Stump the Trump Chump on Super Tuesday
In the February 20th edition of Dispatch/Argus, a local paper here in Moline, Illinois, the article “Jeb Bush Drops Out of the Republican Race for President,” informed citizens that Mr. Bush withdrew from the presidential run following a disappointing finish in South Carolina. The question produced on the 20th was, so how does Bush’s dropping out influence our political relationship to Trump (image above from Wikipedia), his thuggish supporters, and to the rest of the Republicans still in the race? On Sunday the 21st of February, Harvard University political theorist, Danielle Allen answered that question in an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled “The Moment of Truth: We Must Stop Trump.” In the editorial, Ms. Allen, a professor of education and government at Harvard and a political theorist who has published broadly in democratic theory, political sociology, and the history of political thought, wrote that our response to Trump’s demagogic opportunism ought to be drawing what she terms “a bright line” that would allow us to overcome partisan ideologies in order to coordinate a solution.
Back in September 2015, Allen wrote in another Washington Post editorial that “…we need to reckon even more urgently with what can now be called the ‘Trumpists,’ a solidly right-wing ethno-nationalist voting bloc that has been growing since the mid-1990s.” Allen is no lightweight intellectual. And it does us well to contemplate her reasoning, especially considering how Trump’s policies would affect minority populations in every region across the country: many of our Latino and Islamic sisters and brothers would be directly affected by the kinds of policies Trump and his followers support. So what should we do?
Allen’s solution would have Democrats stump Trump in the primaries by re-registering as Republicans where possible and voting for Rubio, and she would have Republicans revoke their pledge to support whomever the GOP nominated, to, as she put it, “stand up and shout that you will not support Trump if he is your party’s nominee.” That was the Washington Post's offering. Obviously, when the mouthpiece of the imperialist right offers editorials in opposition to the rise of overtly fascist perspectives, indeed, we can acknowledge common ground. With so many national primary elections on the horizon, Democrats and Republicans ought to consider Allen’s call to action. But the fact is that switching parties will not solve the problem.
We need to realize that corporate-oriented media interests are the wind pushing this fascist fire across what amounts to a dry and brittle political landscape. This political construction is what happens when elite corporate and political interests work in unison to promote, over the course of several decades, anti-intellectualism and to construct, through an unrelenting propaganda, a nationalism based on consumerist ideals, a nationalism that rejects the need for and value of unions and labor rights as well as human rights in a more general sense, a nationalism that has allowed for a constant state of war in the Middle East and the maintenance of police-sponsored oppression on the home front. Moreover, corporate domination of elections and lawmaking have contributed to the conditions that fuel this current political firestorm.
And the sad fact is that, because of what amounts to a decades-long attack on public education and political awareness (which, in my neck of the woods, takes the current form of Rauner’s jeopardizing public post-secondary education in Illinois), the people who most need to question their political affiliations, the Trumpists, often don't have the basic literacy needed to understand the ideas presented in opposition to their bigoted, ethno-nationalistic, warmongering and celebrated ignorance. Trumpists will not be fixed with words or reason. It will take years to reverse what corporate-sponsored propaganda and political attacks on education have created.
So, in terms of answering that question, “what do we do to stump Trump?” why shouldn’t we follow Allen’s suggestion and either change our Democratic affiliation or refuse to follow the Republican party? The problem with Allen’s suggestion is that she is really just spreading propaganda that strengthens corporate interests rather than moving America away from its New World Order domination and toward a more compassionate reality.
Voters would best guided by asking questions related to gaining greater awareness of corporate-sponsored media and the uber-wealthy in general. Where, for example, are the voices of Rurpert and Bill or Ted or Steve Burke or Brian Roberts or Bob Iger or Jeff Bewkes, to name a few? Where are the Koch brothers' voices? Those kinds of questions point to a simple truth.
They are silent. They remain silent because it serves their interests to remain so: they know the trumpeting is for them, for their perspectives, for their profits. Trump represents the interests of the wealthiest Americans. And, through that reality, we can better understand why the Washington Post, hiding behind the façade of a “liberal minded” Harvard professor, would publish an article telling those supportive of Democratic ideals that they should register and vote Republican in order to better serve their country and quell Trump's fascist flames: the lunacy is too much. The neoliberals and their corporate sponsors benefit by shifting the vote away from Sanders and toward the so-called center. Again, the propaganda machine is at work here, but now, we can see it for what it is.
What should we do? We would do well to support our own interests as workers and humans devoted to building a more compassionate reality. Don’t be afraid to vote for a democratic socialist. Bravery is what it takes to stump Trump. It is time to be brave, time to take action while there is still the opportunity for peaceful disagreement.
