Trump's Second, Third, and Fourth Terms

I am having a hard time dealing with the post-truth environment tonight. The Russian military is at it again, hacking the 2020 election, the same actors that hacked 2016. The president tweets that he is protecting people with pre-existing conditions even as he is in court to eliminate these protections. Tonight, the constant barrage of lies and propaganda intensifies through new media outlets that outFox Fox (OAN). How easily we have adapted - no outrage, no people in the streets, everyone at home watching their six hours of repetitive hypnotic advertising, binge eating and binge watching. Honestly, I thought we would put up more of a fight. I was wrong. Welcome to Weimar.

"ACCUSE YOUR ENEMY OF WHAT YOU ARE GUILTY"

One of Josef Goebbels's propaganda principles was "Accuse your enemy of what you are guilty." As Congress investigates Jared Kushner's substandard Baltimore "Kushnerville" rentals, Trump lashes out in racist attack upon Oversight Chair Elijah Cummings, representative of Baltimore. Now Trump is attacking whole ciites. You would think people would rise up and vote against him in the next election, but the tactic worked as voter suppression in Detroit in 2016: See, the subtext of his message ran, the Democrats have left you in poverty, have left you in the lurch, why vote for them? I hope the consciousness raising by the Baltimore Sun and the black Obama officials helps, but Trump is a master at propaganda and must never be taken lightly.

RULES OF PROPAGANDA

Do not underestimate Trump. He has effectively followed Hitler's racist and rapist playbook for power and has divided our nation to the point of civil war. We are surrounded by disinformation and propaganda and the press and freedom of assembly are in grave danger. 
Remember the rules of propaganda, of which Trump is a master, and teach others to resist.
1. Make the lie big.
2. Make it simple so that your least intelligent follower can grasp it.
3. Repeat it often.
And . . .
4. Accuse your opponents of what they accuse you, to confuse and undermine. If your followers are an angry mob, call Democrats an angry mob; if you are extreme and dangerous, call Democrats extreme and dangerous. Etc.
Watch for these tactics, and educate others, and resist, resist, ,#resist.

An Intellectual Dark Ages

My worst fear about Trump et. al. is coming true: Trump is writing the history books. In the heartland, the age of the Earth is 6,000 years per Biblical begats and the theory of evolution is censored. Climate change research is not only ignored, it is destroyed. The Holocaust didn't happen; Helen Keller and Hillary Clinton have been removed from the curriculum in Texas; neo-Nazis and Confederates are "good people"; Republican candidates for Congress praise slavery. Evidence-based disciplines such as science and journalism are attacked as "fake." Trump's constant propaganda of big lies repeated often is working- our children are numb with apathy or animated with right-wing reaction. Unless a change comes soon, I see all Trump's lies dutifully recorded for future students, starting with "More people attended his inauguration than any in history, period."

Trump Administration Is Thinking Long Term

The Trump administration is not as stupid as it looks. With net neutrality gone, corporations which support the government will have greater control over the Internet content you can access. In addition to Fox News, Sinclair Media, which forces local news broadcasters to air 20-minute pure propaganda segments (eg, "Obama was funded by Hamas" - I kid you not!) will soon cover 72 percent of the television market. 

Trump has effectively isolated us by leaving the Paris Accord, the Iran Deal, and the UN Human Rights commission, and has alienated us from our democratic allies to partner with the dictatorial thugs of the world. Additionally, apparently, previous Republican administrations have devised plans for mass detentions - of US citizens. Trump is looking at these.

Trump's approval rating stands at 45%. These polls precede the migrant child incarcerations, but most Trump supporters approve of them. But with a 5 percent increase in voter registration, Bernie Sanders says Democrats can take back the Senate and the House. I hope you will vote and register some friends; it may be the last opportunity you have to do so. In any event, as George Orwell said, sanity is not statistical - I will fight Trump whatever his polls say.