Harris or The Predatory, Lying Fascist-Felon?

A sweeping Harris win will begin the end of the Trump cult

The choice could not be more stark.

One candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, is a regular politician, albeit an especially bright one, who would carry moderate policies and a scandal-free past, into the Oval Office. At the very least, she will be a calm, and dignified president of the United States. Enough said.

The other candidate, former president Donald Trump, is a fascistic extremist who seizes every opportunity to shock and divide us with lies, incitements, and violent rhetoric worthy of a tin pot dictator.  His scandals are so numerous it’s hard to keep track of them, let alone spell them out. But given the hour, it’s important to try, lest anyone forget who Donald Trump really is.

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Trump the violent demagogue – In January 2021 Trump summoned tens of thousands of followers to Washington, promising that a January 6 rally “will be wild.”  In his speech to the crowd he urged them to “fight like hell” and then directed them to march of the Capitol to stop certification of President Biden’s election. As anyone could have predicted the crowd turned into a violent mob that injured more than 140 police officers as they seized control of the Capitol. Trump called this battle, the most tragic day the Capitol has seen, “a day of love.”

As he incited the violence of January 6, Trump was simply following his own playbook. He began his political career with violent diatribes about immigrants and calls for his supporters to punch out protesters at his rallies. When in office he praised a congressman who body slammed a journalist and  mused about ordering law enforcement officers to shoot protesters “in the legs.” During the current campaign he has predicted “a bloodbath” in the event that he loses the race and has wondered, aloud, if police should be given “one really violent day” to attack criminals at will. He has also said the military could be used against the “radical left” and others he deems “the enemy within.”   Most recently he has talked about having his critic Liz Cheney face a firing squad.

Trump the sexual predator – As Trump entered politics in 2015, more than a dozen women came forward to say he had kissed and groped them against their will. Beauty pageant contestants said he barged his way into dressing rooms. Several women said he put her hand up their skirts. Others reported that he had groped them or forcibly kissed them.    Trump all but confessed to this behavior when he was caught on tape bragging about how celebrities can just grab women by their genitals. Most recently a civil court found him guilty of sexually abusing (the judge used the word “rape”)  a woman in a department store dressing room. The plaintiff, E. Jean Carroll, was awarded $5 million in this first case and more than $80 million when she subsequently sued Trump for slander.

Trump the felon – Although it took place this year, Trump’s trial and conviction on 34 felony charges related to falsifying business documents feels like it happened years ago. As you may recall, the case against Trump revolved about the “hush money” he paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Daniels and the thrice-married Trump had had sex at a golf resort. This had happened shortly after Trump’s wife Melania had given birth to their son Barron. The $130,000 payment was to keep Daniels silent.

While Trump sat at the defense table for days on end, prosecutors used documents and witnesses to lay out the hush money scheme. In brief, Trump falsified records to pay his attorney Michael Cohen for “legal work.”  Cohen’s work involved using the money Trump gave him to pay off Daniels.  With his conviction on all charges, Trump became the only former president, or major party presidential candidate, to be found guilty in a criminal court.

Trump the liar – After a campaign filled with lies, Trump began his presidency with a whopper, claiming, against all evidence, that his inaugural crowd far exceeded the ones that attended both of Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremonies. In the four years of his presidency journalists kept track of his lies, toting up more than 32,000 in the span of four years. Among other things he lied about immigration, military budgets, the war in Iraq, natural disasters, Barack Obama’s citizenship, the U.S. trade deficit with China and the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the case of the pandemic, Trump defied science (and his scientific advisers) as he falsely claimed the pandemic would be over in a matter of weeks and that a Covid-19 infection could be cured by ingesting household cleaner or taking an anti-malaria drug. As Trump’s followers turned away from medical advice, exposing themselves to the virus, the US suffered tens of thousands of excess deaths.

Trump the fascist – By every definition, Trump has revealed himself to be a fascistic demagogue who has tapped into the dark side of human nature to create a political cult of the sort never seen in American history.  His hyper-nationalism anti-immigrant speeches  have divided the country between his followers and everyone else. His threats to use the military against political enemies, to prosecute members of the press, and to purge the government, all come from the fascist playbook.  So, too, does his claim that he alone can fix whatever social or political problems the country may face.

Trump’s recent rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden left no doubt about his fascist leanings. As speakers voiced their racism, called Kamala Harris the antichrist and compared her to a prostitute controlled by “pimp handlers” the tone of the rally was set. In his speech Trump spoke again of the “enemy within” and said the nation has been occupied by immigrant hordes. Above him a scoreboard flashed the message of one-man rule --  “Trump will fix it.”   

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For nine years Donald Trump has shown us exactly who he is: a fascistic, predatory liar and convicted felon who incites violence. The fact that he enjoyed a large and rabid following says something disturbing about the country, which we will have to confront some day soon. However, we must put first things first. We must rid our politics of this hideous creature with a resounding defeat at the polls and in the Electoral College.

A sweep on Election Day won’t block, completely, the after-election assault on the voting system planned by Trump and his enablers. They will hound the officials who handle this foundational activity of our democracy, and they will file one lawsuit after another, alleging improprieties without real evidence and claiming fraud when there will be none.  By all accounts, the people who run things are ready for the attacks and so are scores of attorneys who are ready to oppose the Trumpists every time they go to court.

In the end, we know who Trump is. We are ready to defeat him at the polls, and the courts, and to persuade those in his cult that there is a better, more American way of doing politics. Let Election Day be the start of that process.