Scranton, PA. Thousands of people in a hall hear Trump's call: "The lying media..." and then it begins. The chant rises: "Lügenpresse! Lügenpresse! Lügenpresse!"
My 16 year old said: “Did I just hear that? Did that just happen?” Yes, it did. Lügenpresse is German for lying media. It's a classic Nazi dog whistle, straight out of Hitler rallies of the early 1930s. It has been a feature of so many of his rallies, once he started looking for people to blame, other than himself, for his slide in the polls. It has grown louder and louder as we approached the election. Nazi chants in an American Republican presidential rally. Not shunned. Endorsed.
Like the “lock her up” chants, and the anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim rants, Donald Trump had an opportunity to silence the lunatic fringe. Do what Republican presidential hopeful John McCain did, and point out what America stands for. Trump did not. Quite the opposite, he embraced the haters, the skinheads, the neo-nazis, and other fascist kooks because he needed their network into rural white America, which turned out for him in droves, to provide a powerful antidote to his poor planning and lack of a ground game in America’s small towns.
Watching the electoral numbers fall Trump's way on Tuesday night, all that I could hear, in the back of my head, was those chants of "Lügenpresse." The same when Mrs. Clinton, and President Obama did the right thing, and asked the nation to give Donald Trump a chance, to preserve the normal transition of power. That is NOT America. That is pure, evil fascism. One of the things that our government remained the last backstop against, in a nation so diverse, where all people are purportedly created equal.
“Lügenpresse.”
Everyone has a bridge too far. That thing, that moment where we realize that the very fabric of what we believe, what we cherish most dearly is being torn to pieces. This was mine.
Donald J.Trump cannot be a president for all of the people. He had so many opportunities to turn away the hate, to disavow the fascist elements endorsing him. So, by the way, did shameful pols like Chris Christie and Rudolph Giuliani. Leading chants of “Lock her up” at Trump rallies, one would hope, would keep him from any cabinet position in the Trump White House, least of all Attorney General. Christie should be on trial, along with those already convicted in the Bridgegate scandal. Based on the outcome of that trial, I believe that he too is a bully, and a thug. Americans voted to say “screw you” to Wall Street, but Trump will usher in Goldman Sachs’ Steve Mnuchin, or someone of equal Street footing, at Treasury.
“Lügenpresse.”
So it is here that I must, with the greatest respect, disagree with Mrs. Clinton, and our President. Donald J. Trump, and the Republican Congress, whose crazy bills have been deflected by balance in those bodies, must be stopped. The agenda that he proposed on the campaign trail must be stopped. American fascism in charge of our most sacred institutions, must be stopped.
Consorting with Nazis, condoning hate, that is my bridge too far. How about YOU?
Be the loyal opposition. We must write, we must act, and, above all, we must not be complacent. Complacency allows fascism to flourish. They have already breached all of the safety valves that the founding fathers put in place to prevent such a thing. We are the safety valve now.
Participate. Write. Demand. Strike. Stand up. Speak out. Talk back. Run. Vote.
Now is the time to come to the aid of the Nation. This is not a game. This is not a drill.
#NOTMYPRESIDENT