Trump walks to St. Johns Church with military leaders - Vanity Fair
Trump stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, held a Holy Bible in his hand, and raised it to the sky. His pose, dutifully captured by photographers, mimicked the iconography sought by other fascist and authoritarian leaders. Fascist leaders want to link their mortal being to a divine purpose. Their purpose is not to cleanse themselves of the sins they committed. Instead, they aim to bind their political ideology to a holy power.
Donald Trump ordered federal law enforcement officers to fire rubber bullets, use tear gas, and flash grenades to clear peaceful protestors from Lafayette Park. Once the federal officers had cleared the demonstrators, Trump walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church to sanctify those actions and others on behalf of a higher power. Like other fascist leaders, Trump’s indifference to religion does not stop him from offering his supporters the promise of the savior’s healing.
Many observers credited his walk, and the resulting iconography, to Trump’s effort to divert their attention. According to media reports, Trump had sheltered from demonstrations near the White House in its bunker. While Trump has undoubtedly used distraction, it is not his only tactic. Trump has used divide and conquer tactics to combat his opponents. Trump has met accusations against him by blaming political opponents. Accusing others allows Trump to avoid answering the charges. It helps Trump at the cost of intensifying political divisions in the country.
Donald Trump ordered federal law enforcement officers to fire rubber bullets, use tear gas, and flash grenades to clear peaceful protestors from Lafayette Park. Once the federal officers had cleared the demonstrators, Trump walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church to sanctify those actions and others on behalf of a higher power. Like other fascist leaders, Trump’s indifference to religion does not stop him from offering his supporters the promise of the savior’s healing.
Many observers credited his walk, and the resulting iconography, to Trump’s effort to divert their attention. According to media reports, Trump had sheltered from demonstrations near the White House in its bunker. While Trump has undoubtedly used distraction, it is not his only tactic. Trump has used divide and conquer tactics to combat his opponents. Trump has met accusations against him by blaming political opponents. Accusing others allows Trump to avoid answering the charges. It helps Trump at the cost of intensifying political divisions in the country.
Trump looked like was pretesting a military takeover of this country.
Also, Trump has used pretesting to gauge the reaction of his audience to his numerous violations of norms and law. For example, Trump vilified progressive Congresswomen at one rally. But the audience reaction was restrained, and he dropped the attack in later rallies and tweets. Trump has also pretested his ability to ignore U.S. laws. He has ignored the Constitutional prohibition against receiving from payments foreigners and soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. election. The Republican Senate approved those actions.
Trump was not merely distracting MSM from his sojourn in the bunker. He was also pretesting our reaction to using sanctified violence to break the U.S constitutional law. While some observers may have missed the point of the violence preceding Trump’s walk, those familiar with fascists and authoritarians did not. For those familiar with “strong men,” Trump looked like was pretesting a military takeover of this country.
Trump was not merely distracting MSM from his sojourn in the bunker. He was also pretesting our reaction to using sanctified violence to break the U.S constitutional law. While some observers may have missed the point of the violence preceding Trump’s walk, those familiar with fascists and authoritarians did not. For those familiar with “strong men,” Trump looked like was pretesting a military takeover of this country.
Greg Miller reported (Washington Post, June 2, 2020) that CIA analysts accustomed to monitoring how foreign “strong men” staged their shows of strength recognized Trump’s performance as a similar display. Particularly disturbing is the judgment of intelligence analysts. They believe that Trump’s performance mirrors that of militaristic leaders in decaying countries. One analyst said, “this is what happens in countries before a collapse.”
Ret. General Jim Mattis, Trump’s former Secretary of Defense, wrote that the Nazi slogan for destroying the U.S. was “divide and conquer.” Mattis added that Trump was the first president in his life who has tried to divide us. As a result, Mattis believes that Trump directly threatens American democracy. Other retired high-ranking military officers endorsed Mattis’ belief. Eighty-nine former Department of Defense officials signed an editorial expressing their alarm at how Trump is betraying his oath of office by threatening the rights of Americans. These former officials noted that Trump was previewing his use of force on Washington streets.
Now Trump is dividing and hoping to conquer again. He is blaming the few incidents of violence that have occurred on peaceful protestors. But it is not the protestors who are inciting violence. It is a few looters and right-wing extremists. The FBI has arrested some of these right-wing extremists, known as the boogaloo boys, for attempting to incite violence at protests.
If his pretest in using the military for his purposes is successful, Trump will end the American democracy. He embodies the fascist strain that has been present in America since its beginning. The rest of the Republican Party will join with the authoritarian and racists fringes in supporting Trump. The last piece that Trump needs is the permission of the military. We know some key retired officers will resist Trump. We can only hope that the active-duty military will join them. If they do not, we can expect President Ivanka Trump and her consort, Jared, to rule America.
Ret. General Jim Mattis, Trump’s former Secretary of Defense, wrote that the Nazi slogan for destroying the U.S. was “divide and conquer.” Mattis added that Trump was the first president in his life who has tried to divide us. As a result, Mattis believes that Trump directly threatens American democracy. Other retired high-ranking military officers endorsed Mattis’ belief. Eighty-nine former Department of Defense officials signed an editorial expressing their alarm at how Trump is betraying his oath of office by threatening the rights of Americans. These former officials noted that Trump was previewing his use of force on Washington streets.
Now Trump is dividing and hoping to conquer again. He is blaming the few incidents of violence that have occurred on peaceful protestors. But it is not the protestors who are inciting violence. It is a few looters and right-wing extremists. The FBI has arrested some of these right-wing extremists, known as the boogaloo boys, for attempting to incite violence at protests.
If his pretest in using the military for his purposes is successful, Trump will end the American democracy. He embodies the fascist strain that has been present in America since its beginning. The rest of the Republican Party will join with the authoritarian and racists fringes in supporting Trump. The last piece that Trump needs is the permission of the military. We know some key retired officers will resist Trump. We can only hope that the active-duty military will join them. If they do not, we can expect President Ivanka Trump and her consort, Jared, to rule America.