If you need direction, look around you and see who is being brave, look to the brave men and women like Rose Hamid, an Islamic flight attendant, and Marty Rosenbluth, a Jewish man and lawyer, who risked their lives to protest at Trump rallies. Look to the actions of Latinas y Latinos who were spit upon while protesting at Trump rallies. Look to the African American youth who infiltrated Trump rallies to represent Black Lives Matter. Those brave people have done what it takes to resist this rising fascism. They have been leading the way for us and have cut a clear fireline. We need to widen that line. Share their videos. Share their essays. We should follow their lead, for they have been the brave few who have started to do what it takes to quell these now all too consuming flames.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufNtVnDOvSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4--cG8h52Ps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG6Ss9Mkzt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mahLy5IIz0w
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moment-of-truth-we-must-stop-trump/2016/02/21/0172e788-d8a7-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html
AM
In the February 20th edition of Dispatch/Argus, a local paper here in Moline, Illinois, the article “Jeb Bush Drops Out of the Republican Race for President,” informed citizens that Mr. Bush withdrew from the presidential run following a disappointing finish in South Carolina. The question produced on the 20th was, so how does Bush’s dropping out influence our political relationship to Trump (image above from Wikipedia), his thuggish supporters, and to the rest of the Republicans still in the race? On Sunday the 21st of February, Harvard University political theorist, Danielle Allen answered that question in an opinion piece in the Washington Post titled “The Moment of Truth: We Must Stop Trump.” In the editorial, Ms. Allen, a professor of education and government at Harvard and a political theorist who has published broadly in democratic theory, political sociology, and the history of political thought, wrote that our response to Trump’s demagogic opportunism ought to be drawing what she terms “a bright line” that would allow us to overcome partisan ideologies in order to coordinate a solution.
Back in September 2015, Allen wrote in another Washington Post editorial that “…we need to reckon even more urgently with what can now be called the ‘Trumpists,’ a solidly right-wing ethno-nationalist voting bloc that has been growing since the mid-1990s.” Allen is no lightweight intellectual. And it does us well to contemplate her reasoning, especially considering how Trump’s policies would affect minority populations in every region across the country: many of our Latino and Islamic sisters and brothers would be directly affected by the kinds of policies Trump and his followers support. So what should we do?
Allen’s solution would have Democrats stump Trump in the primaries by re-registering as Republicans where possible and voting for Rubio, and she would have Republicans revoke their pledge to support whomever the GOP nominated, to, as she put it, “stand up and shout that you will not support Trump if he is your party’s nominee.” That was the Washington Post's offering. Obviously, when the mouthpiece of the imperialist right offers editorials in opposition to the rise of overtly fascist perspectives, indeed, we can acknowledge common ground. With so many national primary elections on the horizon, Democrats and Republicans ought to consider Allen’s call to action. But the fact is that switching parties will not solve the problem.
We need to realize that corporate-oriented media interests are the wind pushing this fascist fire across what amounts to a dry and brittle political landscape. This political construction is what happens when elite corporate and political interests work in unison to promote, over the course of several decades, anti-intellectualism and to construct, through an unrelenting propaganda, a nationalism based on consumerist ideals, a nationalism that rejects the need for and value of unions and labor rights as well as human rights in a more general sense, a nationalism that has allowed for a constant state of war in the Middle East and the maintenance of police-sponsored oppression on the home front. Moreover, corporate domination of elections and lawmaking have contributed to the conditions that fuel this current political firestorm.
And the sad fact is that, because of what amounts to a decades-long attack on public education and political awareness (which, in my neck of the woods, takes the current form of Rauner’s jeopardizing public post-secondary education in Illinois), the people who most need to question their political affiliations, the Trumpists, often don't have the basic literacy needed to understand the ideas presented in opposition to their bigoted, ethno-nationalistic, warmongering and celebrated ignorance. Trumpists will not be fixed with words or reason. It will take years to reverse what corporate-sponsored propaganda and political attacks on education have created.
So, in terms of answering that question, “what do we do to stump Trump?” why shouldn’t we follow Allen’s suggestion and either change our Democratic affiliation or refuse to follow the Republican party? The problem with Allen’s suggestion is that she is really just spreading propaganda that strengthens corporate interests rather than moving America away from its New World Order domination and toward a more compassionate reality.
Voters would best guided by asking questions related to gaining greater awareness of corporate-sponsored media and the uber-wealthy in general. Where, for example, are the voices of Rurpert and Bill or Ted or Steve Burke or Brian Roberts or Bob Iger or Jeff Bewkes, to name a few? Where are the Koch brothers' voices? Those kinds of questions point to a simple truth.
They are silent. They remain silent because it serves their interests to remain so: they know the trumpeting is for them, for their perspectives, for their profits. Trump represents the interests of the wealthiest Americans. And, through that reality, we can better understand why the Washington Post, hiding behind the façade of a “liberal minded” Harvard professor, would publish an article telling those supportive of Democratic ideals that they should register and vote Republican in order to better serve their country and quell Trump's fascist flames: the lunacy is too much. The neoliberals and their corporate sponsors benefit by shifting the vote away from Sanders and toward the so-called center. Again, the propaganda machine is at work here, but now, we can see it for what it is.
What should we do? We would do well to support our own interests as workers and humans devoted to building a more compassionate reality. Don’t be afraid to vote for a democratic socialist. Bravery is what it takes to stump Trump. It is time to be brave, time to take action while there is still the opportunity for peaceful disagreement.
If you need direction, look around you and see who is being brave, look to the brave men and women like Rose Hamid, an Islamic flight attendant, and Marty Rosenbluth, a Jewish man and lawyer, who risked their lives to protest at Trump rallies. Look to the actions of Latinas y Latinos who were spit upon while protesting at Trump rallies. Look to the African American youth who infiltrated Trump rallies to represent Black Lives Matter. Those brave people have done what it takes to resist this rising fascism. They have been leading the way for us and have cut a clear fireline. We need to widen that line. Share their videos. Share their essays. We should follow their lead, for they have been the brave few who have started to do what it takes to quell these now all too consuming flames.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufNtVnDOvSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4--cG8h52Ps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG6Ss9Mkzt8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mahLy5IIz0w
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moment-of-truth-we-must-stop-trump/2016/02/21/0172e788-d8a7-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html
AM