Where do we find comfort, or answers when it feels time itself might stop? When the idea of a specific future event makes us shake with dread and anxiety one minute, anticipation and hope the next?
We might look to the news like we look to the weather. We look at polls, which show Harris with barely a 1-point lead. We look for events and new information that might turn the tide. On Friday of last week, Jack Smith was able to get Judge Chutkin to allow new details to be unsealed regarding DT’s actions to interfere in the 2020 election. One document gave insight into his thinking on Jan. 6, when he incited his followers in the Capitol to “fight like hell”. He then returned to the White House, sat down by the tv, asked a staffer to bring him a diet coke, and did nothing for hours but watch his speech and listen as the rioters chanted “hang Mike Pence.” Any other year, any other campaign, this revelation would turn the tide and mean the end of his political career. Any other year, any other campaign, Jan. 6 would’ve meant the end of his freedom.
Or at an appearance for Univision, the largest Spanish news network in the US, he called the attempted coup at the Capitol “a day of love.” Really? Love? The participants were aghast. One told DT “I had voted for you in the past” and was formerly registered as a Republican, but your “action and maybe inaction” regarding the coronavirus and January 6 was “a little disturbing.” “What happened during January 6, and the fact that you know, you waited so long to take action while your supporters were attacking the Capitol…” And “during the coronavirus your administration misled the public. Many lives could have been saved if you had better informed us. “ He asked DT “why should I want to support you” when so many members of his former administration, even his former Vice President, don’t support him.
DT replied with a swath of lies. He said, “You had hundreds of thousands of people come to Washington. They didn’t come because of me, they came because of the election.” He said no one was killed on Jan. 6 except for one of his supporters. He failed to mention the police officer who died from injuries sustained from the attack, or the four others who committed suicide, and the140 who were injured.
As described by Julia Conley in an article in Common Dreams, “Univision‘s camera panned over a section of the audience as Trump replied to [the questioner], showing one woman visibly shocked as the former president claimed ‘no one was killed’ in the riot…” We can witness DT’s lies for ourselves on X. Any other year, any other campaign, this performance would mean the end of his political career.
Or at a rally in Montgomery County, Pa, he seemingly got bored and scowled, smirked, and swayed to music for 40 minutes. He seemed to be losing it. Any other year, any other campaign, this revelation would mean the end of his political career.
One reason DT’s still in the race is the wall of information or disinformation protecting him by hiding the truth from his supporters. DT has been trying to make truth impossible to discern since he began his quest for presidential, even dictatorial power. He lies so frequently specifically to make it impossible to speak the truth to the power of his lies.
We can’t call him a liar to his followers, despite even video evidence of the fact, because he’s already turned truth and evidence of such into a matter of mere opinion and turned the messenger into the perpetrator. He’s labeled all who oppose him as vindictive, jealous, or evil, so if we do oppose him, we’re just affirming our place as vindicative, jealous, or evil.
In a recent interview of Kamala Harris by FOX newscaster David Baier, FOX used a highly edited clip of a political event. But as Jon Queally for Common Dreams reported, the clip sanitized DT’s comments. It left out the most disturbing parts, when he called Democrats who oppose him “radical-left lunatics,” who were “the enemy within” and the most serious danger to the nation. He promised if ever elected to use both the National Guard and U.S. military to go after them, despite constitutional prohibitions against such actions.
In the interview, Kamala Harris clearly and forcefully called out Mr. Baier on his attempted deception. “You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.”
“This is a democracy,” she continued. “And in a democracy, the president of the United States should be able to handle criticism without saying they are going to lock people up for doing it. …”
In any other year, in any other election, DT’s comments and inanities would have ended his campaign.
We know the weather is tricky and hard to exactly predict. We know hurricanes can bring enormous devastation to a part of the country. And we know a second DT presidency would bring unfathomed devastation to the whole country. All we can control is our own actions. November 5th is next week. If we haven’t already, we can vote. We can help others get out to vote. And to do that, we must take care of our health⎼ take walks, play music, meditate, plan to be with friends on election day. It’s a difficult time for all of us. One action of our pen, one word to someone we speak to, one instance of caring might sway the winds of the election. The energy of our speech and action can have more of an effect than we can know.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Flickr
