The Inciter-in-Chief

It has now gotten to the point where Donald Trump is actively urging his audiences to engage in violence against peaceful protesters. This is a kind of threshold.  Any doubt that Trump really is something more sinister, more irresponsible, and more dangerous than the usual right-wing candidate should be put to rest by these incitements alone.

History makes abundantly clear that the time to resist and defeat this kind of demagogue is most emphatically not when the snow ball is already rolling down the hill. It is already late in the game.

It was late in the game when Charlie Chaplin made his famous speech in the movie The Great Dictator.  http://youtu.be/dX25PDBb708

For those who think that the threat that Trump poses is being overstated because he’s a harmless entertainer, or because he’s an easterner (someone actually said this to me), or because he’ll be fine once he’s in there and controlled by Washington D.C., I suggest you pay more attention.

Just this week, he stated that he would turnover decisions about military affairs 100% to the generals. This goes against one of the most fundamental aspects of our constitutional tradition: civilian control over the military.

The only public fora we have seen Donald Trump run have been his political rallies. We ignore his incitement to violence at our peril.  He shamelessly ridicules peaceful protesters saying things like, “Go home to your mama,” “In the old days he would be taken out on a  stretcher,” and “I’d like to punch him in the face myself.”

Progressives who think that the positive change that we have experienced in this country over the past half century is not reversible are not paying any attention to history. The Supreme Court does not have an army. The Congress does not have an army. The President has an army. Wake up.

Terry McGinty

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