Another Few Weeks in Trump's AmeriKKKa
The most serious event was the murder of nine worshipers in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. They were killed, with an AR-15, of course, by a man who openly admitted he wanted to kill Jews. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League estimates that it was the worst attack on Jews in U.S. history. Trump paid lip service, and then spent the day joking about his hair and tweeting a criticism of Dodger manager Dave Roberts' use of his pitching staff in the World Series. The mayor of Pittsburgh told him not to come until he denounced white nationalism. Trump came anyway, and did not denounce anything. He was met with large protests by people who have empathy.
Instead, Trump proclaimed himself a nationalist. I don't think he fully understands the meaning of the word, as he continues to blunder into comparisons to Hitler. If patriotism, as Oscar Wilde once said, is the virtue of the vicious, nationalism must be the nail polish on the talons of the xenophobic.
I'm wrong. Trump did denounce a few things. He denounced a rag-tag group of people who are fleeing the murderous regimes of Honduras and Guatemala by marching toward the U.S. border. They are, by all accounts, desperate men, women, and children. In an effort to demonize these poor people for political gain, Trump has called them criminals, said they are infiltrated by Muslim terrorists, and funded by George Soros. He has ordered more troops to the border than there are people in the caravan, and said he would have soldiers shoot anyone who threw rocks. Truly this man is evil incarnate.
Speaking of George Soros, he was the first to get a suspicious package that ended up being a pipe bomb (whether it was actual capable of exploding is still not known) in the mail. Eventually, the Clintons, Obamas, and several other Democratic leaders (even actor Robert De Niro) received packages from, where else, Florida. The predictable response from the lunatic right was that it was a hoax perpetrated by liberals to make Trumpophiliacs look bad. Oops! Turns out the bomber was a Trump fanatic, frequently seen with a MAGA hat and a van (seen above) festooned with stickers and other far-right paraphernalia. The crazy right's response--he's a fall guy. This has become something of a comic episode, because no one was hurt.
Not as funny is Trump's assertion that he can stop so-called "birthright citizenship" with an executive order. Nice try, hot shot. "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." I don't see any wriggle room here. The Amendment was originally drafted to protect the rights of ex-slaves, (but excluded Native Americans for years) but is plain on the spray-tan on Trump's face. Furthermore, if it were ambiguous, like the Second Amendment, it must be decided by the judiciary or another Amendment. A president can not simply blot out parts of the Constitution he doesn't like. Why stop there? Why not end freedom of the speech and press. We know he fantasizes about it?
What is most troubling about all of this is that Trump continues to fan the flames of bigotry and hate by making distinctions between "us" and "them," with "us" being white people who have fallen for his con. The man who shot the Jews in Pittsburgh (including a 97-year-old woman who survived the Holocaust only to lose her life in America to the same kind of hatred) and another man who shot two black people in a supermarket after failing to gain entrance to a black church are clearly inspired by Trump's rhetoric. He is a man yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater.
The election is now three days away. It appears that the Democrats will retake Congress, but the Senate is iffy. I'm encouraged by a 500 percent increase in young people voting from the last mid-terms in Texas. If Ted Cruz loses I'll lose my mind in ecstasy.
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