1. Donald Trump Admires Tyrants
In December, Trump openly said Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him a “strong leader.” Putin is, of course, a dictator who shut down independent media, imprisoned political opponents like Mikhail Khodorkovsky, rigged elections, and almost certainly ordered the murders of opposition figures Alexander Litvinenko and Boris Nemtsov. (Trump went out of his way to deny that anyone has proven Putin’s guilt). Russia is “not free,” according to Freedom House, which catalogs a long list of the Putin regime’s oppressions.
2. Donald Trump Encourages Violence
Last week a protester interrupted a Trump rally. As security escorted him out, Trumptold his supporters, “You know what they used to do to guys like that in a place like this? He’d go out in a stretcher.” He added, “I’d like to punch him in the face.”
Again, this is part of a pattern. Late last year a Black Lives Matter activist was shoved and kicked at a Trump rally. Trump told the crowd “maybe he should have been roughed up.”
Public officials and celebrities set examples and help define the culture of what is “acceptable” and what is taboo. When Obama “evolved” his position on gay marriage and came out in support of it, he made it acceptable and easy for millions of Americans to follow suit. When Trump uses his considerable influence as a celebrity and presidential candidate to praise violence, it removes a small chink from the armor of civilization.
3. Donald Trump Does Not Believe in Equality Under Law
After the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino last November, Trump made a series of proposals he claimed would enhance homeland security. He proposed to banall Muslims from entering the United States. He called for increased surveillance of mosques. He called for a database to track all Syrian refugees, and did not rule out tracking all Muslims in America.
4.Trump Is an American Fascist
The case against Trump, then, is that he is an autocrat in democrat’s clothing, a tyrant in the wings, a bully who admires the “strength” of tyrants and butchers, who finds a free press to be an inconvenience that he intends to tame with legal force once elected, a man who demonizes opponents and romanticizes violence, especially against minorities, who pines for the day when government could have its way with people without the trouble of constitutional law getting in the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment