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| Taken from DonaldJTrump.com |
First they came for
the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the
Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the
Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for
me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
~ Pastor Martin Niemöller
Donald Trump is not the United States of America’s version
of Adolf Hitler. However, Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels,
would certainly understand and appreciate Trump’s tactics of gaining political
support by picking on a minority religious group and telling big lies enough
times they begin to sound like truth to many. Trump’s invective against the Muslims
reached a new moral low when he called for “a total and complete shutdown of
Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can
figure out what the hell is going on.”
This pronouncement comes fast on the heels of Trump’s statement
that the U.S. should “strongly consider” shutting down certain mosques in the
United States (likely unconstitutional).
Trump indicated he is open to the idea of a Muslim registry
because “we’re going to have to do things we never did before.” Is it much of a
step from a Muslim registry to forcing Muslims to prominently display a star
and crescent moon on their persons to make the rest of us aware we might not be
safe in their presence?
I know; you’re thinking we would never do something like
that, right? The German people never anticipated Hitler’s final solution, did
they?
Your rights of free speech? Not so much if that free speech
happens to infringe on The Donald’s sensibilities. When a Black Lives Matter
advocate tried to interrupt one of his rallies and was reportedly pushed to the
ground and kicked, his response was, “Maybe he should have been roughed up,
because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.”
We in the United States have a history or forgetting our
ideals, not to mention our laws, in times of perceived national security
crisis. Abraham Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus and ignored a Supreme Court’s ruling that his act was
illegal; Roosevelt illegally interred Japanese citizens; Bush authorized
torture, and Obama continued Bush’s practice of allowing illegal information
gathering on U.S citizens.
Trump admits that he is willing to break international law
by reinstituting President Bush’s authorization of waterboarding. He’s willing
to ignore the constitution if it does not suit his purposes. He is
Machiavellian with his ends-justify-the-means positions. When he has no
arguments to refute his detractors he relies on ad hominem attacks against the
person rather than disputing their ideas.
Trump exhibits the characteristics of a playground bully.
Like any bully, the earlier we stand up to him and call out his lies, the
better it will be for everyone, including Trump.
~ Jim
