Trump campaign becomes uglier
- By Mitchell Blatt
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 30, 2015
Colbert I. King, in the Washington Post, wrote, "That is how the Sturmabteilung, also known as the 'Storm Troopers' or Brownshirts, got their start. They were the bullies formed by Adolf Hitler in Germany in the 1920s to defend his rallies."
Trump hasn't said anyone should be "exterminated," but he has suggested Mexican illegal immigrants are rapists, and his language has been linked to violence. In August, two Trump supporters beat a homeless Mexican living in Boston. A group of thugs is now threatening Muslims in Irving, Texas by standing outside their mosque with loaded guns.
At one event, Trump nodded in approval while a questioner stated that Muslims are "a problem in this country" and asked, "When can we get rid of them?" Rather than shooting down his question, Trump answered affirmatively, saying, "We're going to be looking at a lot of different things."
As usual, Trump whined afterward that someone had been asking him a question, so it wasn't his fault.
Later, he tried to pretend he was only talking about creating a database of Syrian refugees - which already exists, since refugees are screened - but when ABC News asked straightforward, "Are you unequivocally now ruling out a database on all Muslims?" replied, "No, not at all."
Trump's supporters, and even some Republicans who oppose Trump, find the Nazi/fascist comparison unfair. They don't think it could happen in America. However, the point is to try to stop it before it even comes close to happening, not to excuse Trump's provocations.
Tragedies have happened in America before. Over 100,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and interned during World War II. A state senator in Rhode Island has suggested putting Syrian refugees into such camps.
Even though he's almost certainly not going to win the presidency, and even if none of his policies come to pass, Donald Trump has already put America on a dangerous path with his inflammatory language, and his campaign shows how a demagogue can co-opt the democratic process for bad.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm
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