Trump's love of Nazi rhetoric and symbolic gestures is becoming a habit

 Heil, Boss Trump. Trump's love of Nazi rhetoric and symbolic gestures is becoming a habit, as well as his dog whistles to white nationalists and supremacists. This should not be passed off as a tongue slip or an intern goof. Watch how frequently he uses the Aryan fist. It is a closed fist, turned forward and sometimes pumped from a bent arm. Once the symbol of black power, it has become currently the symbol of white power as the fist becomes white and the background changes to black.

Reports and polls indicate that more racial minorities are toying with supporting Trump. They need to get a grip on reality that a second Trump term will not treat them fairly or the same as his friends since the cultish body of his supporters contains so many racist white nationalists and their sympathizers. The white supremacists get the message, even if you look the other way.

Add this Aryan fist pump to his lists of Hitler worship references: dog-whistling to white racists using terms like: "immigrants poisoning our blood", and "Reich" as a goal like Hitler's goal of establishing a Third Reich empire (oops, blame the intern) neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville are "fine people," too, which was the epic false equivalency that inspired Biden to run for president, and the call to activism of the white supremacist Proud Boys on January 6 to riot. Trump has been heard to call white supremacists "my people".

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/09/donald-trump-white-supremacists-my-people

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4676368-donald-trump-truth-social-video-references-unified-reich

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/white-supremacy-returned-mainstream-politics/

Below from https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/aryan-fist

ALTERNATE NAMES: White Power Fist, White Fist

The upright clenched fist has long been used as a symbol (both graphically and as a hand gesture) to represent themes such as defiance, unity, and power.  In the 1960s and 1970s, black nationalist groups in the United States and elsewhere often used a dark-skinned clenched fist gesture or image as a "black power" symbol.  By the 1980s, white supremacists in the United States and elsewhere had appropriated this symbol, substituting a white fist.  White supremacists frequently claim that they use the symbol to represent "white pride" or "white power."

_______________________________continuing with my post:

A friend of mine, a Hispanic immigrant with newly acquired documents, was bemoaning Denver becoming such a destination and transit point for those migrants without documents. He himself said, "Trump will fix it," indicating if he could vote, he would vote for Trump. I took that to mean Trump will put such migrants in concentration camps and deport them. If that is the fix, then those who made it have little sympathy for their compatriots coming later. If that puzzles those who think birds of a feather should flock together, they should not be surprised. That is not the first time I have encountered that. I once asked a dear Asian friend of mine to explain this lack of sympathy to me about why those who went to the pain and effort to get to the US looked disdainfully at those later arrivals of the same race. He told me that this was common and that those like him, a descendent of Japanese-Americans imprisoned in World War II, did look with disdain at new arrivals they called "hot off the boat." I thought about it later and wondered if it was because new arrivals competed for jobs with them or that they should not have it easy, too, or they were somehow culturally inferior late-coming refugees? Any ideas? What I do know is if you are required" to show me your documents" to prove to a law officer demanding this because you look Hispanic, that will get an indignant reaction and a revolt against such anti-civil rights infringements and racial profiling. By then, if Trump wins, it will be too late because, as he promises, he will also control the Justice Department and the super majority of the Supreme Court.

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/supreme-court-reinstates-arizona-show-me-your-papers-law-strikes-down-three-other

Is it fair to stereotype the GOP as the party of white supremacists and neo-Nazis?

Updated 5/25/23

Is it fair to stereotype the GOP as the party of white supremacists, Christian nationalists, and neo-Nazis? It is not fair, but so long as those running for office do not disown them and tacitly or actively dog whistle to get their support, they are vulnerable to looking like it.  The leading contenders for the Republican nomination for president at this time, Trump and DeSantis, are in the active column, you say? The  NAACP just issued a travel warning to visitors to Florida that Florida is hostile to black people as the result of DeSantis' attempt to grab more of those that Trump had previously corralled. The prime reason Biden said he ran was Trump's calling fine people the neo-Nazis and other white nationalists in the Charleston tiki torch march, and Trump underlined his support by expressing his love for those similar participants on January 6. Recently he was heard saying if elected, he would pardon most of those who pleaded or were found guilty, some imprisoned for seditious conspiracy. 

