the quoted material.)
So the Nazis support him because they think (know) that he will push their priorities, just as the evangelicals support him because they (think) know he will do his best to overturn Roe v. Wade. It doesn’t say much for a politician when much of your support comes from a-moral people.
What will Wednesday look like in this our United States?
We live in a society of addictions, addictions to drugs, guns, violence, power, consumerism, racism, and the kind of fear that brings excitement to dull and mundane lives. Will we be reassured that the ideas and ideals of democracy have been reaffirmed by the majority? Or will we find ourselves struggling on in a country unwilling to face the difficult road to recovery?
Many of those trump supporters attend church every Sunday and proudly gossip about their neighbors who are bleeding heart Democrats. They actually believe that they are Christians – even though they are disobeying what Jesus said. The complete ignorance is blinding.
Down here in FLA, we have a Republican candidate for governor who claims to be a Reagan Republican. He is in favor of the good old unworkable “trickle down theory,” but where Reagan used dog whistles, Ron DeSantis is much more blatantly racist. I never thought I’d see the day when I preferred dog whistles over anything. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.
VOTE BLUE!
Peggy, I am also “down here in FLA,” and live in the hometown of the Republican candidate for the Senate, one Rick Scott, who should have spent the last eight years in prison for his fraud of the Medicare system (where he was CEO of an HMO that was fined a then record of 1.7 billion for its theft of taxpayer monies – he bailed out shortly before the axe fell and used his proceeds to buy the Florida governorship – twice – and now has the brazen effrontery to “run on his record” for the Senate, being term-limited. His “record” should be that described by a rap sheet, but like the big banks during the Bush mortgage fraud era, the companies paid the fines and their thieving executives walked – something about “too big to fail.”
I find the “too big to fail” idea abhorrent because it suggests that all one has to do is to get big and thus escape criminal liability (equal protection?). The good news this morning is that ex-GOP Senator John Warner has advised Republicans to vote Democratic Tuesday because “this goes beyond politics.” He’s right; it may be existential. Let’s tell our Republican friends (if any) what Warner has decided before Tuesday in the hope that they will add to the hoped for wave.
Here is a recent interview of Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s former campaign manager. He summarizes in carefully chosen words what we’ve all been saying, knowing and feeling about the horror show in the Oval Office. The Mueller investigation can’t come soon enough. Maybe there will be enough smoking guns to run this evil bastard out of office.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwxQYQB1zD0
Vern – I think the headlines after the first of the year are more likely to be about House Committees who, armed with subpoena powers, are going to give us an in-depth investigation of what it should already have done but for the likes of Nunes and threats from the demented one to fire Mueller etc. This assumes, of course, that we will have a Democratic House come Tuesday, which appears likely. It will be refreshing to have judges and juries who are not biased in favor of lying and money laundering prospective defendants, and not being limited by AG portfolio like Mueller, I think we can expect to see sworn testimony in many areas Mueller cannot investigate – far beyond his limited Russian mandate.
Gerald,
Yes, I agree about the House activities starting in January. I don’t think the Senate will turn blue, BUT if enough smoking guns are revealed by House investigations and Mueller’s outcomes, maybe the Republicans in the Senate will be compelled to convict in sufficient numbers. After all treason is still treason.
Trump finally got his military parade but it will be at the southern border. Now, the last I checked, the refugees are fleeing from countries we destabilized and we are sending our military to stop them from entering our country. Will there be lawyers or judges at the border making rulings on who can seek political asylum and who can’t?
Apparently, the CEO of USA, Inc. has already made this decision. Who’s going to stop this disaster from occurring? Will the Pentagon refuse to send their troops because the CEO may not have the authority?
Why hasn’t one of the Generals stepped forward to say we don’t recognize you as CEO?
Nigeria used Trump’s words about “rock throwers” to slaughter protestors. Will our military do the same at the border when these scared and frightened asylum seekers roll up to our borders?
We’ve been a Fascist state for quite some time so blaming Trump is the easy way out. Hopefully, Shiela doesn’t think that eliminating Trump will eliminate our Fascist state or Fascism’s grip on the USA.
Once again, I’m never even read Marx’s Communist Manifesto but there are many experts who have and who also study history. Late stages of capitalism offer two clear paths:
1) Fomenting the policies and advocacies of a Fascist State whereby sealing the power structure which is a merger of public/private sectors to rule over the people; or
2) Due to the oppressive nature of #1, the people rise to install social planning or return the power to the people.
One election means nothing in this process. The interviews with Hillary Clinton are frightening because she honestly believes a Blue Wave next week is a sign the people want her to defeat the evil Trump/Pence. All this proves is our media has been effective in creating political theater where Americans root and cheer for one team or the other. A facade of epic proportions.
The people want their power back and they want a society which values them first before institutions. The Oligarchs have created the exact opposite and will use those institutions against the people i.e. The Surveillance State with DHS. Wall Street did it once and they’ll try to do it again. The CIA has mastered techniques against counter-insurgents.
What happened in Syria was a clear signal that Empire building for the USA is over. The major question is what’s next. How does the USA see itself in the grand scheme of things?
