Greetings!
Entering the last Republican presidential debate, Donald J. Trump had a 27-point lead in the Republican presidential primary. Polls show his lead grew after the debate, with about 34% of respondents saying they planned to vote for him. Rational Americans are appalled, and even the Republican Party establishment is running scared. Donald Trump is terrifying, but he’s nothing new. He’s just the latest incarnation of a problem that goes back centuries, one that, in some ways, our country was intended to solve…
As Trump entered the debate, his proposal to stop Muslims entering the United States was drawing fire at home and abroad, but being an international laughing stock didn’t even seem to slow him down. In the debate he treated us to “smart” ideas for holding terrorists’ families’ hostage and shutting down the Internet, among other gems. Besides being difficult or physically impossible to actually implement, these ideas are in blatant violation of our Constitution and domestic and international law and treaty. But The Donald, or more importantly his supporters, don’t seem deterred by the law, customs, or values society is based on; they’re dismissed it as “political correctness”, a bump on their road to a glorious future.
One conservative commentator said “…to a lot of folks [Trump is] Fascism or Mussolini, to other folks [he] makes common sense.” That’s precisely the root of Trump’s threat! He does sound like common sense to a lot of people, and those people have always been with us. They may be honest, earnest people, not conscious of any hatred, bigotry, fear, anger, or frustration at all. But they’re the people a demagogue uses, the ones ready to follow someone with cynically simplistic answers… right or wrong.
The received wisdom from the Media is that Trump speaks for the political revolution of a disillusioned electorate. They shake their heads at the quaint commoners who want change so badly they will vote for a carnival barker instead of the candidates anointed by the Corporatocracy, all while the Media plays a master role in that decision. Trump isn’t the only candidate for the disillusioned… compare him with Bernie Sanders. Sanders is channeling the fury of the electorate too, but without demagoguery. On the other hand, he represents systemic change that would be a threat to the Media’s Corporate masters, and he’s eminently electable with the possible Independent voter. Can’t have that! So the Media covers Trump an amazing 81 times more than Sanders, then magnifies any instance when the People back Trump.
Today, in our America, a selfish thug spouting the “common sense” of Fascism is finding fertile ground, but it’s a thinner strip of ground than the Media would have us believe. Roughly 26% of Americans identify as Republicans, and Trump is currently carrying about 30% of those… about 8% of America. That’s ghastly, but thankfully these people won’t solely decide the election. It will be decided by the 43% of America that identifies as Independent, and fortunately we already know that fascists of the past, present, or future are no place to go for answers. As the Trump fecal storm continues, let’s take what comfort we can from that… and rationally examine our options, whether the Media reflects it or not.
Make a Great Day!
