Political extremists of all stripes are prone to conspiracy theories, witness the so-called 9/11 Truthers. The 9/11 Truthers are left-wing and right-wing activists—I am tempted to say lunatics– who believe, with precious little evidence, that the attacks of 9/11 were an inside job. They see any attempt to point out the lack of credible evidence for their belief as evidence of a conspiracy to supress the truth about the conspiracy. It’s all convoluted nonsense.
But now I’m starting to develop my own conspiracy theory, and I think I have more evidence for mine than the 9/11 Truthers have for theirs. You be the judge.
What is going on with the Republican Party? Given the changing demographics, everybody knows that the Republicans can’t win a national election without getting about 40 percent of the Latino vote. At this point, piñatas depicting Donald Trump, the Republican front runner, are popular at Mexican American parties.
How about those nasty-when-menstruating women who need to be pretty good looking to pass muster in Donald Trump’s view? Most women aren’t big fans of Trump or the GOP, and the gender gap promises to grow.
How about African Americans? Overweight Americans? Disabled Americans? Trump has trashed them all. Disabled Americans, too? Yep, he went out of his way to mock a disabled NY Times journalist who called into question Trump’s contention that thousands and thousands of Muslim Americans in New Jersey were dancing and celebrating on roof tops over the attacks of 9/11. The journalist, Serge Kovaleski, suffers from arthrogryposis – a congenital condition that affects joint movement. Trump said about Kovaleski, “Now, the poor guy – you’ve got to see this guy, ‘Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!'” Trump flayed his arms around the way Rush Limbaugh did when he was mocking Michael Jay Fox ‘s Parkinson disease. Trump has denied it, of course, the way he denied calling Carly Fiorina ugly. He claimed he was talking about her persona when he said, “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that? The face of our next president?” His enthusiastic followers either believed him or didn’t care.
Trump clearly isn’t counting on the Muslim American vote. In fact, Trump has suggested that maybe there should be a registry of Muslim Americans, and maybe Muslim Americans should be required to carry identity cards, and maybe some mosques should be closed down. These suggestions have even some Republicans openly calling him a fascist. Recently, when an African American protester at a Trump rally was knocked down, punched and kicked by Trump’s supporters, Trump suggested that maybe the man deserved to be roughed up. Has a fascist ring, doesn’t it?
Okay, here’s my conspiracy theory: Trump is a fascist. Emboldened by his support among Republican primary voters–support that only grows the more outrageously fascistic he sounds—he has decided he doesn’t want or need to win the election. Once he secures the Republican nomination, he will lead a fascist coup and overthrow the government.
Much of White America is gripped by demographic angst, economic insecurity, and a growing fear of terrorism. Large numbers of Americans are adherents of apocalyptic religious sects, and they’re armed to the teeth. Could they be seduced by a fascist strongman who promises to take the country back from Kenyan socialist types, outwit the Chinese who have stolen all the manufacturing jobs, and kill or lock up all the terrorists?
The way Trump stands with his mouth turned down and his head tilted slightly back looks very much like a Mussolini imitation. There are some parallels. Mussolini started out as a leftist. Trump used to be a Democrat. Mussolini was a swaggering macho asshole. Trump…well, you get the picture.
No Harm Spilt 