This is the first article, on the bottom left above) that I clicked on:
I’m a U.S. Navy veteran. Here’s why I’m protesting Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally
In February 1939, over 20,000 Americans gathered at MSG to support Hitler in a shocking display intertwining American nationalism, swastikas, and images of George Washington. Hijacking Washington’s birthday, they advocated for a “white-only America” and included a Pledge of Allegiance, posters stating, “Stop Jewish Domination of Christian America,” uniformed stormtroopers, and speakers denouncing Jewish refugees and praising American racism like the anti-miscegenation laws, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and Jim Crow policies.
“It’s always been American to protect the Aryan character of this country,” declared one speaker, Gerhard Wilhelm Kunze.
Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Trump’s rhetoric echoes the same dangerous themes. He frames immigrants as invaders, journalists as enemies, and political opponents as existential threats to America’s future. This is the same playbook authoritarian leaders have used for centuries.
Here's how it begins:
Donald J. Trump’s closing rally at Madison Square Garden on the second to last Sunday before the election was a release of rage at a political and legal system that impeached, indicted and convicted him, a vivid and at times racist display of the dark energy animating the MAGA movement.
A comic kicked off the rally by dismissing Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” then mocked Hispanics as failing to use birth control, Jews as cheap and Palestinians as rock-throwers, and called out a Black man in the audience with a reference to watermelon.
Another speaker likened Vice President Kamala Harris to a prostitute with “pimp handlers.” A third called her “the Antichrist.” And the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked Ms. Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father — with a made-up ethnicity, saying she was vying to become “the first Samoan-Malaysian, low IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.”
By the time the former president himself took the stage, an event billed as delivering the closing message of his campaign, with nine days left in a tossup race, had instead become a carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism.
The article didn't go into what Trump actually said beyond this: "Mr. Trump took the stage two hours after scheduled — was often infused with more self-indulgence than political strategy. It was about what they called a closing carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism. I would add that it was a preview of what a Trump administration would look like.
I have a feeling that when the Trump event was called a carnival the writers were thinking of Ray Bradbury's classic novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes" because it is about a wicked carnival with a menacing villian named Mr. Dark. Note the subtitle: The inflammatory rally was a capstone for an increasingly aggrieved campaign for Donald Trump, whose rhetoric has grown darker and more menacing. Mr. Dark is described in Wikipedia as follows:
"Mr. Dark", who seemingly wields the power to grant the townspeople's secret desires. In reality, Dark is a malevolent being who, like the carnival, lives off the life force of those it enslaves.
I could go on to draw a parallel with Trump and Mr. Dark, and the secret desires, though not so secret desires, of the people who are the townspeople who support him, but I am sure you can do this yourself.
Addendum: Here's an article that you may have missed.
The point here is that fascism is on full display, openly: no dog whistles, no plausible deniability. It's a show of power and an another attempt to make this look and feel normal.And it will not just magically disappear after the election, regardless of the outcome. In fact, it might be worth thinking through the very likely possibility that this kind of display suggests that this candidate and this movement don't care that much about the outcome.
This is what Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian and author of "Strongmen" posted on X in response to Aaron Rupar noting that almost every speaker at this rally has claimed that "they" tried to kill Trump.
The purpose of this is to conjure a threat environment sufficient to justify authoritarian action if they win. Old trick of those planning coups as well.
On Salon Heather "Digby" Parton wrote a column which includes some quotes I won't share becasue I want to keep this blog PG rated.
Trump's Madison Square Garden scandal: Is it too late to undo the damage?
She concluded:
Is it just another tempest in a teapot? Could be. Trump is a master at eluding all accountability. He didn't say anything about it in his own speech but perhaps he'll address it today and that will be the end of it. But if there's a lesson from 2016 it's that a scandal that would normally blow over given enough time can be lethal in the final days of a campaign. In a tied race it's the last thing any campaign would want.
Of course, everything that was said in that rally should, by all rights, disqualify Trump in the minds of decent people everywhere. I'll never understand how any of that is considered normal political discourse now. But specifically insulting a group (Puerto Ricans) that's necessary for victory is just plain dumb even for them. All it takes is just a point or two in the right place and it could be the death blow.
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