Shrug 🤷 At Your Own Risk

Posted on by under Election 2024, Free Press Issues, Global Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Long, long time ago … maybe even before Trump entered the Oval Office in January 2017, I compared his rhetoric to that of Hitler.  I was mocked and told it was hyperbole.  I tried to avoid the Hitler comparison as much as possible, but every now and then it was just too much … the déjà vu wouldn’t allow me to be silent.  And still, I was told I was exaggerating.  Until about a year ago, I think, at which time my critics either bit their tongue or decided that maybe I wasn’t such a lunatic after all.

Last weekend, Trump gave a speech in New Hampshire under the guise of a Veteran’s Day speech that has finally … finally opened the eyes of scholars, historians, and journalists alike.  No longer is he simply alluding to some of Hitler’s and other dictators’ rhetoric, he is parroting it and adding even more vitriol, if that’s possible.

There are those who have said and will say that I “just don’t like Trump”.  It is true that I don’t like him, for he is not a good person.  He is an abuser of women, a liar, a cheater, a conman, and a racist … and that’s just for starters.  But I am perfectly capable of separating my personal feelings from fact, and my personal aversion to him has nothing to do with my view that he presents a clear and present danger not only to the United States and its people, but to every country and person on the planet.

Here’s a snippet from professor/historian/author Heather Cox Richardson’s daily newsletter, Letters From An American …

In a speech Saturday in Claremont, New Hampshire, and then in his Veterans Day greeting yesterday on social media, former president Trump echoed German Nazis.

“In honor of our great Veterans on Veteran’s Day [sic] we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Racists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American Dream…. Despite the hatred and anger of the Radical Left Lunatics who want to destroy our country, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”    

The use of language referring to enemies as bugs or rodents has a long history in genocide because it dehumanizes opponents, making it easier to kill them. In the U.S. this concept is most commonly associated with Hitler and the Nazis, who often spoke of Jews as “vermin” and vowed to exterminate them.

And from Jay Kuo, a snippet of a piece titled A Code Red for Our Democracy …

This weekend’s speech and online statements by Donald Trump are such a moment. They are no less than a blaring Code Red for our democracy. It’s not MAGA bravado. It’s not Trump being Trump. It’s an unmistakable, open and unapologetic embrace of the fascist language and tactics used by Adolf Hitler in his rise to power.

Sometimes history repeats itself. And sometimes it does so nearly verbatim. Let’s take a closer look at what Trump said—in a speech written for him no doubt by the likes of Stephen Miller—and compare it to what we’ve heard before from the Nazi leader himself. You will probably conclude, as I and many others have, that this marks a dark turning point for his base of supporters and for our country.

In his nearly two-hour speech, delivered on Veterans Day in Claremont, New Hampshire, as part of his campaign to regain the presidency, Trump claimed he would “root out” his enemies, referring specifically to “the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country” who “lie and cheat and steal on elections.”

When I heard those words, I felt a chill. Like vermin? Hitler and the Nazis used the term in German frequently to describe Jews, as if they were parasites who spread disease. According to accounts at the time, Hitler once told the Czech foreign minister that the “vermin must be destroyed. The Jews are our sworn enemies, and at the end of this year, there will not be a Jew left in Germany.”

I urge you to read both Heather’s and Jay’s full essays.  No, friends, this goes beyond just “Trump being Trump.”  Coupled with the work of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 that is putting together a plan to very quickly, within days after Trump taking office, reshape the federal government to support Trump’s agenda, is the stuff nightmares are made of.  I am not an alarmist, but I am sounding the alarm now.  Donald Trump cannot ever hold a position of power at any level of government again, and he cannot win the election by any means next year.  If he does, all bets are off for the U.S. Constitution surviving the first hundred hours of his administration.  The safeguards that somewhat protected us from 2017-2021 would be gone within hours of his inauguration like barriers bulldozed at a construction site.  He and his advisors learned the lessons from their mistakes the first time around.

There is only one place for Donald Trump …

Discover more from Filosofa's Word

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

33 thoughts on “Shrug 🤷 At Your Own Risk”

  1. “it will be our last chance in this lifetime.” As fun as this battle is beating Trump is not my Dad’s battle against Hitler. Nazis are not something to fear but to make afraid.
    I did like the this lifetime part, means we might get a chance to do it again only better.

