Once more from Heather Cox Richardson,
Trump tipped his hand, though, when Wallace asked: "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down?” Trump demanded names of such groups, and Wallace named, among others, the Proud Boys, the hate group that helped to organize the riot in Charlottesville, Virginia. After hedging, Trump finally answered: "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left." "That's my president," the head of the Proud Boys posted on the social media chair that will still host them. Within an hour the group had new shoulder patches designed with the words “Stand Back and Stand By.” [Armed Forces veterans know this to be a call to prepare for combat. We cannot and must not allow him to get away with such egregious rhetoric.]
Trump called for his supporters to act as poll watchers to prevent a fraudulent vote. He is losing badly in Pennsylvania, a state he needs, and tonight he lied that Philadelphia election officials refused to permit his poll watchers to observe voting. “Bad things happen in Philadelphia,” he said, “bad things.” The truth is that seven satellite offices where voters can register and apply to vote, complete, and drop off mail in ballots opened in Philadelphia. Poll watchers are not allowed because there is no polling taking place. Trump’s calls for poll watchers are pretty clearly calls for voter intimidation.
Tonight, again, Trump refused to commit to accepting a Biden victory, saying that he could not agree to fraudulent results. He suggested the election could take months to solve, and that he “definitely” wants the Supreme Court, including his new nominee Amy Coney Barrett, to “look at the ballots.” (Democrats have said Barrett should recuse herself from any election-related cases; Republicans say that is “absurd.”)
It was a performance designed to show a strong man who is calling out his armed supporters to enable him to seize an election he cannot win freely. [But what it really showed was a weak, pathetic, shell of a man who has no clue how to do anything other than try to mount a Fascist takeover of a free country.]
But Trump performed as he did because it’s all he’s got. He has no policies, no platform, no plans that he can sell to the American people, and no attention span either to govern or to explain how he wants to govern.
There's an important contrast between 20th Century European Fascist movements and what Trump is doing. In Germany and Italy, the people had no historical reference point to draw on to recognize the impending ramifications of what Hitler and Mussolini were doing. We now know what to expect and will not succumb to the deception so easily as a country or an electorate.
As we stay focused and we remain resolute, he will not be able to withstand our resistance.
*****
Evan McMullin, a former CIA intelligence officer who ran for president as an independent in 2016, tweeted yesterday. See below the bottom-line key takeaway from disclosure of Trump's tax information by the New York Times on Sunday.
Who owns Donald Trump?
— Evan McMullin (@EvanMcMullin) September 29, 2020
So yours truly went to (updated link) makestickers.com and designed the image above. Feel free to order your own bumper stickers using my design or come up with one on your own. Let's make it go viral.
In the event any trumpsters decide to take issue with the question, smile and simply say that you're asking the question, not providing any answer.
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