We’re All in This Together

Alt-Right Stephen Bannon and Alt-Right Pres. Elect Donald Trump

I woke up this morning hoping last night was just a horrible nightmare. I realize it wasn't and the nightmare is just beginning. As I gathered myself I decided as of today, I am an African-American, a Latino, a Muslim, an immigrant, a disabled American, a woman, and remain a Jew, a gay man, and a journalist. God help us all.

This was my first Facebook post the morning after the election.  The impossible just occurred; the people of the United States elected Donald J. Trump to be their president despite receiving nearly 3 million less votes than Hillary Clinton.

Full disclosure: I am a lifelong Democrat.  Through the years I had become more and more disappointed when a Republican is elected President. I have gained knowledge over my lifetime and recognize the consequences what a Republican president would mean for our country.  However, with this election, I’m not simply disappointed. I am terrified!

The groups of people I cited in that Facebook post should also be scared.  Trump managed to demonstrate his hostility to these groups in one fashion or another.  Whether it was a tweet (where an anti-Semitic re-tweet was fired off) or campaign demagoguery where women, Mexicans, Muslims, immigrants, blacks and the disabled were mocked or degraded, we, the targets of Trumpian bigotry and ignorance, should be frightened.

It’s not just the rhetoric that causes alarm.  The neo-Nazis, the KKK and other white supremacists who reside in this country see the Trump victory as the opening they have long craved.  Mr. Trump is now their champion, and he has not disavowed their support in any sincere, full-throated manner.  All we saw was a Kellyanne Conway-crafted half-hearted denunciation.  As Trump himself would tweet, “Sad.”

As a gay man, I am watching the appointments in his administration surface, and it’s like a death by a thousand cuts as each is revealed.  It started with Trump’s pick for Vice President, Mike Pence.  Of all the people in the country, he chose arguably the most virulently anti-LGBT elected official. 

Then the anti-Semitic, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim Stephen Bannon, formerly head of alt-right Breitbart.com, was selected to be Trump’s chief strategist.  Other homophobes were offered cabinet positions like Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos and Ben Carson. 

True, he promised on “60 Minutes” not to roll back hard-fought LGBT rights. But his promises amount to nothing.  Remember his pledge to release his tax returns after the election?  Recall the numerous zigzags he navigated when it comes to policy?

I’m not saying this administration is tantamount to the rise of Nazism in 1930’s Germany but it has conjured up that comparison whereas in past elections, there has never been the slightest hint, no matter who won.  It’s out there now, and for a reason.  This is a scary group and getting worse by the day.

Since the election, there has been a surge in hate crimes, hate bias incidents and bullying in schools.  The Southern Poverty Law Center has attributed these incidents to words emanating from Donald Trump that have given comfort to those who hate all of us who have been disparaged.

And this is before Mr. Trump has even taken power.

Those of us in the marginalized minorities above must band together and form a powerful coalition to be on the alert and fight back.  While some of these groups have had a history of rivalry and at times been enemies, with potentially dangerous situations facing us, now’s the time to coalesce.

For example, the New York Times recently ran a story depicting how Muslims and Jews are banding together in the wake of this threat.

Mr. Trump’s Achilles heel is his narcissism. We need to protest, demonstrate and pressure Congress and the media to keep an eye on him.  Show him that he’s not adulated like at his rallies.   

We’re all in this together.

The Republicans' Biggest Nightmare

Still reeling from consecutive losses in the contest for the White House, the Republicans are setting themselves up for a third consecutive defeat.  That dismal reality for the GOP has the face of Donald Trump all over it.  #hocopolitics

Donald Trump rails against 'political correctness'

Back in August when Trump-mania started to take hold, I opined how his candidacy would affect the rest of the race up until the first votes for the caucuses and primaries are cast in February 2016.   Few thought that Trump and his blustery showmanship will prevail and he would vanish like other flavors-of-the-month have done previously.   I said then and I will repeat: Trump is not going anywhere voluntarily unless he can get knocked off the pedestal he has stood since he first announced his candidacy. 

