Where Do We Go From Here?

The world expressed shock over the assassination attempt of The Don. I was not shocked at all. I was actually surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not advocating  violence, but The Don’s violent rhetoric is what energizes his followers. His message is high octane testosterone charged virulence. As they say, what goes around comes around.

Please spare me all this nonsense that this is not who we are. America can do better than this, blah, blah, blah. If America wanted to do better than this it would just do it. It’s not rocket science. We are a country founded on violence that worships guns. Among high-income countries with populations over 10 million America ranks 1st in gun deaths. Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the US are 19 times greater than they are in France, and 77 times greater than in Germany. The U.S. has 33 times the rate of firearm homicide seen in Australia. The percentage of childhood death caused by firearms is off the charts compared to other countries. In America it is more important to protect the right of someone to have firearms than it is to ensure public safety.

The Don sells himself as the persecuted savior urging his people to “take back America.” Violence is not a bug, but a feature in his rhetoric. He told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” He encouraged thousands of supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6th. Policemen died and many were injured because of his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.

We all need to be reminded that during January 6th, he did nothing (for three hours) to stop the violence; he actually sat and watched it on TV. To him, it was the greatest tribute of all. His followers were willing to hang the vice president because he wouldn’t stop the electoral count. He tweeted out: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.” The unspoken part is: Do with him what you want. He deserves it. What an event that would have been, The vice president hung live on TV. For The Don it was a reality TV show where the consequences of his encouragement of violence and refusal to stop it were just part of the show. All I can say is what goes around comes around.

If you recall, during a BLM protests over George Floyd in Washington he asked: “Can’t we just shoot them in the legs?”

Threats of retribution to his disloyal detractors are chilling. Mark Milley’s phone call to reassure China in the aftermath of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, was according to The Don’s post on Truth Social: “an act so egregious, that in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.” (The phone call was, in fact, explicitly authorized by Trump-administration officials.) He has suggested that Liz Cheney should face a military tribunal!

His unabashed proclamations that he will weaponize the D.O.J. to prosecute a long list of his enemies and undo the constitution in order to seize absolute power, are chilling.

The Don loves it. He loves his supporters cheering him on when he ridicules people; he loves it when they cheer him on when he unleashes his hate on his enemies. He gives voice to their grievance and his own language of violence opens the door for his supporters to follow. All I can say is what goes around comes around.

The Republican party is now the Party of Trump and is fueled by the desire for retribution and a regressive anti-democratic idea that we need to put women in their proper place and attack diversity by establishing a White Male Supremacist Christian nation. He wants to set up internment camps for immigrants and deport millions of people; he supports restricting access to abortion, he is aligned with a party that wants to ban books that reflect the true history of our country or discuss issues that are meaningful to the LGBTQ community. It is an all out assault on democracy.

The Don’s claim that immigrants are poisoning our blood is language right out of the mouth of Hitler when referring to Jews. The truth is, The Don and his supporters and the shameless sycophants in Congress who fear his disapproval, are the ones poisoning our country. He is a dangerous, vindictive man who cares about nobody and nothing except adulation and power. He is capable of doing heinous things. If you don’t think he will do it, let me once again remind you that he seemed to relish the hanging of his own vice president. He has the capacity to do diabolical things and he will unleash his rage if he is in power again.

The difference between life and death was just a matter of inches. In all the chaos, fright and sadness that unfolded during the moments after the shooting, The Don decided to raise his fit multiple times to the excitement of his followers. His instinctual response was defiance and to rally the troops-to turn this almost death experience into the next episode of his reality TV show. Anyone expecting a “come to Jesus” moment, an “Oh My God,” I was almost killed reflection, that would humble him, is not paying attention to who this man is.

Unlike a real statesman, who would use this awful event to bring people together, he will use it to divide us further, increasing the rage and violence. He will use it to his advantage to deepen his image as a martyr, someone who is taking the hit for his followers. He will evoke his invincibility, he will bask in the glory of The Don who almost died for them. He will also deepen his hatred of his enemies and be more vile and dangerous than ever. The Don is incapable of humility. He is incapable of seizing this moment to talk the country down from the precipice. He will only be more fervent and righteous in his pursuit for absolute power. He will do nothing to bring the temperature down of his faithful. And the Supreme Court has given him immunity to do whatever he wants if it is considered an “official” act. Stunningly, the court decided that if The Don hired Seal Team 6 to execute an enemy that he can do that. 

I hope I’m wrong about my predictions. I’m hoping the right wing media doesn’t just amp this up to warp speed 4. I’m hoping The Don can tell his followers that  more violence is not the answer. I’m hoping the Republican Convention, which was already a place of grievance and retribution, will not encourage more violence. Hope is eternal, but very often not enough. I close with just a few statements made after the shooting.

“Let us know if there’s anything you would like 100 MILLION RED BLOODED AMERICAN PATRIOTS to do for our country,” “Say the word Sir, say the word.”

“HOW DOES ANYONE TRUST ANYTHING THIS GOVERNMENT/DOJ SAYS?? WE CAN’T.”

Don Jr.: “Dems and their friends in the media knew exactly what they were doing”

“Joe Biden sent the orders.”

“They tried to bankrupt him,” Ben Carson, the former Housing secretary, wrote on X. “They tried to slander him. They tried to imprison him. Now they have tried to kill him, but If God is protecting him, they will never succeed.”

Here’s J.D., Join the Devil, Vance, The Don’s pick for vice president. Vance once called The Don “America’s Hitler.” I guess Hitler isn’t so bad after all!

“Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

So where do we go from here? If The Don wins, I fear a very dark place.