There is one thing that the American people can rely upon when it comes to Donald Trump. Any problem he encounters, he will make worse. He hasn’t the foggiest notion how to be a healing force during times of hardship and distress. That’s because he has no capacity for empathy. To the contrary, he is fueled by hatred, vengeance, and self-interest.
The nation is enduring historic challenges. In the midst of a global pandemic that has already taken more than 100,000 American lives, and thrust the country into an economic collapse that recalls the Great Depression, we are also coming to terms with the long-simmering consequences of systemic racism.
This is a time that cries out for strong, compassionate leadership. Unfortunately, we are stuck with a former reality TV game show host who hasn’t the experience, knowledge, common sense, or human decency, to lead us out of danger, much of which is the result of his own negligence, incompetence, and even deliberate malfeasance.
Rather than trying to bring the nation together and resolve the escalating tensions, Trump spent Saturday morning inciting more anxiety and violence. He is not the least bit interested in resolution. His only goal to exacerbate the animosity that he has worked so hard to incite. His Twitter tirade was bursting with a egomaniacal glee at the prospect of hurting his perceived enemies. It reads like a bizarre, bombastic melodrama that could only have emanated from a malevolent mind. It hardly needs commentary. So here it is unabridged:
Great job last night at the White House by the U.S. @SecretService. They were not only totally professional, but very cool. I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe. They let the “protesters” scream & rant as much as they wanted, but whenever someone….
….got too frisky or out of line, they would quickly come down on them, hard – didn’t know what hit them. The front line was replaced with fresh agents, like magic. Big crowd, professionally organized, but nobody came close to breaching the fence. If they had they would….
….have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen. That’s when people would have been really badly hurt, at least. Many Secret Service agents just waiting for action. “We put the young ones on the front line, sir, they love it, and….
….good practice.” As you saw last night, they were very cool & very professional. Never let it get out of hand. Thank you! On the bad side, the D.C. Mayor, @MurielBowser, who is always looking for money & help, wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved. “Not their job.” Nice!
The professionally managed so-called “protesters” at the White House had little to do with the memory of George Floyd. They were just there to cause trouble.The @SecretService handled them easily. Tonight, I understand, is MAGA NIGHT AT THE WHITE HOUSE???
These are “Organized Groups” that have nothing to do with George Floyd. Sad!
Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis will never be mistaken for the late, great General Douglas McArthur or great fighter General George Patton. How come all of these places that defend so poorly are run by Liberal Democrats? Get tough and fight (and arrest the bad ones). STRENGTH!
It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left. Don’t lay the blame on others!
Trump’s prose is reminiscent of the sort of bad fan fiction that reeks of pretentious, incoherent blather. He describes how he “watched every move” from his White House window as if it were a horror marathon on Netflix. He cheers his “heroes” as they “quickly come down on” the bad guys, who are, in fact, protesting citizens. And he is thrilled by how his protectors are “replaced with fresh agents, like magic.” He is virtually drooling at the thought of “the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons” being brought to bear on protesters so that they would be “really badly hurt, at least.” It’s a measure of sadism that is frightening in any world “leader.”
It’s hard to even fathom why Trump is perversely titillated by “the young ones” being “on the front line” and loving it. But it isn’t surprising that he would make it political by attacking the Democratic Mayor of Washington, D.C. He also went after the mayor of Minneapolis for not being like a couple of wartime army generals, as if that is that is what mayors are supposed to be like. Everything to Trump is combat.
Trump repeatedly maligned the protesters as being “professionally managed,” “organized groups.” That may be true. Except that it looks like they were managed by right-wing, white supremacists who were present in abundance as agents provocateur. And Trump closed his diatribe with allusions to Antifa, a loose assembly of mostly imaginary anti-fascist activists that Trump opposes, presumably due to his affinity for fascism. That affinity is borne out by his intentions to deploy the military against American citizens. Which is an abomination generally reserved for brutal dictators, like the ones Trump so admires. It’s a nauseating notion that was righteously slapped down by Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics:
Trump stoking fires isn't only about distraction. It's a Hail Mary pass by a panicked authoritarian. Just as he throws bodies on the COVID fire, he throws others at civil unrest. It's plan B: if he can't win the election, he'll burn down the country and hope what's left is his.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 30, 2020
Trump is scared and desperate as his polling declines along with his prospects for reelection. He’s even losing many former Republican supporters. He knows his time up and he’s frantically scrambling to preserve whatever sliver of power he can by pandering to his most repugnant cult followers. These tweets are more examples of Trump “glorifying violence,” which led to Twitter tagging previous tweets as violations of Twitter’s standards. And more of the same – or worse – can be expected as he continues to spiral ever more downward into the abyss of his dementia.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
