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PRS* XXIII We Must Not Normalize Trump

PRS* XXIII We Must Not Normalize Trump

Last updated on: October 23, 2024 at 1:26 pm by Henry Karlson

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PRS* XXIII We Must Not Normalize Trump 2024-10-23T13:26:41-05:00 Henry Karlson

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DonkeyHotey: Donald Trump Caricature / flickr

I don’t understand how anyone could treat the current presidential election in the United States as normal. I can understand why those who want Donald Trump to win would want us to believe it is normal and do everything to act like it is normal. I can appreciate why those who own some media services and want Trump to win will do all they can to make the public think he is normal, hiding all the that he does which shows he is far from normal (and possibly, suffering from dementia). But, it must be made clear, Trump is not normal. The election is not a normal election. If Trump regains the presidency, especially if the Republicans take the Senate and hold onto the House, he is likely to change the United States and its system of government so that, as he has himself said, those who support him will not need to ever vote again.

Trump should not be normalized. Everyone who has the ability to do so should make it clear that he is not normal. Not only did he try to orchestrate an insurrection to take over the presidency when he lost the last election, not only has he been found culpable for all kinds of crimes like rape, not only is he indicted for many other crimes, including ones which suggest treason, what he keeps saying he wants to do if he were president again should show us how dangerous he is and the threat he represents, not only to the United States, but to the world.

The voters must make it clear: we cannot accept Trump and what he represents. He, and what he represents, must not be normalized. He must not be seen as an acceptable candidate. What he has said he would do should be enough to show why normalizing Trump is normalizing the dissolution of the social order. He says he plans to go after his political enemies, to imprison them. He has also made it clear, he thinks many rogue nations, like Russia, should be free to take over the land of other nations without restraint. He thinks Israel should engage in outright genocide, and he plans to help them do so. He thinks the rich should be able to get richer without restraint. He dehumanizes migrants and refugees, and says he wants to round them up and deport them en masse.

There is no way someone who has shown great criminal intent in the past, who has been found culpable of criminal activity like rape, someone who thinks nothing of the dignity of others, that is, someone who does not respect human dignity, should have as much power as Trump wants to possess. We have seen, time and time and time again, what happens when such people attain such power – they undermine the system of government and radically change it so that they can remain in control for the rest of their lives (that is, they establish a means by which they can become a dictator). The threats they made when they had no power prove to be more than mere threats, as they make sure what they promised to do to their political enemies and rivals, as well as all those who spoke out against them, face their wrath and suffer the consequences of opposing them.

Those who know history, have seen how this has happened many times before. It is why we should never say it can’t happen in the United States. The patterns of history seem to be repeating. The way Trump is being normalized after all he has said and done shows it is happening. One great example of this is in the way he was welcomed to and treated at the recent Al Smith Charity Dinner. There, he was treated as a typical candidate. There, he found Cardinal Dolan once again doing his bidding, that is, propping him up, ignoring all the ways Trump undermines the Catholic understanding of social justice, indeed, all the ways Trump has been going after and attacking Catholics (the migrants and refugees who he demonizes are often Catholics, and in the past, when he held power, he sent them out of the United States and to their deaths), let alone Catholic morality (as can be seen in his series of marriages, mistresses, and playboy attitude, or his embrace of greed over the common good), or even respecting Catholics (which was demonstrated by the way Trump treated the dinner itself, swearing in front of the people there, telling them he didn’t care what they thought). Cardinal Dolan suggested that Trump coming to the dinner should make Catholics respect Trump more than Harris, who did not come, but in reality, it should make Catholics question what is going on with Dolan and his inability to speak truth to power. Some might say that as Jesus dinned with sinners, so there should be no problem with Trump being at the Al Smith Dinner, but the difference is that the Al Smith Dinner was a political event, and it served to normalize and treat Trump as a respectable candidate. Jesus did not prop up the powers that be and the social injustice they created, but rather, as seen in the way he cleared the Temple, he confronted them. Indeed, it was his confrontation with those in positions of power and authority, while showing respect and humanizing the poor and the oppressed, which led those in power to decide that Jesus had to be taken out, that is, it is what led to their decision to have him crucified.

The Al Smith dinner was a disgrace this year. I cannot but support Harris’s decision not to be there. It was not a slight against Catholics. Cardinal Dolan and his abuse of the dinner to help normalize those who should not be normalized is the one who shows disrespect to Catholics. He is telling us to respect and support one who shows no respect or support for human dignity. He was not dinning with sinners to help share God’s love, he was dining with them to promote them, perhaps even to receive his own share of their glory. Yes, he is still a Cardinal, but his political actions do not stand as a representation of the church; they only serve and represent his own personal interests. And, while the dinner itself has a good history, its use to promote the unacceptable in the present circumstances goes against that history – and so, by not going in person, Harris is making it clear that she will not be used by the corruption of the dinner to help normalize Trump. We likewise, should reject those who would have us normalize Trump, to treat him and the election as if it were just another election. It isn’t.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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