"We Cannot Afford to Turn a Blind Eye" -Joyce Vance

 

…Trump’s continued presence in the public square is damaging and unpleasant. His rhetoric is hard to tolerate. I had a conversation recently with someone who told me they couldn’t take another election cycle with Trump in it and planned to isolate themselves for the duration. I understand the feeling, but I want to encourage you not to do that. It’s important to listen to the things he says, to understand precisely what he intends to do, and to face it squarely in order to defeat it. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye.

Here’s what Trump had to say over the weekend in a speech commemorating Veterans Day, where he repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen: “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections…They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream.”

The use of the word “vermin” is a surprisingly precise and archaic choice of language for a man with a limited vocabulary. Too much so to be coincidental with the Nazis’ use of the German word for vermin, “ungeziefer”, to describe and dehumanize Jews. Trump clearly understands the power of marginalizing segments of the population by dehumanizing them, as he sets up a future where loosely defined “communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs,” as well as, presumably, immigrants with brown skin and his political opponents, are less than human and not deserving of the protections and rights Trump allows his followers.

Former Biden spokesperson Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC host, said it perfectly: “If elected to a second term, Trump would prosecute anyone he deems an enemy, unleash troops on protesters, and essentially unravel the rule of law as we know it. And this time, he plans to line his administration with people who actually will help him do it.”

That’s Trump’s formal promise to end democracy unless we vote and do everything we can to keep it from happening…

-Joyce Vance