    Liked by 2 people

      • Hi Jill. I think I would like to return as either a fun-loving otter or something safe and powerful like an Orca. I thought that no one bothered them but then found out about pilot whales who are called the cheetahs of the deep who like to harass the orcas. Is there no way to get away from being some things target in life? But in truth I think I really want to be an otter, having fun in the world I live in. Hugs. Scottie

        Liked by 1 person

        • I certainly understand your desire to return as an Orca, a creature strong enough to fend off those who would hurt them. But frankly, I can more easily picture you as the cute, fun-loving otter who just wants to live and let live and have fun. Hugs

          Liked by 1 person

  3. I hope from my heart that this time, even those who voted for him the first time, are smarter and don’t. And those who did not vote because they were too lazy or thought, he would not be elected anyway, go voting!

    Liked by 3 people

    • I’m with you on both counts, Erika! It doesn’t seem that those who voted for him the first time have learned, though, as he is still at the top of the dung heap in the Republican Party. I do think, though, that once he is found guilty on at least some of the charges he’s facing, some of his followers may finally wake up and smell the coffee. But you are so right about those who are too lazy or apathetic to vote … we need every last one of them to get up and cast a vote! Let’s hope that some of this gets through to people and they realize that this is not “just politics as usual” but a very serious moment in our democracy. Sigh.

      Liked by 3 people

  5. I remember being called paranoid when I made comparisons between trump and Hitler. I remember asking the supports I worked at the time, after everything he said and did in office which echoed Hitler rising to and then consolidating power, if they could see it now. Even on January 6th when he whipped his base into a froth of hate I was told trump didn’t or he couldn’t or I was just being paranoid. Of course now they add that I am too woke and at night, if I were a praying sort of man, I would pray that they too become too woke. Woke to the lies, woke to the similarities, woke to the crimes, woke to the danger…..

    Liked by 3 people

    • Sigh. I don’t know how or when ignorance became the norm for so many people. I’m “woke” and damn proud of it! Just means I understand our history, that I am not a bigot, and that I have empathy and compassion for everyone. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

      Liked by 3 people

        • Thanks, Scottie! That’s what it means to me, and I’m not offended when someone calls me ‘woke’, for I truly believe the world would be a much better place if we were all woke. A few years ago when “snowflake” was the insult of the day for right-wing bigots, I was called a snowflake more than a few times. I always took it as a compliment, replying with, “Thank you! Snowflakes are beautiful and unique, so you’ve paid me a compliment.” That shuts ’em up!!! Hugs

          Liked by 1 person

          • Hi Jill. The right took PC / politically correct, which just meant being kind or nice and not being a jerk asshole who attacked everyone personally and made it a huge insult. Why would being nice be an insult? It makes me wonder about people who have that view of life. What happened that made being kind, nice, decent to others, maybe trying to be understanding or tolerant of other ideas such a horrible thing to them? How can the right now honestly argue that being rude and insulting is somehow a virtue, when they know they wouldn’t want to be the target of that themselves.

            Oh and yes I would much more enjoy being an otter. I remember once as a kid having a doctor tell my school I had a bunny personality and was unable to protect my self from the threats around me. When I told Randy that a few years ago, he sent me a tee shirt with the graphic psycho bunny and reminded me I was not a helpless kid anymore, but a psycho bunny with teeth. I wore that shirt completely out, I loved it and the idea behind it. Hugs. Scottie

            Like

            • The radical right wing has pretty much re-written the dictionary, haven’t they? I find no virtue or values within today’s Republican Party, and the ignorance of those who keep voting them into office is astounding.

              I can picture that t-shirt and it makes me smile. Yes, my friend, you have a gentle spirit, despite all that you’ve been through in life. Next time ’round you can be an otter and just have fun … nature will protect you and not let anyone pick on you! You can frolic with the bunnies and squirrels all day long! Hugs

              Liked by 1 person

  6. Jill, I too like to shy away from comparisons to Hitler, as it needs to be quite heinous a set of circumstances to go there. Yet, that does not stop the references to what Donald J. Trump has said and done using the words sociopathic, criminal and/ or autocratic. White House insider Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked closely with chief of staff Mark Meadows and members of Congress, testified to the House Select committee on Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection.

    She noted that Trump eliminated the requirement that protestors be screened electronically for weapons meaning they could be armed when the stormed the Capitol. She noted that Trump publicly said his own Vice President deserved to be hung for not helping him stay in office. Trump acknowledged to his staff that he could not let his followers know “he lost, so do something about it.”

    And, she noted that Trump did not care about protecting staff from COVID as the masks showed weakness. She also said he was not the best president to be leading the COVID fight as he is not very empathetic. He exposed tens of thousands of his followers to COVID knowing the risk. After former candidate Herman Cain died from COVID after attending a Trump rally, Meadows said aloud “we killed Herman Cain.”

