Shining the Light on Trump

First Light on Tenmile Peak. Near Frisco, Colorado, 2016

I just read the results of a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll…Trump continues to dominate among the Republican candidates.

Yes, this does say a lot about the frustration of many voters. And maybe it says even more about their fears…specifically, the fear of a new America that is not majority white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant.

To me, the mere fact that he has gained any traction at all anywhere in this country is a very scary commentary on the basic educational level and thoughtfulness of American voters…their capacity to discern, to analyze, to use logic, to judge arguments on merit, to understand history, to recognize purely emotional appeals, to distinguish truth from outright lies…

They often say that a nation gets the government they deserve. (Often said when referring to some Latin American or African country, or Iran, Iraq, etc.) If, in the USA, that government turns out to be Trump as President and his supporters in control of both chambers, I really do fear for this country.

We all look at the surprising rise of the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s (to make Germany great again!) and we ask ourselves…”How could such an educated, cultured people go down such a horrible path?”

Maybe we should look in the mirror, mirror, on the wall?

No, Trump, is not a Nazi. But the seeds of fascism are definitely there. He encourages the fascist element. He foments hate and division. He has identified scapegoats. He drapes himself in the flag, but it is a nationalism of but one color: white. Then you have his incredible hubris….His willingness to distort facts for emotional propaganda effect.

What makes us think we are better able than the Germans of the 1930s to resist the seemingly easy answers vomited up fascist rhetoric?

Note that Trump gets plenty of support, sympathy and/or outright endorsements from the far, far right: The Daily Stormer, National Policy Institute, League of the South, American Renaissance magazine, the American Freedom Party, and David Duke, to name the most publicized. That ought to be a warning shot across our political bow.

Yes, what happened to the Germans could easily happen elsewhere–even here. We only went part way with the internment of the Japanese during WWII…Would Trump take us all the way with Muslims and illegal immigrants?

I am hoping that all this Trump-eting publicity of late will whither away once we get past the primary season and the nominating conventions are finally (phew!) over. If, miracle of miracles, the man does make it as the Republican nominee, and there isn’t a huge landslide vote against him in the general election…well, I will be seriously wondering about our future.

“There once was a man who was so poor, so poor, so poor, that the only thing he had…was money.”  

Something I heard somewhere once. Seemed apropos.