The Continuing Threat of Trumpism                     #161

by Hank Silverberg 

Donald Trump is no longer president, and frankly, despite all the talk that he will run again in 2024, I doubt he will ever be president again. But his presence on the political stage will most likely haunt us for a decade or more. 

That was clear this past weekend when Trump was the featured speaker at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Committee. 

I won't go into all the rhetoric and nonsense that the committee focused on or what Trump said.  Much of it was fiction, some of it was nasty politics, and some of it just plain nonsense. But I will cite just one as an example: at CPAC they said there were 1,311cases of voter fraud and 1,130 criminal convictions to back up their claim of a fraudulent election. That figure, from the Conservative  Heritage Foundation, is correct. But what CPAC didn't say and the Heritage Foundation study did say, was that most of those cases were individual voters and that the number includes all state, local and national elections dating back 39 years, to 1982. That's out of BILLIONS of votes cast. 

The danger of Trumpism lingers and we should worry about it. It can be explained by this photo of Golden Trump at CPAC. 

(Screenshot from video by William Turton) 

My first reaction was biblical. Remember the story many of us learned in Sunday school about the Sin of the Golden Calf  (חֵטְא הַעֵגֶּל) from Exodus 32:4? It should be clear to everyone that idol worship of Donald Trump does not bode well for this country. Americans may have strayed from our basic beliefs as much as the freed Hebrew slaves did at the base of Mount Sinai, and we have no Moses to correct it. I am hoping we don't have to spend 40 years in a political desert to find that out. I also hope there were at least a few clergymen who included this thought in their virtual or in-person sermons on Friday night or Sunday morning.  

My second more contemporary reference  of course

(Mao's statue at East China Univ)

was Mao Zedong's "Cult of Personality." It began with his 4,000 mile "Long March" in 1934. It was perpetuated long after his death in 1976 by his picture or likeness all across the People's Republic of China and his "Little Red Book." 

Th cult and ideology he created was Communist China. That country is a bit different now than in Mao's time, but Red China remains intact and is closing in on 100 years of  oppression. Long March - HISTORY

Of course, America has had a few of its own authoritarian leaders in the past, though not at the top. Huey Long, the Depression-era Governor of Louisiana comes to mind. The "Kingfish," as he was known, broke all the rules maybe even more than than Trump did, and used his populist connection with the working class to build a corrupt political machine that survived long after he was assassinated in 1935. 

So, one must wonder how many Trumpites there are at the state and local level who will grab onto Trump's legacy and lead us down a path we really should not go. They don't have a "Little Red Book" to go on (Trump doesn't read books, much less write one), but they still have Newsmax and Fox News to lead them astray.   

Much of the Trumpite attention has focused on high profile members of  Congress. There's Majorie Taylor-Greene, the wacky and devout Trump supporter and Congresswoman from Georgia, who still says the election was stolen. And there is Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin who continued to claim during a hearing last week that the January 6th insurrection was the work of "provocateurs" and "fake Trump protestors." Despite the five deaths and hundreds of video streams showing beatings, assaults and violence, to Johnson it "didn't seem like an armed insurrection."  Well, there were no tanks!

 This past week the Associated Press reviewed statements and social media posts of nearly 1,000 federal, state and local elected and appointed Republican officials across the country who have voiced support for the insurrection or have demanded that the election results be overturned.   

Some local GOP leaders fire up base with conspiracies, lies | Hosted (ap.org)

These leaders continue to fire up Trump supporters with Q-Anon conspiracies, the myth of voter fraud and other fiction, and in many cases it is ripping the Republican party apart at its roots. Nowhere is that more evident than here in Virginia where gubernatorial candidate and gun toting State Senator Amanda Chase has promoted herself as "Trump in heels."  

All eyes will be on Virginia, which is currently in the hands of a Democratic majority in the General Assembly and a Democratic governor. The Republican establishment is so afraid of Chase's Trump-like tactics and so tired of losing that they have decided to nominate one of the four other candidates in a bizarre pandemic-era convention to be held in a parking lot, instead of letting Chase compete in a primary.

Therefore, it's likely Chase will not get the nomination and could mount a third party campaign, pretty much assuring another Democratic governor from among a field of four candidates. That's probably a good thing for now. But we do need at least TWO functional political parties to keep each other honest. 

Unstimulating:

As CPAC was meeting, the House was voting on President Biden's $1.9 TRILLION Covid-19 relief package. Included would be another $1400 stimulus check for everyone making under $75,000, a $400 boost in unemployment insurance until August, money to help local school districts reopen and more funding for distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.   

Every single Republican voted against it! It was approved anyway by the Democrats and moves on to the Senate where the Democrats have a slim majority. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls it a "missed opportunity." The GOP has issues with part of the package which would raise the federal  minimum wage to $15.00 an hour.   

