"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." ---Revelation 18:2
For years now I have been accused of being an alarmist whenever I drew parallels between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. After the third Presidential Debate last night, more than a couple of my Republican friends have called to admit that I might have a point. Donald J. Trump won’t commit to accepting the results of November 8th. That is plausibly the single most destructive comment a Presidential candidate has ever made.
For years now I have been accused of being an alarmist whenever I drew parallels between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. After the third Presidential Debate last night, more than a couple of my Republican friends have called to admit that I might have a point. Donald J. Trump won’t commit to accepting the results of November 8th. That is plausibly the single most destructive comment a Presidential candidate has ever made.
I grew up with an utter fear that my parents would send Dick Nixon after me if I misbehaved. My favorite piece of literature is Hunter Thompson’s eulogy. And for the rest of my time on this planet, I will remember the quote from Scripture that led this piece off. It seemed to fit Nixon like a glove. That was before the advent of Donald Trump.
And as the Trump debacle races towards its denouement, I hope it’s remembered how many of the televangelists once outraged by Bill Clinton supported this evil and disturbed bully, misogynist, and borderline rapist. (But I digress.)
Few men have ever had the case for a stolen election quite like Richard Nixon. It is impossible to this day to prove the Presidency was not stolen from him. But Nixon did the right thing for the country, in a time of danger and uncertainty. We did not hear him telling Chris Wallace’s father (Mike) that the election was “rigged.” Evidence shows in Chicago and South Texas, it very well could have been. At the end of the day, Richard Nixon realized that the nation was living in a time of danger and uncertainty. He cared more about the nation’s safety and security against the Soviet threat than he did his own ambition. He did the right thing for America, rather than give aid and comfort to our enemies.
And Donald J. Trump? He has chosen to enlist Stalin’s successor as an agent in favor of his election. If elected, he conceivably would rewrite the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty. Except (of course) ex-KGB agent Vladimir Putin remembers how cutting a deal with a fascist sporting a funny hairdo played out in 1940. After all, with "the Donald" as President who needs a treaty? For his lackey is already on record as wanting to undo NATO. Talk about a "great deal."
In one of the truer statements of her career, Hillary Clinton has noted that whenever “the Donald” does not get his way, the system is inevitably rigged. “There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged.”
“I should have gotten it,” Trump said.
Even I am guilty of not taking the man seriously. Just like the people in 1932 Germany, I saw the odd hair and his shtick as a joke, not to be taken as a serious problem. If anything I viewed his candidacy as being about as viable as this unfortunate soul I knew growing up. Implausible at best, and entertaining in its ineptitude.
Then I remembered what they said in 1932, "so what if Adolf becomes Chancellor? We can co-opt him, surround him with veteran party operatives, and eventually, he will fall into line. And he might even appoint friendly judges. People are responding to his promise to "Make The Fatherland Great Again," after all. And besides, he has command of the new media of today." And back then they may not have had Twitter, but Hitler had command of the new media of the day.
The idea that the star of “The Celebrity Apprentice” could wind up as POTUS used to be funny. Now he is saying he cannot lose a free and fair election. So we are at a fork in the road with two possible outcomes. If he loses, he will not concede. He is threatening to turn Election Day into a Hitlerian spectacle, with legions of racist “poll watchers” there to suppress minority turnout. Though the groups Mr. Trump chooses to scapegoat are occasionally different than those Adolf Hitler targeted, the song remains much the same.
Of course, the utter implausibility of rigging a multi-state election in a country with a majority of his own party controlling the electoral process seems not to matter to ”the Donald”. But every election Adolf Hitler lost was rigged too. Until he won. We are already reading the "movement" Mein Trumpf is planning, and the TV network planned to come. Whatever happens November 8th, the "Donald" just like "the Dolf" is not going to go away.
One can only think of the reality show to come if he ever wins. Instead of a twitter feed to play with late at night, he gets nuclear weapons. Instead of rubbing his “pocket rocket” up against unsuspecting women …he gets to shoot off an actual missile. God help us if he gets to say to an ICBM as it departs that trademark line. “You’re fired.”
Hitler happened once. He began by attacking Democratic Institutions. It's up to us all to assure he never happens again.
MANY BLESSINGS- NOEL