 I agree with Charlie Sykes this AM on MSNBC that the more in the race that divides up the non-Trump votes and ensures Trump is the candidate in the primary. That was the lesson of 2016.  However, so long as candidates depend on the votes from these elements to win a contest and win the GOP primary too, and either dog whistle or tolerate them publicly, ..that will add fuel to anyone stereotyping the GOP.  They will leave others of are still loyal to the GOP and who object to the overt racism of some candidates sadly in a minority of their own party.. Some in my immediate and extended family are supporters of Pence and old-line Reagan Republicans (as were my parents and brother). They would be appalled at what the GOP has become dominated by Trump and fellow travelers. 

 Both Trump and DeSantis may not be white nationalists, Christian nationalists, or neo-Nazis, but they are skillful demagogues and invite, tolerate, or welcome their support. Any vote is a vote they might need. The rest of the field so far has failed to raise a voice against them, Trump, DeSantis, or the white nationalist dog whistles they utter. In that sense, their silence is complicit.  I am waiting to see any GOP aspirants speak out or attack Trump or DeSantis for appealing to these elements. It will take courage and possibly risk a certain loss in the primaries. Tell me this is not true.

A word about Christian Nationalists. They are theocrats. They want a government controlled by their religions and religious leaders. I call them theocrats because they want the government to force their citizens to comply with their interpretation.  There is no room in their world for those who follow the words of Jesus instead of those who make up or revise what He said.  There is no room for Jews, Buddhists, or atheists.  It is an exclusionary view of their democracy that is twisted to mean the priority of granting rights is for their groups of believers, and the rest should not apply, or they should just keep quiet and comply.   

It is particularly disturbing for practicing Christians like me when the theocrats of the extreme religious right go off on tangents that are not even discussed in the New Testament.  I recall growing up in the Bible Belt dominated by Southern Baptists in my youth, where only those who were baptized by dunking were considered by them to be saved or real Christians, condemning to hell or some second-class status not only my Jewish friends but those who got sprinkled such as  Presbyterians like me and Episcopalians and Catholics.  The greatest debate theological debate among my Baptist friends in the dying days of the Jim Crow South was whether Christians should go to movies on Sunday. 

 I am trying to find where Christ discussed homosexuality and abortion.   Both were practiced in His time.    In Jerusalem, the theocracy and the money changers at the Temple ruled while Caesar's appointees washed their hands of interference when Jesus preached against the corruption of the locally reigning Jewish officials and claimed He was the Son of God..a blasphemy,  paving the way to His crucifixion.  In instances where the government did play a role as a lawgiver and an enforcer, such as tax collection, as Christ said, render unto Caesar what was Caesars, but unto God that is God's. 

 The founders of our Constitution wrote the First Amendment (no establishment of a state church) in their revolt against the Church of England being the English government's "established" religion.  Examples of theocracies in today's world are in Iran, the current Afghanistan of the Taliban, and Saudi Arabia, where the mullahs or men only are the rulers and enforcers of both the temporal and religious laws.

An example of a particular theocracy-run amuck is Afghanistan.  Years ago, I saw an American version of the Taliban on the horizon and wrote a column about it. It was reposted with a note about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade in 2022.  https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-gop-is-becoming-american-taliban.html

From the theological standpoint, Christ did say the two most important Jewish laws to obey (when asked by a Temple scribe) were "Love your God with all your heart" and the Golden Rule, treat your neighbors as you would like to be treated yourself. Matt. 22:37-40 He also preached, "We are our brothers' keeper'"Amen to this remarkable opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times recently.  A Wyoming Republican revolted against Christian nationalism and asked: Are we our brother's keeper? The correct answer is "yes", the writer said..    The meaning of this dating to Genesis is long debated, but I stand with this: Christ Says We Are Our Brother’s Keeper | The News and Times Politics  It is a sin to ignore this by not addressing related issues, and the writer of this piece felt so called to do so.  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/21/opinion/wyoming-republicans-christian-nationalism.html?unlocked_article_code=7LWh8WY5ZLab6-0OI43IWcqNb0Tv74ReOU2QxN0YRcnoiMky90949LkCyYbfxDZAaWYLPWN4F_2O0tcLt4axtOG3jpqURwRn3zDkgZoHGUQoSneMROQuEUV2LF85usbpslIQnTvc8-tvMHhRFqEwnEr8V9WkVGpHQvLACbeHTUw1Mbt3uv9D3WHD6tTA07QETLBDZHxTxuuwASPKDQaTXDcRu3VeulwbtIfD5gyjKzcb4NNs3FxD2NvJQM53ieMNM157PJyapwNsldF3k5QOiirln8YvXx24wwKYzaPNJpz-kj4U_eDa6b-26EmkiymzKmhVqPDMP66FHmznGycUpGsdzC8qqf9w8ua5YYiRNAkWh4A&smid=url-share

