Trump’s ‘Muslim Policy’ Conjures Up Demons From Fascism’s History
If you think it's impossible for a demagogue to seize control and destroy American democracy, think again. Trump's hate-filled call for banning Muslims from entering the U.S. appeals to many angry and scared Americans.
Donald Trump speaks aboard the retired aircraft carrier Yorktown in South Carolina. (Mic Smith / AP)
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The candidate’s attacks resonate with the Republican primary electorate. The Pew Research Center found Republicans have a lower opinion of Muslims than do Democrats. “Republicans also are more likely than Democrats to say they are very concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in the world and to say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers,” according to a Pew report. Trump aims to mobilize these Republicans to lift him to victory in the Iowa caucuses and primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
“It Can’t Happen Here” was the title of Sinclair Lewis’ novel about a loudmouth populist who was elected president, seized control of the government, ignored the Constitution and established a dictatorship. In “The Plot Against America,” Philip Roth wrote a fictionalized tale about how Charles Lindbergh, who in real life was a Nazi sympathizer and anti-Semite, rode a tide of anti-Semitism to become elected president and then hooked up with Hitler.
Anti-Islam feeling is rampant, and all it needs is a leader.
I know that, not just from reading Lewis and Roth, but from my experience as an American Jew and as a journalist who has spent a lifetime examining the ugly undercurrents of American life. Trump is stirring up hatred and fear and anxiety and shaping them into a political movement, as Hitler did in the 1930s.
This should be a warning to progressives who dismiss Trump as a buffoon. His campaign should wake up cynical liberals inclined to sit out the election because they feel that Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders aren’t up to their standards.
Sitting this one out is not an option. Because it can happen here.
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Traditional politics and a media-driven culture don't offer the language for grasping the crisis that created Trump.
Beyond the big headlines, he is acting on policies that hurt the poor, immigrants, his political enemies and human existence itself.
They’ll claim they’re concerned about uniting the party, but many are afraid they’ll be out of a job if the Vermont senator prevails.
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Editorial Cartoons
TD Column
There is no longer any room for debate.
Traditional politics and a media-driven culture don't offer the language for grasping the crisis that created Trump.
Beyond the big headlines, he is acting on policies that hurt the poor, immigrants, his political enemies and human existence itself.
They’ll claim they’re concerned about uniting the party, but many are afraid they’ll be out of a job if the Vermont senator prevails.
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