Political numbers guru Nate Silver noted that only 25 percent of the country identify as Republicans while Trump has garnered merely 25 percent of GOP voters (enough to currently top the leader board).  Silver’s inference is that Trump is not making sufficient inroads to worry Dems in the general election.  Should Trump be the nominee, he will muster far more than the 25 percent currently supporting him as most Republicans will galvanize behind him in the hope of defeating Hillary Clinton.

The Republicans are indeed worried, however, and with good reason.  This is due to the horrific possibility that Trump may end up being the party’s standard-bearer. 

The so-called base is fed up with the GOP that put forth John McCain whose inability to articulate a solution to an economic crisis without threatening to bomb a country and Mitt Romney whose opulence created a narrative that he is out of touch with ordinary Americans.  These nominees lost to an African-American with little Senate experience, who had alleged ties to some questionable figures and whose place of birth was constantly questioned.  And they did so twice.

Republicans, especially in the House and Senate, were so ticked at these outcomes that they would go way out of the way to derail as much of President Obama’s agenda.  Though many of these lame efforts, such as repealing the Affordable Care Act over 40 times and shutting down the federal government reflected the GOP’s petulance, Obama’s creativity and the use of executive orders—a tactic that had been employed by presidents of both parties in the past—enabled him to secure significant accomplishments for the country and his legacy.

Following Romney’s defeat, the Republican establishment performed an “autopsy” in an effort to end the two-cycle presidential defeats.  They surmised that for the Republican Party to regain control of the federal government, they will have to broaden their reach, recognize the changing demographics and expand their base outside the tea party crowd.

To do so would mean the party would have to woo African-Americans, Latinos and women and would, in the process, gain much needed independent voters who comprise the fastest growing bloc.  This would certainly serve the Republicans well in swing states.

Not so fast: Donald Trump is single-handedly undermining that effort in a big and loud way.  Starting off with his assault on Mexicans as rapists, his determination to build a “nice” wall at the Mexican government’s expense and deport over 11 million undocumented immigrants, he turned off Hispanics big time.  Trump’s misogynous verbal shots at Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly and his adolescent barb directed at Carly Fiorina’s face certainly didn’t help with women.

Trump’s call for surveillance of Syrian refugees and certain mosques and a national registry of Syrian refugees.  Adding to that was his blatant lie that he witnessed thousands of Muslims in Jersey City rejoicing at the attacks on 9/11. This anti-Muslim rhetoric likely failed to win over independents.

Then there was the recent incident  in Birmingham, Ala. in which a Black Lives Matter protester was roughed up and forcibly ejected from a Trump rally and the candidate going on record supporting such actions.  African-Americans thinking about joining the GOP now?  Highly unlikely.

With all these episodes and  likely more on the way, the GOP establishment is squirming big time.  Trump’s supporters who have kept him on top in the polls except for a brief love affair with Dr. Carson, consist of the angry folks who adore Trump’s bullying style.  

My guess is that most of his supporters prefer that the U.S. be a Christian country consisting solely of white, native-born, non-Hispanic, heterosexual, anti-refugee, gun-toting, pro-life but at the same time pro-death penalty, misogynistic, climate change deniers, and military hawks who either have not served in the armed forces or would oppose a draft to force their sons and daughters into combat. They intently hate Obama and deny his record of accomplishments.  Trump answers their bell.

The trouble is, the above profile could match most of the GOP contenders’ core supporters.  It explains, perhaps, that Trump’s rivals are loath to criticize him forcefully lest they be on the receiving end of his flame-throwing.  He won’t hesitate to unleash his venom.  Ask Ben Carson.

This approach is effective for primaries but suicidal for the general.  Democrats should use Trump’s bombast whether he is the ultimate nominee or not.  By Trump’s rivals’ relative silence in criticizing him (except for a recent Kasich commercial), Democratic strategists should use Trump’s words and paint the whole Republican Party with them.  Their silence equals acquiescence. 

Right now, Trump is the Republicans’ biggest nightmare and no one in the party knows how to deal with it.