They called it “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Among America’s greatest historical achievements is the fact that this country has so successfully gaslit its stolen African tenants that we exist in a constant state of paranoia. We are accused of projecting racism on all white people because—for most of the history of this country—white men enslaved, raped, lynched and systematically terrorized every non-white person in this country.
We laugh at people who believe AIDS is a government experiment on its black population even though we know about the Tuskegee Experiments, North Carolina’s eugenics plan and the poisoning of East St. Louis. When we wonder if the Dallas Police Department killed Joshua Brown, it’s dismissed as a conspiracy theory even though there is empirical evidence that the Dallas Police Department will murder a black man and cover up the truth.
And when we feared that electing a white supremacist president would ignite right-wing terrorists, normalize racism, cause international conflicts, empower Russia and transform the presidency into a strong-man dictatorship that destroys the Constitution, Donald Trump’s Republican co-conspirators ridiculed that worst-case scenario as an absurd notion.
And yet, here we are, with President Trump, who just informed the judicial branch that the presidency is above the law. Who just informed Congress that what the Constitution says does not matter. Who used the U.S. military to help a dictator attack our trusted allies. Who is preparing to hold a rally guarded by a right-wing terrorist group. Who is turning racism into policy.
This is the thing we feared.
On Thursday, Trump will hold a campaign rally in Minneapolis, a city that recently banned its police officers from appearing at political rallies in uniform, a practice that is also prohibited in the U.S. Military and many other state and local law enforcement agencies. So, instead, Minnesota cops plan to show up in a “sea of red,” wearing “Cops for Trump” t-shirts, according to the Associated Press. The rally will be taking place in the center of the congressional district represented by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), who Trump famously insinuated should go back to Africa, so you should expect some very racist dog whistles.
Our worst fears about the Trump presidency will be confirmed by the presence of an armed right-wing terrorist group known as the Oath Keepers, according to WCCO, explaining:
The militia-style group The Oath Keepers is asking for volunteers to protect President Donald Trump supporters attending the campaign rally in downtown Minneapolis Thursday.
The Oath Keepers, which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls “one of the largest radical antigovernment groups in the U.S. today,” say Trump supporters need protection from “Antifa and other radical, America hating leftists” that the group expects to disrupt the rally.
“Calling all Oath Keepers, veterans, bikers, three percenters, and other capable patriots! We need you to step up and help protect Trump Supporters at the upcoming Trump Campaign rally in Minneapolis, MN this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019,” the group said on its Facebook page.
The Oath Keepers are a right-wing, paramilitary militia composed mostly of white men with big guns. They became famous for roaming the streets and rooftops of Ferguson, Mo., during the 2014 Michael Brown protests dressed in military gear and carrying intimidating weapons. Their members are excited by Trump’s call for a “civil war” and pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’” The group is based on the idea of 10 “orders we will not obey” that assumes the government is coming to confiscate guns, instill martial law and turn cities into concentration camps. It is also probably a coincidence that the group, which perfectly fits the FBI’s definition of a domestic terrorist organization, was founded right after the election of Barack Obama.
The rally caps off a week when attorneys for the president twice argued that the president is immune from criminal prosecution and investigation, an argument one judge said was “repugnant” and another called “an extraordinary position.” On Tuesday, the White House also refused to comply with Congress’ constitutional authority, declaring that it would not comply with the House impeachment inquiry, reports the Associated Press.
This is all taking place against the backdrop of Turkey’s military attack on Kurdish forces, which were fighting Islamic State terrorists along with the U.S. until Trump reportedly received a phone call from Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who “rolled” Trump into withdrawing U.S. forces so Turkey could attack our allies.
And in other racism news:
- The Trump administration announced that it will deny visas to migrants who can’t prove they have the ability to pay for health insurance, a plan that could reduce immigration by 65 percent.
- The Trump organization hastily canceled an event for ACT for America, an Islamophobic hate group after word got out that they were hosting a gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
- The final Senate report on Russian propaganda in the 2016 election says that the main tool used by the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency to incited division in America was good, old-fashioned racism.
So there you have it.
Donald Trump is every bit the dumb, racist, colluding, anti-American troll we thought he was. To prove it, there is no need to look back four years to his Mexicans-are-rapists remarks. You don’t need to read the Mueller Report or recall his two-year-old comment about “both sides” in Charlottesville, Va. You can see how stupid he is without bringing up his inability to understand how insurance, tariffs, or apostrophes work. You can substantiate every fear about this dimwit president by just evaluating what he’s done since Monday.
But the worst part is...
The week is only halfway over.