“If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” — Adolf Hitler
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has made three statements during his campaign that should scare every American who prizes freedom and Democracy.
What Trump said: The election is rigged.
What’s dangerous about this statement? Well, for starters it foments public unrest. And, like many of his outlandish allegations, as of the writing of this column, the Trump camp has offered no evidence or support to the claim.
There has never been any proof, substantial or otherwise, that voter fraud has swayed the outcome of any recent, major election.
You think I am overreacting about the effect of Trump’s comments on his lackeys?
Here’s a quote from one of them from earlier this week:
“If she’s in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. That’s how I feel about it,” a man said of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. “We’re going to have a revolution and take them out of office if that’s what it takes. There’s going to be a lot of bloodshed.”
I have heard claims of election fraud going back to 2000. The election that year was marred by voters in Palm Beach who could not punch a stylus through a piece of paper. I voted for George W. Bush. Many Dems blindly cried voter fraud. The same groundless allegations were made again in 2004.
Trump, of course, has also implied the election is rigged because the news media is biased. The man has complained about media fairness since the campaign began, starting with juvenile and disgusting comments about Fox moderator Megyn Kelly.
According to a Washington Post story, Trump’s campaign received 822 minutes of screen time on nightly news broadcasts by ABC, CBS and NBC between Jan. 1 and Labor Day.
Andrew Tyndall, who tracks broadcast news trends, said it’s unlikely that any other presidential candidate in history has gotten more air time, the Post reported.
Clinton’s campaign got 386 minutes of air time, including 89 minutes spent on the investigation of her emails while she served as secretary of state, the newspaper reported.
What Trump said: Hillary belongs in prison.
Hey, Donald. This is America. We don’t imprison our political enemies. Such talk is rash, and again, dangerous.
Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Chairman Mao imprisoned their political enemies.
This whole furor over Clinton’s inappropriate handling of her emails while she was secretary of state is completely overblown. And, according to reports citing hacked emails sent by former GOP secretary of state Colin Powell, the Benghazi probe was a “stupid witch hunt” and his successor, Condoleezza Rice, agreed.
What Trump said: Russian President Vladimir Putin is a better leader than Barack Obama.
Not quite sure what Donald means by “better.” Does he mean “skirts the law and operates in the shadows to sponsor international unrest?” Does he mean “invades other countries at a whim?”
Hitler was probably a “better” leader than Obama, too, if the aim of governing is to kill innocent Jews in the crematoriums of Dachau and Buchenwald.
The bottom line: Trump doesn’t care about the future of America, the dignity of the presidency or the Constitution. Trump cares about Donald Trump, and he is willing to turn our country into a trashcan to gain and keep power.