An example of a particular theocracy run amuk is Afghanistan.  Years ago I saw an American version of the Taliban on the horizon and wrote a column on it: https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-gop-is-becoming-american-taliban.html

NAACP Issues Travel Warning In Florida - Bing News

Trump Said He Would Pardon Jan 6 Participants - Bing News

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/capitol-hill-insurrection-extremist-flags-soh/index.html

Neo fascism is on the rise

Revised and updated 3 18 19.


A version of this was published on line in the Sky Hi Daily News Marcy 20, 2019
https://www.skyhinews.com/news/opinion-muftic-fascism-is-on-the-rise-we-saw-the-results-in-new-zealand/

I cannot believe I even need to write this posting.   Do we still have to remind ourselves of what has made America a standard of good civic behavior?  "As Ronald Reagan said in his farewell address to the nation, 'In my mind it (America) was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be a city with walls, the walls had doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and how I  see it ". Many may have quarreled with the public policies Reagan promoted, but his vision of its ideals was not in dispute.

 Always lurking under the surface in American history are demons of violence and racial hatred and Donald  Trump has unleashed its demons.  Those are the same demons that lie in the hearts of others around the world like the mass killer of at least 50 Mosque worshippers in New Zealand March 15, 2019, who was motivated by an ideology of violent white nationalism. Race-based, anti-immigrant white nationalism is on the rise worldwide, and some of it has become violent.

Are white nationalists also fascists?. Merriam-Webster defines fascism as exalting "nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition." Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright,  in her recent book Fascism: a Warning: limits her definition of fascism to include acts of violence or military action.  Viktor Orban,  of Hungary, whose platform was racial purity, is an example she used. The US was one of three nations not to support an anti-Nazi resolution at the United Nations recently.

The Anti Defamation League reported that every extremist murder in 2018 in the US  was committed by a right-wing group or individuals.   We are living in a time when violent racial and religious hatred is acted out with terrorism, pipe and IED bombs,  and assault weapon massacres.  We have been fixated on stopping ISIS's fomented terrorist acts promoted by international social media, recruitment, and violent ideology. However, we need to devote that same attention to white nationalist terrorism that uses similar techniques and is even more deadly in the US.

Getting tough on right-wing terrorism will be unlikely so long as Trump is president. He has risen to power by fomenting racial strife, calling Mexicans rapists and murderers on his escalator ridden campaign kick-off. One of his first actions was to try to ban all Muslim immigrants. His dog whistles and coded oratory to rally audiences chanting  "build the wall"gained widespread political support and still does.  In the wake of Charlottesville, he called neo-Nazi marchers promoting racial hatred, Nazi symbolism and salutes,  and antisemitism "fine people." just as the protestors were.  Immediately after expressing condolences on the New Zealand shooting, Trump broadcast solidarity with the shooter be using the same word to describe immigrants as "invaders".

While he is quick to call himself a nationalist, is he advocating violence? We should be very alarmed by some voices threatening they will take to the streets if Trump is impeached or loses the next election. Trump himself has more than once threatened violence against journalists and hecklers at his rallies. In a recent interview on Breitbart media, he did not sound like a president. He sounded like a thug unleashing fellow thugs to keep him in power with "I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don't play it tougher. Okay ? I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump. I have the tough people, but they don't play it tough - until they get to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad." 

 There are still lessons to learn from the Hitler era besides the atrocities of the Holocaust. These new voices of violence are the epitome of modern-day fascist brown shirts. The brown shirts and firebombing of the Reichstag were key to Hitler's rise, even though he represented a minor party at the time. Trump seems to think that the "police, .military,  and bikers" are his loyal brown shirts. If Trump is not a fascist, he has taken a page from them...threatening violence..  

No one is accusing Trump as being directly responsible for the New Zealand tragedy, but is Trump himself a white nationalist?  Nick Mulvaney, Trump's Cheif of Staff,  says he is not a white supremacist. To paraphrase Andrew Gillum, a candidate for Florida governor whose opponent had used racist tactics against him: he answered the question of whether his opponent was a racist, he responded that he did not know if he was a racist, but the racists think he is a racist.  Substitute the word white nationalist for racist, and that is the answer. The former head of the Ku Klux Klan and a candidate for office in Louisiana as a white nationalist, David Duke, said on the election of Trump,  it was a great victory for "our people". and the New Zealand killer cited Trump and his "common purpose" in his manifesto. Either Trump is the most successful demagogue in history if he does not believe what he orates and tweets, or white nationalism comes from deep in his gut. 

 I still have faith in Americans to right the course for our  Democracy. It is institutionalized in our Constitution that includes a method for peaceful regime change through the ballot box and to protect the right of dissidents to be heard and find hope for success, but it depends upon our willingness to support it.  There are plenty of modern-day examples to remind us how autocrats come to power, manipulate their constitutions, and suppress any opposition with violence, mind control techniques, and abuse of human and civil rights. In modern times, democracy is destroyed with stealth on the internet, magnifying messages on social,  broadcast and cable media. Russia and Turkey are current examples.  Without popular support of the rule of law, separation of powers, and civil rights protections,  the Constitution is only a piece of parchment.

Democracy survived to emerge after our Civil War, but what a cost in human life. The south is just now recovering economically. I have seen first hand the aftermath of recent civil war and the damage it did to the economy and humanity in Bosnia. It has not healed, and it is now the poorest nation in Europe. It is still the poster child of ethnic hatred. I lived in Germany 12 years after the end of World War II. and witnessed the spread of communist dictatorships to eastern Europe. Trust me. The horrors of any of that we do not want to experience... ever.

However, Rep. Steve King is openly threatening a civil war and calling on 8 million bullets in red states.  He is a white supremacist and his party has removed him from his committee assignments .  The question is incitement to violence  protected by the US Constitution as free speech.  Yes, but if it incites imminent violence, it is not.  From wikipedia: 

Incitement[edit]

The Supreme Court has held that "advocacy of the use of force" is unprotected when it is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action" and is "likely to incite or produce such action".^[1][2] In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the Supreme Court unanimously reversed the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan group for "advocating ... violence ... as a means of accomplishing political reform" because their statements at a rally did not express an immediate, or imminent intent, to do violence.^[3] This decision overruled Schenck v. United States (1919), which held that a "clear and present danger" could justify a law limiting speech. The primary distinction is that the latter test does not criminalize "mere advocacy".^[4]

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-king-civil-war-graphic_n_

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
"Fascism (/ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a form of radical, right-wing, authoritarian ultranationalism,^[1][2][3][4] characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy,^[5] which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe."

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/03/599120190/madeleine-albright-warns-dont-let-fascism-go-unnoticed-until-its-too-late?fbclid=IwAR35fL5KyaCKmm12Y1TFgdMsNGQstMobekUoHIp0xqCAFdrkb4oM2jT2GZA

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/12/politics/white-supremacists-cheer-midterms-trump/index.html
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/trump-threatens-violence-if-democrats-dont-support-him.html

ww.yahoo.com/news/trump-encourages-violence-supporters-listening-

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/anti-defamation-league-report-right-wing-extremists-2018-murders https://www.apnews.com/27ce96fc6e7943afbf47ef9a1209f2df

https://www.vox.com/world/2019/2/14/18221913/fascism-warning-madeleine-albright-book-trump

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/15/18267745/new-zealand-mosque-attack-invade-trump

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/25/racists-think-hes-racist-gillum-white-supremacists-supp

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-king-civil-war-graphic_n

https://nypost.com/2018/12/07/man-who-drove-car-into-crowd-at-charlottesville-white-nationalist-rally-killing-1-convicted-of-first-degree-murder/

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/09/12/study-shows-two-thirds-us-terrorism-tied-right-wing-extremists

How racial and ethnic hatred can destroy nations and their people

(Updated 8/20/17 and references added 9/17)  A version of this was published in the Sky Hi News, August 23, 2017

Donald Trump’s once implied  tolerance  of white nationalist support and his many hints of sympathy for them are now explicit. He revealed  that  dark corner  of his mind  in  the bright light of  his  post Charlottesville tweets and public statements.  These events have reminded me of  my personal  lifelong  quest  to understand  why  people of  civilized and educated nations act out  hatred of fellow  citizens, unmindful that it would  lead to the destruction of their own homelands. If the history  of Nazi Germany and the tragedy of Bosnia are not sufficient  lessons of where this can lead, heaven help our country.

