Commentary

First Trump came for ‘them’ but now they are you

First Trump came for ‘them’ but now they are you
Donald Trump Photo: Associated Press

First Donald Trump and his father, the real estate tycoon, came for black people in their refusal to rent to them, over which the Trumps were sued and had to sign a consent decree, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

Then Donald, in his role as chief birther, came for President Obama in questioning the legitimacy of our first black president, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald, after descending the elevator in his golden tower, came for Mexicans by branding them as criminals and rapists, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for Muslims by calling for a national registry to chart their movement for those already in the United States, and a ban against entry for those abroad, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for Black Lives Matter by referring to them as an anti-police group, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Than Donald came for the basic health insurance that many people need to stay alive without proposing a reasonable alternative plan, while offering massive tax breaks to the super rich, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for a reporter with a disability in a mock spasmodic shaking of his body, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

Then Donald came for a certified war hero followed by a Gold Star family, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

Then Donald came for the United States government itself by selecting several unqualified members to his cabinet, some of whom he placed in these powerful positions to abolish the very government departments they were hired to administer; by refusing to hire people for key positions, especially diplomats in the Department of State; and by debasing the office of the presidency in his words, temperament, and utter lack of experience, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for leaders of our country’s longstanding allies, while heaping praise on autocratic and kleptocratic dictators whose interests go against those of the United States, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

Then Donald came for Jews in his ceremonial speech commemorating the Holocaust, while never once mentioning Jews and antisemitism, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for LGBT people and others who do not identify as conservative Christian evangelicals in his attendance at several “Christian Prayer Vigils” and appearances at conservative right-wing Christian conferences and universities like Liberty University, with calls to “Make America Great Again,” but giving the subliminal dog-whistle message of making (keeping) America white and ultra-conservative Protestant again, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for a reasoned response to crime in his near obsessive calls for “law and order” involving draconian (and possibly unconstitutional) measures of roundup, torture, surveillance, and incarceration, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for the voting rights of people of color, students, and elders by failing to investigate national and local voter suppression efforts, but, rather, by establishing a commission to reverse the fact that his Democratic challenger garnered approximately 3 million more popular votes than himself, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for the environment by pulling out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and by severely gutting regulations on corporations and industries that seriously pollute our water, air, and ground, while reemphasizing fossil fuels and deemphasizing clean energy sources, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for transgender people by banning them from serving their country in the military and from entering the public facilities in their schools that most closely align with their gender identities, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Throughout it all, Donald came for the free press in referring to them as the dishonest and corrupt media who broadcast “fake news” as a means of whipping up the baseness of his base, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for officials investigating likely Russian attempts to influence our elections and any possible collusion by the Trump campaign, and most Republicans failed to speak out (colluded).

Then Donald came for social justice advocates by labeling them as anti-police and anti-American while declining to fully repudiate white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

Throughout much of Donald’s life, he came for women whom he “felt” attractive in inappropriate and abusive ways as reflected in the numerous charges of sexual harassment lodged against him, and in his admission to grabbing women by their genitals against their will, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

And Donald came for other women he hated by body-shaming them and accusing one of having “blood coming from her… whatever,” and by calling for women who have abortions to be punished, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

And Donald has continually come for the truth by perpetrating countless but verifiable lies, and most Republicans failed to speak out.

Then Donald came for Republicans, including members of his own cabinet, who in any way disappointed or challenged him, but by then, there were very few good Republicans left who had not previously enabled, empowered, or colluded with him to speak out.

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