I
am certain that our friends and allies around the world were shocked
last week when acting President DJT claimed that newborn babies were
being executed at the whim of their mothers and doctors. The idea has
been going around for a while now, but this was the first time that
the, I can't say it, you know who I mean, included a dramatic
description of the practice in one of his rally speeches. “The baby
is born, and they wrap it carefully in a blanket, such a beautiful
baby, and they take the baby to the mother, and the mother and the
doctor decide whether to execute the baby or not.” People in many
countries must have done a spit-take when they heard that. It was
kind of a WTF moment for Americans, too. Nothing remotely like that
is actually happening.
(The
medical facts of the matter are highly technical and should rightly
be left to the parents and the doctors involved. That's not only my
opinion. It is also the advised opinion of the U.S. Judicial system
based upon the current requirements of Due Process cases. What
President “I'm rich and I'm smart but I can't prove either thing”
described was infanticide, which is totally illegal in every state.)
We
have grown accustomed to the daily barrage of lies that pours out of
the White House from every window, but this one really pushes the
minute hand on the Fascism Clock dangerously close to midnight. This
lie is so enormous, and so blatantly impossible and untrue, that it
raises the bar. The idea is so outlandish, and the lie so totally
preposterous, and the language so inflammatory (execute!), that the
danger level must be raised. The whole idea of agitprop like this is
to demonize one's political opponents. “Vote for us, and help us to
save the country from the disgusting people who would do such
things!” There's nothing new about it. We've already seen many
people killed and injured because of language like this. That
violence is the goal of the language.
The
greatest expression of this kind of political foul play was the
famous “Blood Libel” that has been leveled at the Jews in Europe
from time to time.* It still is, actually, because “The Elders of
Zion” is still in circulation and raising antisemitic feelings
around eastern Europe. The Nazis weren't the first, but they used the
Blood Libel with great success to drive out German Jews in the 1930s.
They started with blaming the Jews for the loss in World War I, and
then blaming them for the financial collapse, and then they reached
for the big gun. (About two/thirds of the Jews were allowed to leave,
after their property had been stolen. By the time the Nazis started
actually killing Jews in large numbers, any excuse or rational was no
longer necessary.) The Nazi's use of the Blood Libel is a perfect
example of the demonization process in its fullest flower. Escalating
lies and propaganda directed at the class of person to be demonized
lead to greater heights of accusatory rhetoric that became more and
more dehumanizing and finally turned exterminationist. Those
ridiculous Jewish caricatures in Der Stuermer were not taken
seriously by the Germans at first. After all, there were only 375,000
Jews in a country of over 60 million, how big a problem could they
be? They had fought in World War I! Everyone living in a big city
knew plenty of Jews! Years of escalating rhetoric, however, employing
tools like the Blood Libel, finally led to the murder of about six
million Jews. Plus big numbers from the other demonized groups.
“First
they came for the diabetics, and I didn't care, because I wasn't
diabetic.” That's a funny line now, but wait until your grandchild
dies because the insurance company denies them life-saving medicine.
That's just the beginning. If you are an American who is not in one
of the preferred groups, i.e., rich, powerful, or famous, you're in
the cross-hairs already.
So,
Donnie the Gyp says people, with the help of doctors, are “executing”
healthy babies. He wants to desensitize people from the use of the
word, “execute.” You know he's working on his lists. In fact,
they've been working on their lists since Nixon was president. The
Republicans, I mean. Hippies; university professors and students;
blacks; commies; socialists; feminists; liberals; atheists;
progressives; homosexuals; and more recently added groups like,
people with good educations; Californians; media personalities; people who speak foreign
languages; Mexicans (which they take to mean all non-Caribbean
Latins); Hollywood actors; Muslims; and any minute now, Asians.
We've
been seeing this kind of demonization of liberals, etc., for decades
now. It really took off while Mr. Obama was our president. Getting
beaten twice by Obama really unhinged the Republican party. Trump has
taken the practice to the moon and beyond. It is common now for
ordinary citizens commenting on social media to furiously demand the
deaths of Democratic politicians, or liberals wherever they may be
found. For the deaths, in fact, of any of the groups being demonized
by their ultra-right-wing style leaders. And lest we forget, it is
increasingly common for some deluded fan of that ultra-right rhetoric
to take up an AR-15 and actually kill as many of the demons as he can
manage. (So far in America it's a man's game. That might change, as
it has in other countries.)
When
our ultra-right-wing, white supremacist “acting president” says
things like “execute” on TV, many of his followers take it as
gospel and believe him wholeheartedly. Several of my Facebook friends
certainly do. This obvious lie made them furious at the doctors and
the moms who are “executing” these born-alive babies, and also
furious at anyone like me that might try to explain that no healthy,
beautiful babies wrapped lovingly in blankets are being murdered.
These people, who can hardly control their anger at such practices,
include many that I grew up with. I've known them since we were
teenagers, or in some cases even young children. If decent, hard
working people like that can be enraged by such a transparent,
obvious lie, such a virtual “Blood Libel,” well then there is no
limit to the damage that those unscrupulous bastards who spew this
agitprop can accomplish.
*
Constant readers will recall that if something occurs to me, I assume
that it has also occurred to many other people. That's my style; I
try never to give myself too much credit. In the course of checking
my facts on the Blood Libel, and trying to avoid giving offense to
any aggrieved groups out there, I read, among other things, an
article on Slate dot com called, “They Will Execute the Baby,” by
Rebecca Onion (April 30, 2019). She mentioned the Blood Libel,
without expanding the similarities very much. Ms. Onion called
Trump's “execution” crack, “atrocity propaganda,” which I
think is a nice turn-of-phrase. She attributed his statement to a
desire to portray liberals and feminists as “selfish monsters.”
I'm sure that the article is still up, or at least available. It's
short.
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