CommentsMY TURN-We are all children of immigrants. I remember hearing my father tell the story of my grandparents coming over from Ireland.
They endured hardships, discrimination, hatred, and walked by store signs that said, “Irish Need Not Apply.” We had an international neighborhood, with many from other countries facing the same problems. Yet all endured, because they had an opportunity to start fresh and they had hope.
My dad was first generation Irish American and all five of the boys served during World War II. My dad continued in the Marine Corps for a total of 14 years, all the way through Korea. Like many, he came home broken. You can’t go through the devastation that they did without it affecting you.
However, there is one thing that my parents and my school system was absolutely adamant about: educating us on why America fought in the wars and the signs and symptoms of fascism. No one believed that anything like Hitler or Mussolini could happen in the U.S. The assumption has always been that Americans are smarter than that.
Yet here we are. Watching an entire group of cult followers, supporting a man that is a narcissist sociopath, has little interest in anything but his own wealth, and wants to align with dictators and alienate our allies.
I am disgusted and frankly, glad that both of my parents aren’t alive to see this.
America, you let all of us down. You have slithered into the slime. You have lost your moral compass of dignity and grace, replacing it with rude, crass, uneducated, creepy, prejudice, bigoted, hate, and violent behavior. There is nothing “great” about our country anymore; and given the sheer volume of people supporting this…maybe there never was.
The World Looks on In Horror
America has done so much good throughout our history. Countries all over the globe have looked to the United States as a beacon of hope, filled with people that truly have the priorities of humanity, the environment, and our mutually shared interests at heart. This is no longer so. As Trump, his cohorts, and the Republicans and rabble that support him remove every vestige of decency and moral compass that was once a herald of our country, the world shakes its head.
Various terms have been thrown around including the fact that American has finally succumbed to the greed of capitalism. Those that are in charge clutch their bank accounts closely and leave a path of destruction in their wake.
The continued brainwashing and propaganda of the right wing follows suit to that of pre-World War II. It began with outright lies about immigrants and has continued to now encompass accusations against the liberals and Democrats. In every fascist regime, it starts with one group and eventually expands to anyone and everyone that disagrees with them. This is all part of the 14 characteristics of fascism, and the removal of power to all their enemies is a key element. The most important needs to be to convince the drooling cult followers that liberals are evil, the media is a source of problems, and all those that are not “Christian” are followers of an alternate belief that will destroy the country. Hyper-nationalism in their twisted version of patriotism incorporates the indoctrination that protests, and demonstrations are the result of the enemy, and that those that are in charge have the right to make all decisions, without question.
Those that are professionals on the topic of history have already come forward to indicate that Trump is following Hitler’s playbook. His continued rallies to stir the pot of hate repeats the behavior of dictators of the past, and his word salad, 4th grade rhetoric is at such an insane level, that only his followers cheer when it makes no sense at all. Even his ex-wife stated in an interview that he kept Hitler’s books by his bedside.
Each time there is a shooting, we are witness to the fact that they are always Caucasians and in a majority of cases, a Trump supporter. In each of these cases, they are never labeled with the same “terrorist” name as those few that have been of color. Instead, Trump and his supporters spread debunked lies about people of color and other religions “invading” the country.
The idiocy is SO bizarre that it begs to ask the question: How stupid ARE these people?
I attempt to address this topic in my article: Conservatives Just Aren’t Smart Enough to Know the Difference!
“One of the key factors that I have noted is that a majority of the TrumpTrolls are very cloistered. Many have rarely been out of their own state, let alone out of the country and seem to share a commonality of not being aware of what is going on in the world. Their closed-lens view is therefore influenced by those that they see and interact with and this is complemented with their restricted information stream, which is typically only Fox.
I cover the topic of the methodology of their bizarre sense of self in my article: Trump Has Made People Proud to be Stupid and Racist
“We have seen this before. It is the same type of rhetoric that occurred in every single fascist regime. They blindly embrace their own version of hate while saying it’s ok for leaders to lie, cheat, steal, alienate our allies and make friends with enemy countries (aka ‘Russia’) that have long held disdain for the United States. They have a litany of concocted stories from their conservative sources regarding liberals and spew them every chance that they can get.
In a Vice article, Trump Is Making America So Goddamn Dumb, they state:
‘Engaging with Trump’s rhetoric very often means disproving obviously untrue things. No, the Department of Justice does not have records showing immigrants are more likely than native-born Americans to be terrorists. No, Democrats did not create Trump’s family separation policy. His inauguration crowd was not larger than Barack Obama’s. Three million ballots were not illegally cast in the 2016 election. The problem is, no matter how easily reporters and experts can disprove Trump’s statements, a portion of the president’s base will believe him over all other evidence — that’s how you got a poll from 2017 finding that a quarter of registered voters believed his nonsensical voter fraud claims.’
What This Says About Our Country
Many of us try to hold on to every slender strand of hope that the current time will be overthrown. But as each day passes, we wonder, if the country will survive this and even if it does, how will we look at each other with any kind of trust again?
I don’t know about others, but now when I walk into a grocery store or down the any street, I look at people and wonder “did he/she vote this monstrosity in?” Where once I would have helped anyone that might have needed it, I am now skeptical that they are part of the cult. Did that woman who is always at church every Sunday proudly add her name to the support of a sexist, bigoted, conman? How do women vote for an obviously anti-women party such as the Republicans? Do they all suffer from low self-esteem and Stockholm Syndrome?
Many around the globe join all of us that have critical thinking in recognizing what the Republicans and Trump have done. Those of us that once believed in our country are ashamed and disgusted, to the point of wanting to vomit.
My father, and many men and women like him, fought for the dream that was once our country. The actions of Trump and the Republicans is like spitting on their graves.
As I did early in my life, I will continue to demonstrate and protest against this travesty that has become Amerikkka. They will NOT prevail.
(S. Novi is a journalist that worked in the media and continues to seek out truth and integrity. A liberal and one that is suspicious of cults and empty promises. Her posts originate at Medium.com. She is a contributor to CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
