Dog Whistles Howling In The Final Days Of Trump’s Reign Of Terror
By Ed Kociela
Even though time is running out on the president’s term, I’m nervous.
I’m not concerned about Donald Trump and the nuclear codes. When crazy took hold last week, military leaders reconfirmed that they are not obliged to carry out an illegal order regardless of who gives it. There is a moral line in the sand that even the most hardboiled generals will not breach.
I do worry, however, about the course of the next few weeks.
There’s a big pro-gun rally scheduled for Sunday followed, on Jan. 20, by the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Trump, in a terse message to his followers, confirmed what we all suspected for some time now – that he will not attend the ceremonies. But, from all the chatter going on in the darker corners of social media, the president’s foot soldiers in this insurgence are promising to fortify their numbers and show up in his stead. The dog whistle message behind the president’s affirmation that he will not be present at the inauguration is that these domestic terrorists should now feel free to do whatever they choose at the inauguration because he will not be in the crowd, safely whisked away to some hidey-hole with a big screen TV, an industrial-sized bag of Big Macs, and his dwindling huddle of lackeys. The exercise last week could have just been a warm-up for the insurgents to get their bearings on the Capitol.
We have learned that the group of insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol last week had maps indicating the hidden tunnels and passageways of the building, that they were in pursuit of Vice President Mike Pence, who they said should be hanged on the Capitol steps, and, of course, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and any random Democrats they could lay their hands on, all incited to this level of violence by a bat-shit crazy, populist authoritarian demagogue. They came powerfully armed as investigators reveal that they found guns, ammunition caches, homemade bombs, and other tools of violence that these insurgents brought with them to Washington, D.C. Thankfully, only their incompetence kept them from running up a horrendous body count, spurred on by the president.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Trump told the rabble assembled at a so-called Stop The Steal rally last Wednesday at The Ellipse, a 52-acre park just south of the White House. “Demand that Congress do the right thing…fight like hell.”
And, they did, heeding his call to march to the Capitol and disrupt Congress, which had gathered to certify the Electoral College votes. Their goal? To invalidate the Nov. 3 election, which Joe Biden and Kamala Harris handily won.
I must admit that despite all of his deleterious words and deeds since taking office four years ago I was actually starting to feel a modicum of compassion for the man as his world came crashing down on him after losing the election. It was, I thought, the charitable, humane thing to do because, in spite of it all, because it was painful to watch him disintegrating in front of our very eyes, even if it was Donald John Trump and his pain and suffering were self-inflicted. But, we soon learned that while the Capitol was under siege and our elected leaders were in fear for their lives, Trump was calling them, asking them to vote against certification of the Electoral College results. It made me feel embarrassed and naïve to think that I expended righteous humane emotion on an unrepentant narcissist willing to trade human lives for four more years in the White House. I should have known better because of Trump’s repeated reluctance to condemn violence, from his refusal to repudiate the white nationalist thugs in Charlottesville, to his shout outs to the radical Proud Boys. I guess there are people who are so far beyond redemption, who are so steeped in madness, who are so delusional that it doesn’t matter because they would not understand a kindness offered.
I also know that it is difficult to look at somebody with charity in your heart when they perpetuate odious behavior.
Hours into Wednesday’s insurrection, Trump offered up a video message in which he asked the insurgents to go home, but only after spewing more hate and subversion with repeated unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, telling his foot soldiers that they are “very special people.” Those close to the president have leaked that the video was put together under protest by Trump who had to be convinced that if he didn’t do it Pence was ready to drop the 25th Amendment card on him.
To appease his staff, the president offered this kerosene-soaked Tweet:
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
First of all, these are not “very special people” unless you consider traitorous behavior by people with hate in their hearts to be “special.”
Second, we know what the vote count was. We know how it was vetted from coast to coast, inside out, that there is no suspicion from rational people that the fix was in.
Third, the insurgents are not and never will be “great patriots.” Great patriots to do not subvert the Constitution by attempting a coup; they do not trash the house of the people; they do not go on lynching raids to kill a sitting vice president and Speaker of the House.
There is an accountability that must be taken. There are others, of course, who participated in this insurrection – from Rudy Giuliani who suggested going to combat to overturn the election to the thugs who busted up the Capitol. But, that accountability begins and ends with the president, who is not only responsible for inciting this crowd to sedition, but should also be considered for criminal charges in the death of the police officer who was killed while defending the Capitol, Congress, and vice president.
The president has had a pernicious effect on our country and while we may feel sorry for his deranged mental condition and behavior, we cannot allow our compassion and humanity to get in the way of what must be done and that is to remove him from office as soon as possible.
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There are always 3 sides to a coin. In between heads & tails is the heart that pumps life through our body. The insurgents were heartless, but let’s put them in perspective as a fringe group of radicalized Americans that feel disenfranchised to the point of desperation. Not defending here, rather there is another perspective. The President acted negligently by failing to realize the ramifications of his rhetoric. He played with fire and this time it backfired and innocent people died as a result. Call this a lack of emotional intelligence, or for that matter stupidity, either way, he is indirectly responsible. Meanwhile 400K Americans will have died from SARS CoV 2 by the end of this month. Vaccination roll out is a complete SNAFU. Add to that perhaps the coldest winter in history coming this year. Oops, forgot to mention the depression / great recession ahead as well. Put that in perspective and you realize this debacle is a distraction and worse yet, a potential catalyst for civil war if we do not focus in 1st things 1st. We need unity, and sadly more angst and division coming to a black screen near you. Tom Petty. – free falling. – where it stops nobody knows. America is on acid and it is not a good trip.