Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump Isn't Inciting Violence by Mistake, But on Purpose. He Just Told Us.
By Jonathan Chait@jonathanchait
At a weekend rally, President Trump launched a riff that, even by the feverish standards of his closing campaign argument, stands out for its brutal authoritarian overtones. The president mocked Antifa demonstrators: You see these little arms, these little arms, he shouted, forming his fingers into tiny circles to illustrate their puny biceps. And then he invited his supporters to imagine these weaklings having to fight against Trumps own militant cadres. Where are the Bikers for Trump? Where are the police? Where are the military? Where are ICE? Where are the border patrol? No, he continued, lamenting the restraint his sentries have displayed, weve taken a lot, weve taken a lot.
Link to tweet
This is a revealing setpiece of authoritarian theater. There is, first of all, the evocation of strength as a moral signifier. Trumps people are strong and good, and his opponents weak and bad, a classically fascist ethos. Second, he conflates his private political militia, Bikers for Trump, with government agencies that are not supposed to operate as a political arm of the president (police, military, ICE.) Trump, of course, has always believed the governments law enforcement apparatus should be at his personal command, and has in fact deployed the military to the border for the benefit of his partys campaign messaging.
Third, as he has done throughout his presidency, he also conflates Antifa (the miniscule faction operating totally outside of, and frequently at odds with the Democratic Party) with the opposition as a whole. If the radical resistance and thats what they are, radical resistance they will move immediately to reverse Americas progress. The term radical resistance treats the political opposition writ large as a dangerous, violent, and essentially illegal movement. And finally, Trump is tantalizing his supporters with the prospect of bloodshed. Their side has been set upon, and yet despite all their strength, he imagines some form of excessive restraint has held them back from administering to their tormentors the beating they so clearly deserve. He is wafting into the air the scent of blood.
The Republican Party as a whole has echoed versions of this theme by Trump, depicting Democrats as a resistance mob. Trumps forays against violence play exactly the same role as his denunciations of corruption. He is magnifying marginal features of politics (Hillary Clintons speeches to Wall Street) in order to justify violations several orders of magnitude larger (Trump running a private, undisclosed business empire in office). Trump fixates on the negligible threat posed by Antifa not because he wants to build up the value of nonviolence but because he wishes to tear it down. Political violence is not the problem, it is the solution.
Trumps rhetoric about the non-party-controlled news fake news, enemies of the people reveals this strategy in a way that is far more insidious than even his critics in the media seem to grasp. Reporters have treated his rhetoric as a dangerous game with unintended consequences. The consequences seem to be very much Trumps intent.
more
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/trump-isnt-inciting-violence-by-mistake-he-just-told-us.html
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
5 replies, 971 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (22)
ReplyReply to this post
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Trump Isn't Inciting Violence by Mistake, But on Purpose. He Just Told Us. (Original Post)
DonViejo
Nov 2018
OP
dalton99a
(81,073 posts)1. Trump is a clear and present danger.
NastyRiffraff
(12,448 posts)2. Also:
Link to tweet
Law Enforcement has been strongly notified to watch closely for any ILLEGAL VOTING which may take place in Tuesdays Election (or Early Voting). Anyone caught will be subject to the Maximum Criminal Penalties allowed by law. Thank you!
Threatening voters, a classic authoritarian tactic.
Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)3. Where is the guy who smears that shit all over his face?
That in itself is felonious. One more day. He's truly shitfaced today.
Stuart G
(38,365 posts)4. k and r..nt
Duppers
(28,094 posts)5. K & R
Great article.
And here's this from the WaPo echoing and confirming some of this one's - worth the read:
Five reasons to be concerned about deploying U.S. troops along the southern border
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/11/05/5-reasons-to-be-concerned-about-deploying-u-s-troops-along-the-southern-border/?utm_term=.e0a75571cdc0