August 22, 2019
On Tuesday, Trump verbalized what many of us long suspected– that in addition to being a foaming at the mouth racist and misogynist, he is a raging anti-Semite. In an Oval Office interview where Trump redoubled his attacks on Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, he revealed his disgusting anti-Semitism when he averred that any Jewish people who supported Democrats were guilty of “great disloyalty,” (Source: “Trump Accuses Jewish Democrats of ‘Disloyalty,’” by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, The New York Times, 8/21/19).
Yesterday, Trump upped the ante during one of the regular rants in front of Marine One that have replaced the press conference. Trump proclaimed that he was “the Chosen One” to handle a trade war with China. He deployed his favorite epithet, “nasty,” against Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister who dubbed his scheme to “buy” Greenland “absurd.” This was hours after claiming that he was “like the King of Israel,” (Source: “‘I am the Chosen One’: with boasts and insults, Trump sets new benchmark for incoherence,” by Tom McCarthy, TheGuardian.com, 8/21/19).
While we watch this performance, appalled by Trump’s rambling sh_t show, the gears of the fascist machinery he has built grind on. Yesterday, his administration announced a new rule that would effectively end the Flores settlement and allow the administration to detain migrant families (including children) indefinitely, (Source: “Trump officials unveil rule allowing indefinite migrant family detentions,” by Chris Mills Rodrigo and Rafael Bernal, TheHill.com, 8/21/19). This rule comes on the heels of the administration’s announcement that it would not offer flu vaccinations to migrants at the border, despite the fact that three children died from the flu while in custody in the past year, (Source: “The US won’t provide flu vaccines to migrant families at border detention camps,” by Jessica Bursztynsky, CNBC.com, 8/20/19).
While this administration’s cruel indifference to the lives of Latinx children is nothing new, each day it becomes clearer that the danger Trump poses is hardly limited to Latinx immigrants. In the 19 days since the El Paso/Dayton mass shootings, authorities have arrested 28 people who were plotting mass terror attacks against, among others, Latinx people, Jewish people and LGBTQ people, (“At least 28 people have been arrested over threats to commit mass attacks since the El Paso and Dayton shootings,” by Steve Almasy, Dave Alsup and Madeline Holcombe, CNN.com, 8/22/19). Despite this, after a conversation with his nihilist puppetmaster, Wayne LaPierre, Trump retreated from supporting even the mild gun control measure of background checks.
Even those more concerned with money than human life are threatened by the continued rule of this delusional fascist. Trump’s maladroit stewardship of the economy has the country at risk of a recession and his tax cut giveaway to billionaires is likely to increase the deficit by $800 billion dollars over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Former Trump supporting truckers and farmers are finally realizing that Trump’s policies are disastrous for them too, (Source: “Truckers and farmers who voted for Trump are starting to blame his policies for their economic woes,” by Rachel Premack, BusinessInsider.com, 8/22/19).
In spite of Trump’s relentless efforts to fan the flames of tribalistic hatred, the truth is that we are all connected. We need to understand that an attack on any one of us is an attack on all of us. Trump’s continued power is an existential threat to us all, but the soulless hacks in his Cabinet will never invoke the 25th Amendment. The House may impeach, but the Senate will never convict. The Cavalry’s not coming. It’s up to us to save ourselves. We had better vote as if our lives depended on it. Let’s face it, they probably do.
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