    Four indictments, 91 charges, additional fraud charges tacked onto to defamation and sexual misconduct liability, a corporate tax fraud conviction and a fraud settlement for misusing Trump Foundation funds, reveal consistent illicit and worse action.

    Keith

    Liked by 4 people

    • Agreed. Though I DO think Trump has taken a page or three from Hitler’s playbook, it seems that nobody is listening, so … we try another approach to get people to wake up and smell the coffee. You mentioned Cassidy Hutchinson … did you perchance see/hear the testimony of Jenna Ellis yesterday? Her retelling of a conversation with one of Trump’s advisors reminded me so much of some of Cassidy’s conversations with Mark Meadows. I don’t understand … will never understand … how Trump has convinced so many otherwise-intelligent people to go along with his illegal, immoral plans! And I further don’t understand how so many people in this country think he is the answer to all their problems! Let us hope that sometime in the next year, justice is served and he is not even on the ballot, or at least that the people of this country start taking this seriously.

      Liked by 2 people

  7. I recall in the run up to the 2016 election, my wife (who’s Japanese) watching a Japanese language documentary that compared Trump’s speeches to those of Hitler before he seized power. Apart from the fact that Hitler was by far the better orator, the messages by both were alarmingly similar. The documentary translated Trump’s English, and Hitler’s German into Japanese and the similarities became obvious. One of the Japanese narrators made an observation that Trump’s speeches were almost like schoolboy translations of Hitler’s. It’s not outside the realms of possibility.

    Liked by 4 people

    • I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one seeing those tendencies even as early as 2016. Indeed, Hitler was a better orator and far more intelligent than Trump. But now, it seems that there are many others with education and intelligence behind Trump’s messaging and they’ve learned from past mistakes … therein lies the biggest danger, I think. Trump and many of his cronies have openly expressed admiration for Hitler … I’ll never understand it!

      Liked by 3 people

    • Hi Barry. That time in the US was another case of othering. Making a group less than human so you can mistreat them at will. It is what Hitler did to the Jews. That is what tRump and the right do to black and brown people, it is what the mom’s of TikTok and the mom’s for liberty are doing to trans and gay people, making them seem less than human so it seems OK to harm them or drive them from society. It is something I hope one-day people can stop doing to those who are different. Being different is not a crime, it is not an illness, and it doesn’t make you less a human person. Best wishes. Scottie

      Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you, Swabby! Yes, I’ve been sounding the warning bells too, but … those who NEED to hear our warnings don’t follow our blogs … we are, as they say, “preaching to the choir”, or as my late friend Hugh used to say, “Spittin’ in the wind.”

      Liked by 3 people

  9. Pingback: Shrug 🤷 At Your Own Risk | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  10. If America cannot vote him a loser, that will make every American a loser — including those who vote for him or his party. The die are cast, the Rubicon stands to be crossed. Stop him from marching triumphant into Washington — DC. You may think you knoe what you are doing, but you do not.

    Liked by 4 people

    • It seems some people are incapable of understanding the danger ahead and think this is some sort of fun. Sigh. We can each individually only do so much, but those of us with brains in our heads must pull together and unite behind President Biden to put a stop to the Trump madness … it will be our last chance in this lifetime.

      Liked by 3 people

      • Hi Jill. There is a segment of the voters, the maga ones, that think Senators threatening to have a fist fight with a person testifying, a former speaker sucker punching then running away other congressmen, and Marge Greene mocking and attack fellow congresspeople is a sign of strength and good leadership. There are people who think this childish behaviors of kids on a playground are the meaning of statesmen, leaders, and lawmakers. These voters supporting this lowering of standards are the ones that couldn’t be bothered to think things out and instead run on emotion of what makes them feel good. They love tRump the guy who constantly claims to be the victim and does non-stop money begs because they see him as a weak person’s idea of a strong man and a poor person’s idea of someone wealthy. They feel like trump in that they are the constant victim in their minds as they attack others, and they feel they would be wealthy if not for those against them. Hugs. Scottie

        Liked by 1 person

        • Yes, there are many who seem to applaud that behaviour, see it as a sign of strength and power. How did they get so misguided??? We really need to find a way to educate the public over the next year, to show them the difference between bullying and governing. Otherwise, we are heading into new and dangerous territory where our rights and freedoms will take a backseat to corporate greed and politicians’ lust for power. Hugs

          Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.