The dangerous propaganda of Trump and his allies continues, drawing the American public ever more closely to a taste of Trump’s notions of “democracy” and “winning.”
Some have stated that Trump is willing to do anything to get his way. This is arguably possible and that is the risk we are facing. Trump has been promising that riots will occur if he does not get the nomination. Arguably he is not warning but signaling to his supporters what he expects of them.
Trump stated in an interview with the New York Times that even if he does not reach the necessary 1,237 delegates during the primary process, he is still entitled to be the nominee for the Republican Party (Trump’s notion of fairness):“ I think we’ll win before getting to the convention, but I can tell you, if we didn’t and if we were 20 votes short or if we’re 100 short…I don’t think you can say we don’t get it automatically.”
In fact, Trump would not automatically get the nomination if he is short of delegates. This is not because he is Trump and he is being treated unfairly, persecuted and the rest. The existing rule would be applied to any candidate. A candidate that does not get 1,237 delegates does not get the nomination automatically. What part of this is so unjust and hard to grasp for Mr. Trump? Trump is constantly bragging about his supremely high I.Q. but a simple electoral process somehow seems to escape him.
This disproportionate sense of entitlement is a marker of the deficiency in Trump’s psychological make-up. Trump considers rules and laws to be mere suggestions. He seems to believe there is no law higher than his own subjective notion of what should take place. Reality seems to be no limiting force on his egocentric view of reality.
I have argued that the Electoral College should, for moral reasons and the common good, demand Donald Trump’s health records be made public for examination. An unstable man or, as I put it, someone who is “not of sound mind,” should never be given ultimate power. Many psychologists and other doctors have stated their opinions, though informally, that Trump suffers from an unsound mind.
Chaos in Cleveland?
This matter must not be taken lightly. Trump in his own words indicates what he thinks is likely to happen if he does not get what he erroneously believes he is entitled to: “—I think it would—I think you’d have riots… I think you would have problems like you’ve never had before. I think bad things would happen, I really do… I wouldn’t lead it but bad things would happen.”
Indeed Trump does not have to “lead it”—since he has an infamous ally likely already preparing the groundwork for the bad things to come—veteran political operator Roger Stone.
Stone has been Trump’s confidant and advisor for years. That Trump and Stone are inciting Trump’s supporters on the false narrative of a stolen election is just the beginning.
Stone is already busy organizing protests and issuing a call to arms for Trump’s troops. “Stop the Steal March on Cleveland,” he calls it. Stone’s March on Cleveland will consist of three days of, “… protests at hotels of state delegates of states supporting the Big Steal.” Stone has promised to release the hotel room numbers of the delegates and he is asking Trump’s raging followers to go find them.
Stone and Trump hide their hand aided by the fact that our historical memory is too short to connect the dots. One of the chosen hashtags for their “bad things to come” is “#DaysofRage.” This insidious message clearly reveals what Stone is alluding to and likely expecting from Trump’s followers.
What Were the Days of Rage?
The Days of Rage refers to an infamous chapter in American history and one worth recalling to understand what we are dealing with today. The Days of Rage consisted of three days of riots, looting, and destruction, staged in the streets of Chicago October 8-11, 1969 as protests by the Weatherman faction of the radical leftist Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The Days of Rage grew out of the 1968 SDS resolution titled, “Elections Don’t Mean Sh*t—Vote Where the Power Is—Our Power Is In the Streets.” The Days of Rage were fanned by typical leftist slogans such as “bring the war home.”
The open salvo to the violence was provided by the infamous bomber and erstwhile Obama associate Bill Ayers, who two days before the “Days of Rage” (Oct. 6 1969), blew up the statue commemorating the police officers killed by a bomb during the Haymarket Affair in 1886. Ayers believed this would be the beginning of the “all-out civil war.” The “Days of Rage” explicitly called for the destruction of private property and attacks against the police.
The violence of the “Days of Rage” commenced on the 8th of October 1969 as protestors charged through the city smashing windows of hotels, cars, and businesses. Dozens were injured and hundreds arrested. A massive police force struggled to contain the mob. After the destruction caused by the original “Days of Rage,” followers were urged to go underground and continue their revolution; they stockpiled weapons and explosives to continue their seditious actions.
Trump of course would not “lead” such violence. Stone of course argues that Trump wants a peaceful protest. But can we be so utterly naïve as to ignore their chosen font of inspiration? What redeeming quality would any sane person find in the Days of Rage, as the framework for a protest?
What if, in an unrelated example, protestors who were going to confront the Jewish community on some question, endeavored to assure the public that of course they were not seeking violence and yet their followers were convoked to assemble under the name #Kristallnacht.
Please. Roger Stone is calling for handcuffs on Senator Cruz because he claims Cruz is “stealing” “Trump’s election.” I submit that Stone and Trump should be investigated for potentially inciting riots. Trump is playing with fire, because in his warped narcissistic mind, “the end justifies the means.”
The ancients in their wisdom taught that a friend is “another self,” and to read Stone’s tweets is to see the clearer image of Donald Trump the late night tweeter at play. Trump constantly brags that he surrounds himself with the best people ever—indeed. Judge for yourself.
Imagine for one moment people like Stone teaming up with Trump in the White House. Trump’s approach to negotiation and personal relations is that his threats should lead to total surrender. This is insane when it comes to nations with nuclear weapons, our trade agreements or alliances to defeat terrorism.
Trump has informed us that his top advisor is himself, no surprise there, “… I’m speaking to myself, number one, because I have a good brain, and I’ve said a lot of things…” Yet, that is likely not true. Roger Stone will be practicing his political dark arts from the Oval Office right along with Trump from day one.
Douglas Schoen who worked with Roger Stone on many political campaigns, described him in words that in fact capture the essence of Donald Trump: “ He’s not so much a Republican as an actor who likes to assume poses. The show is not a by-product of his life—it is his life.”
Recklessness Not Courage
A final illusion about Trump remains to be dispelled. Many voters perceive Trump to be courageous, but what they fail to see is that what Trump possesses is not the virtue of courage, but rather the corrupt semblance of the real virtue; something the ancient writers identified as recklessness.
Back in May 1969, Attorney General John N. Mitchell issued a warning that should reverberate in our minds. In a report of May 1969, Mitchell informed-previous to the Days of Rage-of the violence already perpetrated by the SDS and other radical leftists and warned of the dangers to come from the manipulated followers of those who, “ … openly and brazenly profess a desire to destroy the establishment.”
It is one thing to be dissatisfied or even angry with the establishment but Stone and Trump are playing with fire and their actions are, in my view, extremely dangerous. Trump needs to be taken very seriously, not as a candidate for the presidency, but, as I have previously argued, as someone who is simply not well.