Sunday, January 30, 2022

John Dean v. Trump: This is Beyond Being a Demagogue to the Stuff of Dictators

Two Americas: One we love & honor then Trump’s

Astonishing rally speech from Trump in Texas (January 29) that is both downright scary and worrisome at the same time.  

Here is the full story from Rolling Stonealso covered by most other major news outlets with this headline (edited and formatted to fit the blog):

Trump Dangles Pardons for January 6 Rioters in Texas Rally Speech

Near the end of his meandering, 80-plus-minute address to a “Save America” rally crowd in Conroe, TX, Trump dangled the possibility of pardons for the insurrectionists who participated in a deadly breach of the Capitol on January 6 that was aimed at disrupting the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next — he said: “If I run, and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly.”

That Trump pledge of leniency came at the end of a speech in which he returned to his favorite theme: The dangers posed by undocumented immigrants and the need for harsh treatment of them. Trump fixated on illegal immigration, claiming Biden and Democrats had thrown open the United States to an “invasion and that countless lives were being lost thanks to undocumented immigration.”

Also, this part of his Texas rally rant is here from The Hill – it too is very concerning to say the least with this headline:

Trump calls for ‘biggest protest we've ever had if prosecutors do anything illegal’ in targeting him

Speaking at that same rally, Trump railed about the local and federal probes targeting his businesses and political activities saying:If these radical, vicious racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had ... in Washington DC, in New York, in Atlanta, and elsewhere because our country and our elections are corrupt.”

My note: I cannot in my life ever believe I would hear a former president ever say something like that.

A few minutes later Trump declared the nation was “moving on from COVID,” which BTW killed around 3,769 Americans one day before this Texas rant.

Railing against undocumented immigrants has been Trump’s go-to message since June 2015, when he simultaneously announced a presidential run and claimed that Mexico was not sending their best people, saying: “They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

That was at the same time he was best known as a has-been reality television host who’d kept himself in the public eye by becoming the promoter-in-chief of the lie that the first Black president, Barack Obama, had actually been born in Africa. 

In the first hour of his speech Trump largely blasted Joe Biden while pushing supporters to vote for the state and local officials he has endorsed. But totally eschewing mention of 2020 would require a modicum of discipline, or grace, or civic responsibility to counter his overwhelming need to talk about himself, so the rest of the speech grievances drifted into the personal as the said: “The 2020 election was rigged, and everyone knows it. You know who knows it more than anyone else? The Democrats.”

Note: Trump lost the Electoral College count by 64 votes and the popular tally by more than 7 million.

Ever since 2015 his focus has never been the country in word or deed. It’s always about him and nothing else. That is the hallmark of all his speeches as he meanders at the pleasure of his MAGA followers.

For example:

1. He bemoans and smirks transgender college athletes those of color mostly.

2. He stokes fear about Critical Race Theory (CRT) without even knowing its origin or purpose.

3. He accuses federal prosecutors now looking into his business dealings of being “sick and racist.”

4. He lies about climate change and mocks those who take it seriously.

5. He serves up an incoherent word salad that would be shocking were it not so utterly familiar every time he opens his mouth about “Poor whittle abused Donald, woe is me,” with tons of lies on top of lies built on nothing but base-line lies.”

That is all he knows what to do – being a skilled con artist to a crowd of loyalists while spinning a load of snake oil promises, and riling them up with his crap that has been his life-long honed skill – it’s in his DNA and he cannot change his ways.

My 2 Cents: GOP responses have been quick and stern on Trump’s pardon promise if reelected in 2024 for the January 6 Capitol rioters, two examples are here Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and here from former Nixon aide, John Dean who tweeted:This is beyond being a demagogue to the stuff of dictators. He is defying the rule of law.”

So, Mr. and Mrs. Trump Sycophant I ask you:Are you ready for the first ever American dictator if your ilk actually votes to put him back in the White House in 2024?”

It sure seems like from what I am hearing across GOP la-la land, which I might add is pretty pathetic as much as seeing and hearing from many on FOX (Tucker Carlson) and RW Talk Radio praising Putin recently about his stance towards Ukraine.

That too is very concerning as much as this related Trump story also: Trump tours the country endorsing GOP 2022 candidates to reinforce his “Big lie” regarding his 2020 loss.

Finally, if anyone truly wants to “Save America” then let’s save it from Trump and his evil, criminal, nasty, un-American ways as shown in this recent Texas rally speech.

Thanks for stopping by.


No comments: