Do not say you were not warned. Der Donald has warned you.
Security is going to rule in America. And unthinkable things will be done.
Don’t believe me? Ask him.
“We’re going to have to do things that we never did before,” Donald Trump says. “And some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule. … So we’re going to have to do certain things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”
On Saturday, a black man began shouting at a Trump speech in Birmingham, Alabama. People shout at Trump speeches all the time. But there are things you are allowed to shout, such as “We love you, Donald!” And there are certain things you are not allowed to shout, such as “Trump is a racist!”
The Constitution says both are allowed as free speech. But the Constitution does not rule at Trump rallies. Security rules — just as he promised.
So the black man was kicked and punched. Trump looked down upon him with lofty disdain. “Get him the hell out of here!” Trump said. “Throw him out.” The man was led away.
Trump would protect us from such people as president — just as he would protect America from all its enemies.
The price we would pay would be tiny. We would give up a civil liberty here, a freedom there.
Certain people would be registered. Their houses of worship would be spied upon. Names would be taken down. But as long as these people are not Christians, do you really care? Trump is betting you do not.
He is betting that as long as only Muslims would be targeted, you will turn a blind eye.
“I want surveillance of these people,” Trump has said. “I want surveillance if we have to, and I don’t care. … I want surveillance of certain mosques, OK?”
And if he is to lead us to our glorious future, he must get what he wants.
Can anyone forget the famous lines of Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor who first supported and then opposed Adolf Hitler? Niemoller was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945 but felt he never did enough to speak out against fascism, especially when Hitler still could have been stopped. Today he might have written:
“First they came for the black people, and I did not speak out — because I was not black.
“Then they came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Muslim.
“When they come for you and me, who will be left to speak out?”
The Democratic presidential field opposes Der Donald — carefully. (I borrow the name “Der Donald” from Dennis Byrne, a former colleague of mine from the Chicago Sun-Times who now is a contributing op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune. In Chicago, niceties are sometimes dispensed with, especially when they interfere with the truth.)
“It is the sort of fear-based politics and division that sometimes precedes fascism,” Martin O’Malley says of Trump’s rhetoric.
“Too many people have suffered and too many people have died for us to continue to hear racist words coming from major political leaders,” Bernie Sanders says.
“Turning away orphans, applying a religious test, discriminating against Muslims, slamming the door on every Syrian refugee — that is just not who we are. We are better than that,” Hillary Clinton says.
And what of Trump’s opponents for the Republican nomination? Most grovel and fawn.
They really don’t care that Trump wants to register Muslims, just as long as he doesn’t want to register guns.
Trump is no fool. He is a man with a plan. Armed with his celebrity status, his vast wealth and his adoption of the big lie as his favorite campaign tactic, he sees the White House within reach.
He is ready for Clinton. He tipped his hand just the other day. “Hillary does not have the strength or the stamina to be president,” he said.
Donald Trump has the stamina. Donald Trump has the strength. Donald Trump has the will.
America has been stabbed in the back for the last time. “We’re tired of being run by stupid people!” he shouts. “The American dream is dead. But we’re going to make it bigger and better and stronger than ever before!”
Bigger. Better. Stronger.
One dream! One nation! One leader!
Der Donald!
Hail!
Roger Simon is Politico’s chief political columnist. His new e-book, Reckoning: Campaign 2012 and the Fight for the Soul of America, can be found on Amazon.com, BN.com and iTunes. To find out more about Roger Simon and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2015 CREATORS.COM
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Knoxville, Tennessee November 16, 2015. REUTERS/Lisa Norman-Hudson
