I am not a prude. I grew up watching Don Rickles and Foster Brooks on those Dean Martin Roasts. Richard Pryor and George Carlin were, without question, two of the greatest comedic talents of their generation. One of my favorite movies of all time is Blazing Saddles. I know full well that it is the job of a good comedian to push the envelope and occasionally offend people.
Let’s be perfectly clear. What happened at Madison Square Garden Sunday night had absolutely nothing to do with a comedian pushing the envelope. In fact, Tony Hinchcliffe - whose "jokes" I won't bother mentioning - was one of a handful of guest speakers that took part in that hatefest. The central theme of the night was a familiar one; one that goes back well over a century. And that theme is that some people in this country simply don’t belong here. They are not equal to the rest of us, and thus have become easy targets.
We’ve heard it straight from the horse’s mouth: “Mexicans are rapists;” certain cities and countries of origin are “shit holes;” “There are good people on both sides;” “They’re eating the dogs and cats.” There are easily a dozen more such examples.
These are not simply the mindless rants of a candidate with no self control. They are said deliberately to illicit the kind of response they have gotten. To suggest that they do not represent the views of the man at the top of the ticket is to strain the bounds of credulity.
For Trump's apologists who insist that this is just his in-artful way of attempting to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants that are threatening the security of the nation, I would remind them that in the early 1900s, it was the Irish, Italians, Germans and Chinese who posed a similar threat. Nativist groups wanted to ban their entry; thankfully calmer heads prevailed.
Look, does the United States have a problem at its southern border? Yes. Will Trump's plan solve it? No. But then solving problems has never been Trump's goal. Creating division and stoking hatred is. That's actually been the whole point of his candidacy. The cruelty isn't a bug; it's a feature.
No one should be the slightest bit surprised at what is going on here. Indeed, Trump has made his intentions perfectly clear since he announced he was running again. To that extent, he has been, by far, the most transparent political figure in American history. The only surprise is how many people, apparently, are either fine with who he is or have become immune to him.
The reality is that we are seven days away from this man possibly becoming the next president, and the fact that this race is as close as it is, says more about us as a country than it does about the demented views of a sociopathic, racist, misogynistic, fascist, wanna-be dictator. If he succeeds, it will be on us.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, "The fault, dear Brutus, will not be in our stars, it'll be in ourselves."
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