When I began hearing reports of the "violence" in Albuquerque, I set out to do some original reporting by contacting the police department there. I wanted to talk to someone firsthand and not depend on others' accounts, but it became quickly apparent that the police were not handling well the media response. When I emailed the main media contact for the Albuquerque Police Department, Tanner M. Tixier, I got this reply:
"Thank you for your email. I will be out of the office until Friday May 27th. All requests should be sent to Simon Drobik at sdrobik|AT|cabq.govEmail address. You can also reach the on call PIO at 768-3339".I called Simon on the Hotline and got a recording saying he was out of the office and to leave a message. Another voice said his mailbox was full. Click. I was hoping to learn more about a repeated line I was seeing in the usual news sources. It quoted the Albuquerque Police as having said, "Only arrests at this point have been from inside the rally." None of the stories I was reading at the time explained this provocative detail. It seemed odd to me that police were not arresting "violent" protestors outside, yet they were busting people inside. I wanted to know the circumstances and reasons. I'm still unclear, but it seems that any arrested protestors from inside the convention center could have been accommodated in one squad car. Regarding the rowdy protestors, it's pretty clear that many of them were young Latinos, unrefined perhaps in their expressions of social dismay, but legitimately dismayed nonetheless. They see Donald Trump, who believes the US stole north Mexico fair and square, as representing a clear and present danger to their well-being.
On the morning of May 25th, Trump tweeted, "The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!"
Trump Compliments Himself at Albuquerque Rally, Makes Use of Elocution Lessons (screen grab)
(Image by Shawn Hamilton) Details DMCA
According to a report by the LA
Times, Albuquerque lawyer Doug Antoon described seeing broken glass and
flying rocks as he left the convention center Tuesday night. "This was not a
protest; this was a riot. These are hate groups," he said hyperbolically. While
some may find his comment ironic considering the nature of the Trump rally, the
reaction to Trump by Albuquerque protestors may foreshadow exactly what we can expect on the national stage should he be installed as "president".
It's never popular these days to draw Hitlerian comparisons, but I must. Using people's base fears and hostilities to garner support is exactly the technique Hitler used to sway disaffected Germans in the 1930s--the same rhetoric--save the homeland and protect the culture; the same target audience--lower-class, pissed off workers; the same issues--foreigners taking "their" jobs. Hitler knew he was conning people, and so does Trump. Am I comparing Trump to Hitler? I'm trying not to. Each is a product of his time. I am comparing their approaches to public discourse. As I listened to some of Trump's Albuquerque speech, I strongly sensed he didn't believe the nonsense he was spouting. The people in the crowd believed it though, and Trump seemed to be having a good time playing them.
I have a few initial thoughts on Trump although I'm new to the sport of Trump-watching. I fear we may have too much time to consider him over the next several years.
From what I have seen so far, Trump's main issues are jobs, immigration, and the bolstering of our impoverished military. He has a two-pronged approach to job creation:
Build
a wall: "Oh, we're going to build a wall," Trump likes to
say although he never speaks of building a wall to protect us from illegal Canadian
immigrants. Canadians, despite their being forced to benefit from "socialized
medicine", just don't flock to the US for some reason (maybe it's too warm for
them). Trump's Great Wall is intended, specifically, to protect the US white
population from brown people who are stealing all those great service
industry and fruit-picking jobs from Trump supporters.
Trump might consider his great wall a jobs program, but he would no doubt be unable to find enough American workers willing to do such hard labor for minimum wage. He'd end up hiring the same people to build the wall that the wall is supposed to keep out.
Fight ISIS/Create more crisis: More great jobs with the US government! This jobs creation plan isn't novel; it's been a mainstay of all recent administrations--socialize perpetual warfare using public funds, then privatize the profits. It's a great arrangement if you're on the receiving end of the largesse and aren't troubled by ethics or conscience. Trump, employing Richard Nixon's "Silent Majority" slogan on his podium sign, says, "I'm going to bomb the sh*t out of ISIS." (adding that he "doesn't care"). You can take that to the bank (if you're one of his friends).
On social issues Trump is clear and unwavering:
Health
Care: Trump's revolutionary healthcare plan involves undoing
the Affordable Care Act (ACA)--and that's it. I once heard him say he'd "replace
it" although with what he didn't say. It may look something like the "Can't
Afford Care Act" (CACA). He will use money saved on repealing ACA to keep
bombing ISIS and further fund engineered crises to justify more bombing--to keep
the economy moving! In fairness to Trump, I must point out that this arrangement has been in place for a long time. He would just add magnificence and glory to the hustle as he is wont to do.
Military Funding: According to the New York Daily News, Trump said he would restore military funding "to where it was at the height because we're in such trouble." As anyone familiar with 20th century history will recognize, US military funding was at its height during World War 2. Trump's pledge to restore military funding to "world war" levels makes me a little nervous since, unlike Trump, I don't have a lavish subterranean bunker to retreat into when his policies come home to roost.
Will Trump really become the next US president? Or
is his function, perhaps, simply to scare people enough to acquiesce to the anointing
of HRC, Inc.?
(Article changed on May 29, 2016 at 17:03)
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