Here's the quote from Mary Trump that prompted me to write this:
"Tomorrow (meaning today) will be a very dark day—there is no pretending otherwise. But I do take comfort in the knowledge that so much of what they intend is already out in the open. They no longer feel the need to hide their criminal intent. They plan to strip America for parts and they will do so in broad daylight. And we will be watching. We will counter corporate media’s grotesque assumption that all of it—the racism, the criminality, the greed, the breathtaking cruelty, the fascism—are already baked in and therefore of no consequence," she wrote. "We know this is not true. We will be the keepers of the flame and, as Emma Lazarus’ poem says of the Statue of Liberty, we we lift our lamps—as a beacon to those who feel lost, betrayed, and frightened, yes. But also to shine our light, continually, on what they try to get away with. We will keep the flame burning as long as it takes. I take comfort in that, too." (Reference)
She is holding onto her optimism. I agree with what John Stoehr wrote in this RawStory column:
While the title is about MSNBC, the network only represents the denial by many liberals of the dire situation that Stoehr writes about:
He begins:
At this point, I think it needs to be said that there’s a feeling among liberals and Democrats, and I would suggest especially affluent white liberals and Democrats, that liberal democracy isn’t really dead.
I would say there’s a deep sense of denial among these folks. They tell themselves that the dearly departed is much too dear to be truly departed. I would say there’s also a good deal of magical thinking in this denial, as if the criminals who shot their beloved will come to justice, and once they do, their beloved will rise again, good as new.
I think this needs to be said because liberals and Democrats keep telling themselves that democracy itself depends on the integrity of democratic institutions and democratic norms, and that without them, the country will manifest the founding fathers’ fear of despotism.
Trump hasn't been shy about telling the country what he intends to do. I listened to the 20 second clip of him speaking to his rally yesterday. It was a call to arms against everyone he's been demonizing. He was like Hitler, only with a more resonant voice, but he expressed the same malevolence and threat.
There is psychology operating with all of the people who want to normalize Trump. Nobody want to feel helpless and terrifed. Denial in its many forms is a useful defense mechanism. Even those in the media who are terrified and who understand how close the country is to losing her democracy, many of them don't want to scare their audience.
As an example, Joe and Mika went to see Trump at Mar-a-Lago and normalized him by essentially telling their audience that he wasn't as bad as he's been made out to be. They are performers. They should not have been taken in by another performer. They should have explained how he can come across as amiable and reasonable when he needs to do so, but that he is still intent on implementing Project 2025.
We shouldn't have to keep reminding people about the famous George Santayana quote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Mary Trump who, with her education in clinical psychology, should know better. She reminds us of the aspirational Emma Lazarus poem about the Statue of Liberty.
As someone who was a practicing therapist for 40 years, and is also Jewish, I want to remind you of the poem "First They Came" by Martin Niemöller. The shorter version in on a tablet at the Boston Holocaust Memorial.
Here's the full version:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me
Here's the rub with Trump and his minions.
While Trump is ignorant about history, many of those who plan to implement his policies are not. They know their history. They know about the ultimate failures of despots like Hitler. They know about the mistakes they made. Hitler, for example, thought Japan could take on the United States and thus Pearl Harbor brought us into the war. Later he decided to open the Russian front. I'm not a historian, but it makes sense that had the U.S. and Russia stayed out of the war the Nazi's would have prevailed.
The lesson for Trump and his enablers who want to succeed is not to bite off more than they can chew. We can only hope that in the long run their arrogance will be their undoing.
Addendum: Check out the Ann Telnais cartoon for today. She has a fat red-faced Trump in a rocking chair screaming “I am your retribution” but, alas while true in some ways since he is old, he is really on a throne.
I post my blogs (aka Substacks) on several platforms. They are on Substack where, if you want to submit your email, you can be notified of all new blog posts. The are on HalBrown.org. They are also on Stressline.org I also post them on Medium because this enables them to be easily found on internet searches.
