Does “The Donald” want to make America great, or just white?
Sure, Donald Trump is a bigot, narcissist and a pathological liar, but he has also done some good inadvertently. He has been very successful at exploding Republican mythology. His first revelation was that his fellow candidates were nothing more than puppets for rich donors. Bullseye! He then crushed the Republican orthodoxy that George Bush “kept us safe” and the Iraq war was justified by 9/11.
The truth was that Bush was asleep at the switch, had ignored dire warnings about Al Qaeda, and failed to take any action to keep us “safe”. He then used 9/11 and lies about weapons of mass destruction to start a disastrous war with Iraq. That war cost us thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and, worst of all, has destabilized the entire Middle East. Trump is the only Republican candidate to grasp this truth.
However, Trump’s most important contribution is that he has ripped the mask off the GOP and has exposed the heart of darkness underneath. Trump’s violent rallies have showcased the Republican’s success at gathering racists, bigots, and white supremacists into their party. Video evidence tells the story. The first thing you notice on tape is the whiteness. The audience reminds you of a KKK rally without sheets. The racist entitlement is palpable.
The Trump crowd is like the Bull Connor mob at the Norman Pettis Bridge. Minorities are verbally abused, pushed, shoved, and sucker-punched. The Republican racist genie is out of the bottle and on full display for all to see.
Police/security forces focus on repressing minorities rather than quelling the violence of the Trump mob. Twenty black Valdosta State students that had tickets to the Trump event were exiled by Georgia police for being black. A young black man who had been suckered-punched by a white racist was then thrown to the ground by six policemen. Non-violent protesters outside Trump’s Kansas City event were pepper-sprayed without provocation.
But in fairness to Trump, he did not create this problem, he has simply used it to his own advantage. The Republican Party began exacerbating racial divisions with Nixon’s Southern Strategy. Now the Party is 86 percent white. The Republicans kicked their racism into high gear with the election of America’s first African-American President. On the night of his inauguration, a group of white Republican Senators met to plot their conspiracy to completely obstruct the new President. Never mind that they damaged our country in the process.
For the past seven years, the President has endured the Republican propaganda machine’s misinformation campaign that is dependent on racial stereotypes rather than facts. Bigotry has become the Republican gold standard. It is clearly the party of hate. If you hate African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims, gays, women, intelligence, and science; then, this party is for you. Racist “dog whistles” and carefully veiled innuendo have obscured Republican racism just above the threshold of deniability.
Now, thanks to Donald Trump, you can see that racism is synonymous with being Republican.
Terry Stulce served two combat tours in Vietnam, one with the 101st Airborne and one with the 69th Border Rangers. He was an LCSW and owner of Cleveland Family Counseling before retirement in 2009.
Photo courtesy Donald J. Trump for President / via Facebook