Hello, my friends!
Wow! What a couple of weeks, huh?!
Republicans completely crashed in Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky last week, and you’ve got the leading presidential contender for the party making comments like this:
Donald Trump: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Trump said toward the end of his speech, repeating his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. “They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream.”
Trump went on further to state: “the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within. Because if you have a capable, competent, smart, tough leader, Russia, China, North Korea, they’re not going to want to play with us.”
The comments were breathtaking and shocking, and historians quickly pointed out what Trump is doing:
“The language is the language that dictators use to instill fear,” said Timothy Naftali, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “When you dehumanize an opponent, you strip them of their constitutional rights to participate securely in a democracy because you’re saying they’re not human. That’s what dictators do.”
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University, said in an email to The Washington Post that “calling people 'vermin’ was used effectively by Hitler and Mussolini to dehumanize people and encourage their followers to engage in violence.”
“Trump is also using projection: note that he mentions all kinds of authoritarians ‘communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left’ to set himself up as the deliverer of freedom,” Ben-Ghiat said. “Mussolini promised freedom to his people too and then declared dictatorship.”
The natural inclination to such comments from Trump is to get angry, to shout, to fight.
That’s what Trump wants. He (and the right-wing media silo that props him up) needs those on the left to look violent and radical — precisely how Trump’s most-fervent supporters appeared on January 6.
Because if those on the left do, then Trump can “both sides” it. He can normalize the approaching potential violence and even claim it’s necessary because the left is so dangerous.
But those on the left and those of us in the middle (like me) shouldn’t take the bait. We shouldn’t give him examples that he can use.
Instead, we should do the opposite.
We should not overreact, and we should speak in calm tones. We should not ramp up the rhetoric. We should even — gasp — react Biblically, turning the cheek and forgiving (and praying) for those who hate us.
Let’s not forget…
Trump has already lost to Biden once, and the election realities favor Democrats to win the presidency again next year.
First, there’s the abortion weight on Republicans.
CNN shared these takeaways from the election:
Already a proven political winner for Democrats, abortion rights further solidified their place as a driving force in next year’s elections when voters in Ohio, an increasingly conservative state that voted twice for Trump, passed a ballot measure on Tuesday enshrining them in the state constitution.
…
A handful of potential swing states, including Pennsylvania, Iowa, Florida and Colorado, could have abortion rights measures on their ballots alongside the presidential candidates next year.
“Tonight’s results in Ohio should scare every Republican in a state where an abortion question is on the ballot in 2024,” Arizona Republican strategist Barrett Marson told CNN. “Abortion initiatives are both driving turnout among Democrats and forcing Republicans to talk about an issue of which they are on the wrong side of the electorate.”
Secondly, the power of incumbency is no joke. Don’t let all the scary polls of late make you lose your courage.
Of the 45 commanders-in-chief who served prior to Biden, only 10 ran for a second term and failed.
Plus, Trump is having to deal with multiple court cases, criticism from right-wing primary challengers, and won’t have the backing of billionaires who supported him last time (here’s one, here’s another, the list goes on).
The playing field favors Biden. And let’s be glad that Trump is playing so loose with such absurd language this early in the race.
It helps ensure his upcoming second defeat.
Take a deep breath, remain optimistic, and keep that smile on your face. Be nice to Trump supporters — don’t even argue with them. Just show love.
And if you’re the praying kind, pray that God will help open the eyes of those who haven’t seen yet.
Love and peace,
Stan R. Mitchell
Don’t forget: You can comment anytime — I to monitor those. You can also reach out privately at: authorstanrmitchell@yahoo.com. (You can say “hi,” vent, or send news tips! I love all three of those things!)
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my books. I’ve written 12 of them: a CIA/Marine sniper series, a detective series, a private investigator series, an action-packed Western, a motivational self-help book about President Obama, and two realistic war novels: one about World War II and one about Afghanistan. You can find all of these books on Amazon.
Kind words and I shall try to be kind. But some people mistake kindness for weakness and those brain dead sycophants behind Trump when he gave his veteran’s Day dog whistle for violence, well, they were holding signs that said “Peace through STRENGTH “. I am praying the world and its brother understands a crap economy is worse under a dictatorship and the big problem in their lives is not the rise in the cost of thanksgiving dinner, but the rise of hate speech and promises of retaliation from the Trump for President campaign. I shall try to be kind when someone tells me Biden is too old and they can’t vote for Trump because he is vile, so they are going to sit this one out.