Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Trump"s America-A Cautionary Tale

By Mildred Robertson
As I swipe through my Facebook feed, I am taken aback by the similarities between the German horror that ended with the murder of millions, and the systematic erosion of democratic principles in our society. It as if Trump has taken Hitler's playbook, and is using it to push America over some totalitarian ledge. I understand better now how many Germans did not fully understand the horror, until it was too late to avert it.

Under our current administration we have seen attacks launched at all levels of our society. He attacked the first African American President; called Latino immigrants thugs, rapists and murders; disrespected women, denigrated Muslims, slurred all nations ruled by those of African descent as "shitholes," slandered the FBI and specific individuals who have dedicated their lives to its service; attacked peaceful protestors,  declared Nazi terrorists as "good people," and  waged all-out war on the media and the judicial system.

Trump has presided over the inhuman destruction of family units under the auspices of homeland security, He has engaged in race-baiting on numerous occasions during his tenure. His administration has been riddled with scandal, and he himself stands on the verge of being charged with improprieties at the least and criminal misdeeds at worse in the Russia scandal.

While all of this turmoil churns around and within the Whitehouse, those elected to protect and serve our democracy stand complicit as this administration destroys the very foundation of our nation; attacks every aspect of our civil liberties and systematically eliminates obstacles standing between it and total authoritarian rule.

Our senses have become dulled to the accusations of misdeeds, scandal and criminality attributed to this administration. We turn off the news. We tune out the protests. We seek peace by pursing other activities. All the while, this administration is ruthlessly and systematically chipping away at the institutions meant to protect us and maintain our freedom. 

I am a partisan. A liberal. A "snowflake." I do not embrace this administration. But my position is not anchored in my progressive leaning. It is based upon this administration's ruthless and systematic attempts to destroy institutions such as the judiciary, the FBI and the media. No matter how much folks like me push the brakes, there is very little we can do to stop this push toward totalitarianism. Unless the Grand Ole Party decides that our nation is more treasured than Supreme Court justices and gerrymandered voting districts, we are doomed to suffer the loss of democracy as we know it. Republicans must decide that their oath to their country outweighs their oath to a partisan agenda. They must determine that the end does not outweigh the means. The power lies in their hands to avert this disaster.

I am sure that many Germans never expected what started out as foolish taunting and hyperbole to end up in gas chambers with the ashes of millions drifting down upon them like fallen snow. At what point do you say stop?  When they beat your sons and daughters in the street?  When they murder your friends and neighbors without retribution? When detention centers are full to overflowing? When mothers and fathers are ripped from the arms of their children and shipped off to a place they never knew?

Trump is attempting to create a society where only he and people of his choosing will thrive. That is his one and only vision. He has no policy and no principles other than total acquiescence to his will. If he succeeds he will have destroyed what our forefathers fought and died to build. America will no longer be that "Shining light upon the hill," referenced by President Reagan.

Our light is already dimmed. I beseech those Republicans who still believe in democracy to resist the darkness. Do not be like the Germans who finally smelled the stench of death, but found themselves powerless to stop it.  Forsake party for country before we experience our own holocaust and are buried under the ashes of democracy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Excellent and still relevant