“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Donald Trump said this past November, in a campaign speech that was ostensibly honoring Veterans Day. “The real threat is not from the radical right; the real threat is from the radical left … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”
What immediately leaps out here is the word vermin, with its echoes of Hitler and Mussolini. But Trump’s inflammatory language can overshadow and distract from the substance of what he’s saying—in this case, appearing to promise a purge or repression of those who disagree with him politically.
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Trump himself has changed, too—the old Trump seemed to be running for office partly for fun and partly in service of his signature views, such as opposition to immigration and support for protectionism. Today’s Trump is different. His fury over his 2020 election defeat, the legal cases against him, and a desire for revenge against political opponents have come to eclipse everything else.
There are groups like the Socialist Rifle Association and Iron Front USA, which are listening and not inured. This or similar groups welcome new members all the time.
Not in any group, but I’m liberal, armed and practice shooting every weekend.
I am not inured to this rhetoric. I am paying attention. I am peaceful. I am not harmless.
Take that for what you will.
I’m glad and wish there were more of you!
I wonder how many people there are who are like him but (rightfully) too careful to advertise it publicly.
Again, I hope there are a lot. And I suspect you’re right. Except that advertising it ultimately becomes important, though as you point out, it is risky because the alt-right is filled with LEO.
It’s important to encourage other liberals and non-fascists to deplore violence and be firmly against the collapse of the union, but also ready for it.
Humans are herd animals. When they hear that people they identify with are preparing for a worst case, it destigmatizes it.
So do groups like SRA and Iron Front, which spend much of their time doing community service. But in that they provide a community and a sense that, wow, when the radical right in this country says they want a war and their lead candidate says he wanrs to kill us all, and they’re constantly buying guns, ammo, and armor… maybe they aren’t kidding.