I am optimistic that  America  is taking a different course because of  the growing number of  Republican leaders  and corporate America CEOs  who  called out Trump   for giving the KKK and neo-Nazis the same moral equivalence as those who opposed them. Others, from clergy to the military Joint Chiefs reaffirmed their condemnation of  racial  hatred. Sheer numbers of those marching overwhelmingly peacefully against hate in Boston Saturday further relegates those hate groups to a fringe that uses terrorist tactics to inflate their influence.

My 1958-1959 junior year abroad  was spent in  an occupied post war Berlin where  shrapnel scarred remains  of  buildings  were separated by  empty spaces of rubble. I had many conversations with  Germans as I tried to understand how Nazis came to power and the Holocaust happened.  I met my future husband,  a refugee from another destroyed, Nazi invaded country, Yugoslavia.  From him I got personal insights into a family experiences and views. On spring break, I toured  his country, the first of many visits.  Yugoslavia  was not only a battleground between Nazi forces and the  resistance, there was an ethnic war, as well.  The subsequent  Communist government of  dictator Marshal Tito  kept the lid on simmering ethnic hatred until  after his death  the 1990’s Balkan wars  broke out.   I was a close hand witness of the times leading up to  that conflict and the aftermath.   The Balkan’s  economic recovery from communism was set back years. The former Yugoslavia  is now broken up  into  several small countries.

What I did find  from Berlin to the Balkans is that  political leaders rose to power  by appealing to many of their countrymen’s long time hatred  of those of  a different faith or ethnicity   Leaders hyped blame on these “others”   as the reason for individual  and national  failure. They struck  a responsive chord with large numbers of their population who felt victimized   and others  who believed  in those same leaders who   promised  to solve their economic malaise and chose to turn their backs on the rest.

 I see those same elements of blame and victimization in the US in  recent polls. In one study  45% of Trump voters, felt they were  being more discriminated against   than were  minorities. Those in Trump’s own administration have whispered to reporters, while expressing  dismay in his post Charlottesville comments, they would stick with Trump because he has promised tax and  regulatory reform and economic growth. Likewise, recent polls show Republicans are standing by their man.

An  icon of the results of  ethnic hatred is  one of those fragments of  Yugoslavia:  Bosnia.  During   my frequent visits to Bosnia  I have seen what happened when  ethnic hatred erupted into ethnic cleansing.  Bosnia  is now the poorest country in Europe with a government paralyzed by  ethnic groups still not working out their differences, but fortunately working  within a nominal  framework of democracy.  

When I see white supremacists chanting  “ take back America “ which means ridding America  of all who are not white Christians or subjugating them to white rulers, I get sick to my stomach. I know how  that can end.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2017/08/alt-right-members-in-charlottesville-vow-not-to-back-down/536685/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-divided-over-trumps-response-to-charlottesville-cbs-news-poll/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/02/white-trump-voters-think-they-face-more-discrimination-than-blacks-the-trump-admin

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/far-right-groups-blaze-into-national-view-in-charlottesville.html

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2017/08/trump-holds-steady-after-charlottesville-supporters-think-whites-christians-face-discrimination.html


https://www.livescience.com/60157-what-motivates-white-supremacists.html

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-nazi

https://www.adl.org/education/resources/reports/state-of-white-supremacy#white-supremacist-ideology

https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/ku-klux-klan

http://time.com/4904290/american-hate-a-history/

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/only-28-approve-trumps-response-charlottesville-poll-214705877--abc-news-topstories.html

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/347633-poll-trumps-approval-steady-following-charlottesville-response

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-08-21/return-racism?cid=nlc-fa_fatoday-20170821

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/25/how-india-partition-gave-my-life-purpose/

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2017-09-08/immigration-and-white-identity-west?cid=nlc-fa_fatoday-20170908

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/bosnia-herzegovina/2017-09-06/russias-bosnia-gambit?cid=nlc-fa_twofa-20170907



https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qbxzpv/white-people-told-me-why-they-feel-they-oppressed-456