Stimulus Package Passed by House a 'Missed Opportunity' Says Mitch McConnell (msn.com)

There are millions of Americans who will benefit from this legislation. It's likely the Senate will reject it because of the minimum wage provision. And then it will be reworked without that part and eventually pass. But how many people will be evicted, lose their homes or go hungry in the mean time? 

I should note that the minimum wage is no longer about that 16-year-old high school kid working at a fast food joint after school for extra money. Millions of Americans work 40 hour weeks on minimum wage and can't pay the bills. The last time the minimum wage was increased was July 24, 2009 when it went up to $7.25 an hour or $15,080 a year if you worked full time. Try living on that. The 11 year gap is the longest period without a raise in the history of the minimum wage.     

It's now been 11 years since we raised the federal minimum wage (fastcompany.com)  

Speaking of Taylor-Greene:

The Congresswoman is now at the top of my list as "the dumbest member of Congress," though Senators Ron Johnson and Ted Cruz are right behind her (yes, Lindsey Graham is still in contention).

Another video has emerged of Taylor-Greene walking down the halls of a congressional office building saying she was going to make Muslim members of Congress swear their oaths of office on "The Bible" instead of the Koran. Video resurfaces of Marjorie Taylor Greene wanting Muslim congresswomen to retake oaths on Bible - YouTube

I wanted to show you the video but apparently it has been redirected so many times I could not post it here. But just click on the link above to see it. 

Forget for a minute about the racism in this comment. (I know that's hard). But think about what she is saying. That you can only take the oath if you swear on the Christian Bible? Here is a member of Congress who knows little about her own office. Here is the official oath for Congressmembers:  

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God" 

(Note: In contrast to the presidential oath, where it’s used only by tradition, the phrase “so help me God” has been part of the official oath of office for non-presidential offices since 1862).

But there is no requirement that a bible or any religious object be used, and in fact Article VI, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution specifically says "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office of public Trust under the United States."

So once again, Taylor-Greene shows her ignorance. I bring this up because it appears to me, more and more, that many new members of Congress are simply uneducated about the job they have been elected to do or American history. Taylor-Greene is the most visible example. 

(Photo credit: The Hill) 

Other nominees for "dumbest members" include Q-Anon supporter Loren Boebert of Colorado, who judging by the view of the shelf behind her during a recent zoom hearing, doesn't know how to safely secure the guns she continuously touts. She claimed they were not being stored, but were "ready for use".

Then there is Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, the youngest member of  Congress at 25, who lied about the accident that cost him use of his legs. And he lied about his rejection of admission to the Naval Academy and his academic credentials. All of this before he was elected.   

That too, seems to be the Trump legacy. 

The New Dominion:

(This sign in Fredericksburg,
 VA will be gone soon) 

No, Virginia has not changed it's nickname. But much of the northern and central part of the state no longer looks or feels like the Old Dominion of the Jim Crow era. This week Virginia became the first southern state to abolish the death penalty, and as I reported would happen a few weeks ago, the state has officially wiped the name "Jefferson Davis Highway" off of Route 1 road signs. Localities may now re-name their stretch of the road. Where they don't do so, it will be "Emancipation Highway." Jeff Davis of course, was the President of the Confederacy, and the name was a constant reminder of Virginia's horrible slave state past. The change should have happened years ago. It will take a few months for the signs to completely disappear. 

  Meanwhile, as many southern states are moving along with ways to try to suppress minority votes, Virginia lawmakers have approved the Virginia Voting Rights Act. It requires local election officials to get permission from the Virginia Attorney General before changing any voting rules, and voters can sue if they believe any change disproportionately affects voters "based on his race, color or membership in a language minority group."   

   Basically, it means election education material will be produced in other languages in communities where there are a lot of non-English speakers. It would also limit "At-Large" candidates if having them would disenfranchise a minority population. Governor Ralph Northam is expected to sign the bill.  

   Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in  2013, there have been many failed attempts in Congress to restore it. Many southern states, most notably Georgia and Arizona,  have moved to suppress minority votes as a result. 

Democrats took control of the Virginia General Assembly in 2019 after 20 years of Republican dominance, and that has 

turned things around dramatically. It proves once again that elections really matter.  In a way, that too is a Trump legacy. 

Finally, since I already posted the "dumbest quote of the week" above (Ron Johnson), there is this.  Trumpites have always made a big deal about "America first" and pushed hard for people to buy American and produce American jobs. I don't have a problem with buying American. That's good in theory, but not always possible. But I will note more hypocrisy at CPAC. The golden statue of their hero was MADE IN CHINA !    

   (Your comments and suggestions are welcome) 

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