As a builder, Donald well knows that
each “build” begins with demolition. No surprise
that he does the same in the election – demolition of “the establishment” – the
press and the “corrupt media”, Democrats and Republicans, office holders like
Paul Ryan and John McCain, and anyone else who does not tow the Trump
line. Like a speeding train, he
castigates his opponents and runs over groups who do not display fealty to the
Trump brand – political, racial, gender, economic, or academic and polling
organizations. He is always right, never
wrong, and those who disagree must be demolished. This behavior is a very real
danger to our democracy.
Trump,
the master of conspiracies and always the “outsider” working to take down “the
establishment”, constantly attacks “the system” and describes the electoral
process as “rigged.” He refers to legitimate polling (even Fox and the Wall
Street Journal) as “rigged” to show him in a bad light. In Trumpworld, all of
the “corrupt media” has “ganged-up” on him to deny him the presidency. And,
since August, Trump has insisted that the entire national election has been
“rigged” as well.
Forgetting
that the majority of states in 2016 are governed by Republicans, and that the
national election is no more than a series of state-based elections with state
rules, state oversight, and state reporting, Donald somehow thinks that a
nation-wide conspiracy exists with a singular goal – to deny him the
presidency. If he wins, then the election would be “legitimate.” If Hillary wins, it’s rigged and a President
Clinton would not be “legitimate.”
Perhaps he believes that Hillary is conspiring with Ted Cruz, the Bush
family, John Kasich, Mitt Romney, supported by the “corrupt media” and others
to “rig” the election and elect Hillary.
In that case, maybe “the Second Amendment people could take care of that”,
as he has previously suggested. And, if not, then what? Think Trump would go on vacation? Or, would he continue to tear down and
de-legitimize the government that we elect this fall? Will there be a Trump “call to arms”? Would
that simply be a Hillary resistance movement?
Or, would the “arms” be actual weaponry as we have heard some of the
Trump supporters suggest? Are we really this close to a national nightmare?
“Oh”, you say, “that cannot happen here.” Those things happen in distant places
like Latin America or some backwater in the Middle East – like the Arab Spring,
or in the streets of some less stable European countries. Do you mean all of those places that do not have armed-to-the-teeth,
right-wing militias drilling in the woods? Places that do not have more guns than people in their neighborhoods? These
behaviors would be merely amusing if Trump was some third party whack-job out
in space who missed his daily dose of Thorazine. But, he is one Election Day
away from the nuclear football.
Donald
Trump has created chaos this election year.
First, in the Republican Party and, next, by unleashing electoral
violence at his rallies. Now, he is undermining
the very pillars of our 200+ years of political stability – the election
process itself – in an attempt to dismiss Clinton’s election and cripple her
presidency. Demolition Donald will be working on his biggest tower take-down
ever – the tower of hope and freedom that has been the envy of the world since
the US Constitution was adopted in 1789 – the American democratic process and
the peaceful transfer of power that occurs here every four or eight years. Should
he succeed in that effort, may God save us all, and the United States of
America.
No comments:
Post a Comment