In the aftermath of Trump’s outrageous and dangerous speech attacking US election systems, I read several analyses of its content and supposed “proof” of election fraud. It became obvious that Trump and his entire administration are ramping up their efforts to undermine/control the upcoming elections in November.
Trump is using the vast might of the federal government to lay further groundwork for seditiously overturning results the GOP doesn’t like.
But his speech also provided stark evidence of an even more dangerous trend, namely Trump’s ability and eagerness to turn our American reality upside-down and inside-out and remake it in his own twisted, self-serving image. Lies, smears, and ongoing deception mean nothing to him; rather, they are just useful tools to help attain his nefarious goals.
It amazes me that even after a full decade of watching Trump in action and hearing his constant stream of lies, exaggerations, and half-truths, we still don’t seem to grasp who he is and what he’s truly up to. Somehow, he still manages to con and manipulate us almost every time. That’s why he’s such a successful grifter and “con man.” (It’s maddening and pathetic to watch our media and reporters groveling and trying to get direct, honest answers from him.)
Even more amazing and frightening, Trump is successfully focusing his malicious lies on his fellow Americans and our semi-democratic system. On his watch, the US has become far more fragmented, divisive, and even hateful — largely due to his autocratic attitudes and deliberate actions. And the key common denominator is always this: Trump keeps successfully augmenting his own power and (bad) influence.
Trump and most of MAGA are racist, misogynistic abusers
What is the essence of his devious attitudes and actions? No one wants to come right out and say it, but it’s abundantly clear, now, that Trump is an abusive and hateful human being. He is a long-term, unrepentant abuser, whose abusive attacks undermine almost every aspect of US society and most Americans (except his brown-nosing MAGA supporters).
He abuses the truth, the media, our Constitution, our laws, our election processes, and our ideals of honor and fairness; he abuses women, Blacks, Hispanics, LGBTQ+ folks, Muslims, Democrats, and ‘libtards’; and he abuses our society, justice system, and nation as a whole.
But how is our “land of the free and home of the brave” responding? For the most part, we’re not — or not adequately. Far from it. Most of us — the vast majority — are simply rolling over and handing him the awful power to steamroll and abuse us and our institutions (with much despicable, pomp-laden assistance from our Supreme Court).
The GOP, in particular, has abandoned any pretense of being a pro-democracy ‘big tent’ party and has cynically aligned itself with Trump and his strong-man power plays, to the point that the GOP has morphed into a dark, anti-American sedition party.
That is, the GOP has willingly (willfully) chosen the path of abuse of power and keeps choosing that deadly path. In fact, today’s GOP seems committed to accelerating its abuse of our nation and the ideals we once stood for.
A well-deserved (brief) rant
I’m going to depart from standard essay format, now, and indulge in a brief rant.
WTF?! Why the hell have we allowed this madness to fester and grow? Why has no one been able to stop Trump, or even slow him down much?
Are we truly a nation of zombie consumption/smart phone addicts, focused only on our own wealth and comfort? Are we all complicit in this burgeoning madhouse of craziness and hate?
Are we so used to being abused and controlled, now, that we’ll accept almost any sort of social and political abuse — as long as it doesn’t mess with our ‘creature comforts’ and cushy, lazy lifestyles? Have we collectively sold our souls for “a mess of pottage,” as the Old Testament puts it?
Have we all lost our minds? Are we really this far gone? I mean, how can this accelerating insanity and cruelty even be happening?! WTF!?!
Trump follows the ‘dictator’s playbook’ — and the US suffers
When I say that Trump and MAGA are turning truth on its head — persistently and seditiously — and turning our nation upside-down and inside-out, I am actually referring to a very precise, well-known process. It’s a process that is very familiar to historians and students of fascism and World War II, but most Americans still labor under the delusion that “it can’t happen here.”
Well, guess what, it IS happening here, and our denial merely greases the path for the haters, tyrants, and control freaks. Our arrogance and cocky denial open the floodgates for … what? An accelerating national disaster and a collapsing social system, that’s what.
Trump and MAGA are following the historical ‘dictator’s playbook,’ almost to the letter. And the primary task of any rising fascist/autocratic movement is to undermine the truth and long-term moral ideals and simultaneously create a dark, self-serving substitute reality. It’s not enough to merely change a few laws or install a few loyalists. The entire democratic system and entire society must be challenged, undermined, scorned, and vastly weakened. And a weakened, divided society is easy prey for the tyrants and control freaks.
But… how to accomplish this horrific goal? It’s crucial to keep the populace and its leaders off-balance — overwhelmed and ‘dazed and confused.’ And a constant barrage of lies, distortions, distractions, personal attacks, and ethnic and racial hatred usually does the trick. It’s a very gradual, insidious, almost imperceptible process that at first seems innocuous or even ridiculous… but soon, as the barrage continues and becomes entrenched, people’s view of reality starts to shift.
Eventually, many people’s views of truth, morality, our laws, social relations, and governing completely change, in a way that supports and enables the budding far-right, fascist or autocratic regime. Which (of course) was the intention all along.
This is exactly the process we’ve seen unfolding in the US over the past decade. Ten years ago, the far right was on the outside looking in. Today, they control our federal government and hold immense power.
Trump’s election falsehoods and attacks are ramping up
Trump’s recent speech attacking our elections and election systems is a perfect example. He remains fixated on the 2020 election and is committed to his lie/delusion that it was ‘rigged’ and he ‘really won.’ He repeated his falsehoods about that election, expanded them to other elections, and used them to spin a tale of systemic rot and corruption.
But numerous investigations and 60+ court decisions all found that the 2020 election was not compromised or corrupt, and in fact was one of the most tightly run, secure elections in US history. These factual findings are merely irritating annoyances to Trump, however, since they stand in the way of his self-serving lies and ambitions.
So, out with facts! Out with the truth! Not only are they unimportant, they’re totally false — the result of a dastardly liberal/Dumocrat (Dumb-ocrat, get it?) scheme. The truth is what Trump and MAGA say it is!
Of course, it’s not enough to just reject the truth and facts and ‘decertify’ reality. A mendacious, but convincing, substitute reality must also be created and endlessly praised. In this case, the alternate reality is the (absurd) idea that Trump and the GOP are patriots who are faithfully upholding American values by pursuing and insisting on “election integrity.”
Far from being liars and devious manipulators, they are, in fact, saving our nation! They are performing a great public service and deserve our undying gratitude! Thanks to them, we now know for sure that any election a Republican loses was rigged via massive fraud. But if a Republican wins, suddenly it’s all fair and above board. Yes, indeed!
In this way, Trump and MAGA have totally undermined reason and logic and corrupted many Americans’ minds. Over time, they have successfully conditioned us to accept ludicrous ideas and totally illogical, absurd assertions as somehow equal to — or superior to — facts, logic, and even multiple court decisions.
The November elections will be a massive shit-show
Where does all this leave us? Nowhere good, that’s for sure. The stakes couldn’t be higher for November’s midterm elections, and the Trump administration is already showing how far it’s willing to go to foment distrust, undermine our elections, and even overturn/nullify results the GOP dislikes.
The US is approaching a true and dire watershed moment in our history. If democratic ideals and processes hold and somehow prevail, we may yet be able to save our representative democracy. If they don’t, and Trump and MAGA engineer retaining full control of our federal government, the US and our vaunted system of checks and balances will keep spiraling down the toilet.
Either way, Trump and his MAGA toadies are busy ensuring that the November elections will be a shit-show for the ages.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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