A new ugliness in American political life

Last updated on: September 22, 2016 at 10:57 am by Dan Peterson

A new ugliness in American political life 2016-09-22T10:57:45-06:00 Dan Peterson

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The massacre at Haun’s Mill, depicted here in a nineteenth-century painting by C. C. A. Christensen, occurred on 30 October 1838, three days after Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued Missouri Executive Order 44, the so-called “Extermination Order,” in which he declared that “the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace.” (Wikimedia Commons)

Alden Weight called this disturbing item to my attention.

It involves Rina Shah, a Republican of Indian background who is the communications director for Evan McMullin’s independent presidential campaign.

Warning: It’s vile. And, although the worst words have been bleeped out, it’s not difficult to know what they were:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/21/a-trump-supporter-left-a-racist-voicemail-for-a-mcmullin-staffer-so-the-candidate-made-it-an-ad/

I won’t say that such hateful, bigoted, and essentially tyrannical sentiments represent most Trump supporters, let alone all of them. I know many people who have reluctantly decided to vote for Mr. Trump as the only way to prevent a Clinton presidency. These aren’t bigots; they’re just desperate and resigned. But even among those who (very misguidedly, in my judgment) backed Mr. Trump from the beginning, a sizable number aren’t hateful bigots. They’re just deeply unhappy about the direction in which our country is going.

I understand that. I’m profoundly unhappy, too.

But, in my opinion, there’s far, far too much of the sort of hatred and latent violence in and around the Trumpist movement for me to be comfortable with it. There are disturbing parallels to the rise of fascism in early twentieth-century Europe, to the brownshirts and the Sturmabteilung, and they aren’t just imaginary.

This was among the first concerns that finally led me to decide that, in good conscience, I could not support Mr. Trump, who not only seems unfazed by the violence and threatened violence that have too often accompanied Trumpist events, but who has, on more than a few occasions, plainly encouraged such expressions.

Consider this encounter between Senator Ted Cruz, back when he was still a candidate for the presidency, and a group of Trumpists:

Whatever you think of Senator Cruz, he attempted to be reasonable and respectful in this conversation. The Trumpists didn’t. “Lyin’ Ted!” “Are you Canadian?” “We don’t want you!”

It’s an appalling and shameful little episode.

There’s far too much of this in the 2016 presidential contest. And the blame for it can be laid squarely at the feet of the demagogic Donald Trump. He may not have created such angry, hateful, bigoted sentiments, but he’s encouraged them, and he hasn’t repudiated them.

To me, opposition to this sort of ugliness is an imperative moral duty that transcends partisan politics.

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