The Election Of Our Lifetime

Led by Donald Trump, democracy in the United States is under attack. The forces of bigotry, including anti-semitism, have been unleashed by him.

The advocates of “White Power” intend that the United States become a white Christian nation, abandoning people of color and other religions. Blacks, Hispanics and Jews are their targets … just as they were Hitler’s.

At first, there were Jewish people in Germany who supported Hitler, people who ignored the warnings in what he said and wrote. We all know how that turned out. Similarly, today there are Jewish people in the United States who support Trump, not realizing what his dog whistles to white supremacists and his destruction of democracy will mean for them, their children, grandchildren and friends.

Many voters feel threatened by the continued presidency of Trump, who has no regard for science and believes in disparaging anyone who disagrees with him. He is increasingly consolidating power in his hands by surrounding himself with yes-men. Hitler did the same thing.  Jewish people will once again become scapegoats for the administration’s shortcomings. So what can we do?  Some German Jews, during the rise of Hitler, asked the same question.

In the Presidential debate, Trump refused to condemn a white supremacist group called “Proud Boys” and encouraged them to “standby.” They took that as clear support and as a signal to wait for a call to action. If there was ever any doubt where Trump stands on hate groups, his refusal to condemn and his overt support of hate groups was unequivocal.

Our options are limited but meaningful:

• We can leave the United States, as many Germans who survived did.
• We can vote Trump out. We will if we turn out in the numbers that we’re capable of, including all Democrats and others that fear a Trump dictatorship.
• We can boycott businesses and propaganda networks (i.e., FOX News) that support the rise of a dictator.
• In addition to taking the presidency from Trump, we must take control of the Senate by financially supporting candidates across the country who oppose Trump’s acolytes.

In the past, when we have selected our candidate of choice (Republican or Democrat), we have still been able to respect people who voted for his or her opponent. We recognized that people are entitled to differing views. The nation and the politics have become so polarized that today this is difficult.  

We are living in two separate universes, with distinctly separate facts, ethics, and goals. The morass of dictatorship is upon us, where the “ends justify the means”, where anything, no matter how repugnant, hypocritical, or unethical is justified by “the ends”. 

Eight months before the election, after the death of Supreme Court Judge Anthony Scalia and submission to the Senate of Merrick Garland for confirmation as his replacement, Mitch Mc Connell justified not holding hearings by saying let the people decide in the coming election.

Four years later, and just six weeks before the election (when citizens are already voting in multiple states), Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and Amy Coney Barrett was nominated. Mitch Mc Connell and every Trump sycophant in the Senate is eager to ram hearings through before the election results are known.  THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS … and thus democracy dies and dictatorship begins.

Your vote in 2020 will affect your future and the future of your children and your grandchildren. It will very likely be the most significant vote you ever cast.