This morning I was catching up with my Facebook feed and came across a message where someone was talking about a report that a black mob had pulled an old white guy from his car and beat him while standers-by accused the white guy of voting for Trump. I informed him that Snopes had declared this event a “mixture”, stating that the incident of violence did occur (a terrible thing to be certain), but that police confirmed it was not politically motivated and was instead a traffic incident. His responses indicated he thought the perpetrators needed to be “crippled”. I suggested that the perpetrators needed to be arrested and tried because we are a country of laws, at least until January. He stated, “I’ll bet in January this garbage won’t be tolerated”. I replied that I feared he was right.
I have never been one of those conspiracy theory guys. I never had the urge to research what temperature steel melts at. I don’t dabble in who really shot Kennedy. I’ve always had a deeply ingrained trust that my country’s government, while flawed, had my best interests in mind; that this country had a set of core values that went beyond party and platform. These days I am not so sure about that anymore. I watched an election year that seems unprecedented in the time that I’ve been alive. Trump displayed arrogance. He displayed a childish kind of “Twitter seizure” almost daily. He made crass and sexist statements about women. He uttered lie after lie after lie in speeches and debates. He attacked and attacked. More and more stories came out about his past legal issues. He made statements indicating how clearly ill-equipped he was to manage any kind of foreign policy. At his rallies we all witnessed as Trump supporters violently attacked those who protested (here, here), shouted epithets such as “Build a wall – kill them all” and “Kill her”, and “Trump that bitch!”, and there were many reported incidents of hate crimes linked to those declaring themselves as Trump supporters.
Rather than condemn these kinds of behaviors, Trump gave us silence, and even in some cases offered legal support for aggressors. This is important to note: He has not condemned these behaviors.
He has offered silence.
It seemed impossible that a man like that could successfully become the Republican candidate. After all, most political candidates, at least in my experience, maintain some semblance of decorum and demonstrate dignity even when. But Trump did not show this and still got the GOP sign-off. Even Republicans were declaring their disgust for him and withdrawing their support. It seemed unthinkable that he could actually win this election.
And then he did.
And people are shocked.
And people are scared.
And so am I.
You see, Trump’s silence on the various examples of hate, white supremacy, xenophobia, misogyny, and relative “other-ism” has helped him win. His silence about (and in many instances participation in) these behaviors has emboldened those who are practicing them.
Hate crimes are suddenly rising and they are being attributed to him (here, here, here, here).
Now I am not completely naïve. I am fully aware that they are many fine people who voted for Trump; people who are not racist and who are not advocating violence or inequality. There are other parts of Trump’s platform that they want from him. They were apparently willing to overlook the fact that a Trump presidency would victimize minorities and women. But there is a very vocal minority of Trump voters who are spreading this hate. They are even publicly celebrating it.
And do you know what is missing?: A president-elect to condemn these behaviors. Trump continues to be silent about it. Silence implies consent: tacit approval. In fact, he is actually joining in the fun by considering cabinet members who are anti-lgbtq extremists. He has, however, been perfectly clear about his opinion about our protests.
And you know what, people who voted for Trump? I don’t see YOU condemning this atrocity either. I see YOU condemning the behavior of those who are protesting, but certainly not condemning those who are actually hurting people.
The Kristallnacht has already begun and Trump is not intervening. We just can’t zoom up high enough in perspective to see that fascism is actually sprouting in our own country.
When I was a teen I remember a movie called “Red Dawn” and how it impacted me. It fit my belief that the enemy was outside our country and that we, as a unified force, would be able to turn them away and protect our freedoms. But now I am reminded of the movie “When a Stranger Calls” as I realize that the enemy is already inside our house.
On the way to work this morning I passed two pretty intense looking army armored vehicles. On Monday I probably would have had some thought process like “Oh wow that’s cool.. I wonder where they are going?”, but today the thought was more like “Oh, this is what it’s going to look like soon; the new normal.”. Seems ridiculous doesn’t it?
Well it seemed ridiculous that Trump could ACTUALLY BE the president of the country I love! Now it seems that nothing is off the table.
BTW: You might have noticed that I’ve not mentioned Hillary. There are plenty of reasons to not like Hillary. But Hillary has not expressed any intentions or behaviors that indicate she would victimize minorities in any way, shape or form. Compared to Trump’s statements and beliefs, that was good enough for me. I’ll take some “more of the same” in exchange for “keeping my safety and freedom”.
Perhaps this flag is now more appropriate for this new “Great America” Trump wants. You might recognize it.