In response to Nancy about many of trump’s supporters attending church on Sunday,please be aware that as recently as 100 years ago many of these same “Christians” would go to church on Sunday and afterwards pack a nice picnic lunch and then go watch a black person be hanged.
Theresa asks “What will Wednesday look like in this our United States?”. I thinks that’s a good question.
IMO Democracts will do extremely well all over the country. The stretch measures will be in the details of the Senate and the governorships and in the Statehouses. Also IMO there will be violence, again the extent of it will be the details. Trump will encourage it in his bull in the china shop ways.
Tribalism (extremism) is now baked into our culture by the effects of entertainment media fueled by mega money in search of power.
All of this is part of the war dance preparation for 2020 when the final battle will resolve which America will we be.
Todd,
Right on point, as usual.
Pete,
“Also IMO there will be violence, again the extent of it will be the details. Trump will encourage it in his bull in the china shop ways.
Tribalism (extremism) is now baked into our culture by the effects of entertainment media fueled by mega money in search of power.”
Beneath it all is a call to WAR. We better be prepared.
Marv,
No, Todd is NOT on point. He is seldom on point. The flogging of hopeless dystopia is what the Trump-ites want, what the fascist/capitalists want and what our enemies want. Yes, Todd, one election DOES MATTER. No it won’t fix the entire set of problems; the fascist incursions have been going on since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Nothing new there.
As late as 1938, after Hitler’s “acquisition” of Austria and Czechoslovakia, there was an American Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden of over 20,000 straight-arm saluting fascists dressed in brown shirts, Sam Brown belts and red armbands. It CAN and HAS happened here for a very long time.
As I’ve written in 4 books and dozens of on-line essays, the way to keep capitalism from morphing into outright fascism is by way of REGULATIONS ON GREED. Why does anyone think that Republicanism is benign? It isn’t. It’s a malignant tumor on the heart of our working people. It’s killing them.
THIS election is most important because it has to be considered, as Churchill once stated, “not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning”, to regain our democratic senses and remove this cancer in our body politic, Republicans. Donald Trump is the raving lunatic at the head of this neo-fascism and he’s loving every minute of it. He and his militants revel in pissing off liberals. That’s their strategy to divide us and exploit our weaknesses.
We, unlike the Jews and intellectuals of Europe in 1933-1945, have the lesson of how this ends up from our recorded history of that dreadful period in human existence. If we ignore those lessons and give in to our prejudices, demagogues and just plain stupidity, we are doomed to the same fate as the European Jews. BTW, hate crimes against Jews were up 50% last year. That doesn’t mean there are 50% more anti-semites. It means that these wretches have been enabled by a lunatic president who advocates this kind of prejudicial fear and rage. Remember, Hitler didn’t kill anybody, he motivated others to do the killing for him.
But, it’s unfair to compare Trump to Hitler altogether. Hitler actually volunteered for the army during WW I.
Vernon,
I agree with you. But, I also agree with Todd. You’re looking to the PRESENT, Todd is much younger than you and is looking into the FUTURE. You’re both right. The difference is in your particular perspective. You should both try to find common ground. I’m sure there is one. But you have to go deeper.
Today, yesterday and tomorrow are all important, but sometimes yesterday’s experiences can be helpful guides.
President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence could point to the economy, rising employment, creation of jobs, but the message is fear.
Fear has long been a feature or theme in American politics, fear of communists, leftists, socialists, atheists, a missile gap, losing the space race, terrorists, crime, etc. It seems politicians can always rely on fear when nothing else significantly spurs voter turnout.
Todd, I totally agree with your points, especially about, “the refugees are fleeing from countries we destabilized”. The same is true in the Middle East and Africa, ever since Bush the Younger and Obama.
I have also heard the rumors of Hillary or Biden running for President in 2020. I’m sure the Corporate Democrats, CNN and MSDNC would be delighted.
I find it rather distressing to hear and read about job one for a Democratic House if the Democrats gain control is to go after President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence. What about Enhanced Medicare for All, or raising the Federal Minimum Wage, or cracking down on money laundering and tax evasion as worthy goals??
After reading all the intellectual comments here it is obvious that government schools have done an awesome job in the indoctrination of young kids incapable of individual thought. We know that 95% of teachers and the media vote Democrat. That is why Democrats Hate vouchers and school choice. Sure Southern DEMOCRATS went to hangings after church, Founded the KKK opposed slaves from voting and owning guns. The 14th Amendment was written to Grant Slaves Citizenship. Look it up Grasshopper.
Bet comments gets rejected, truth is a tough thing to swallow. Facts don’t support the majority of Democrat schemes. Civility, Knock them down Holder, harass them where you see them, Maxine.
Rock Justice,
“That is why Democrats Hate vouchers and school choice. Sure Southern DEMOCRATS went to hangings after church, Founded the KKK opposed slaves from voting and owning guns.”
Those Southern Democrats became the mainstay of the REPUBLICAN PARTY beginning in the 60’s. Many thanks for the reminder.