PUBLIC SQUARE BY MUHAMMAD AL-GHAZALI

Turmoil In Trumpville: My Vindication!

ghazalism@gmail.com

 

In the weeks and months prior to the last US Presidential elections and its immediate aftermath, I wrote a series of articles on the implications of a win for the then candidate Donald Trump and the potential impact of his victory on America, and the rest of the world. It is barely one hundred and fifty days into the Trump Presidency, but already, most of my fears and predictions, have been confirmed by the very man at the center of the raging battle for the soul of America as we knew it.

 

The Trump presidency has created so much turmoil in the White House and beyond, to the extent that today, the most commonly used words in reaction to some his unprecedented actions include “Nixonian” – in reflection to the Watergate scandal and the events that led to the resignation of the 37th president of United States, Richard Nixon; and “impeachment” – presumably of Trump; assuming he continues to jolt the American political establishment beyond its tolerance level. We shall return to this point in the postscript to this essay.

 

In the meantime, I have taken the liberty to reproduce excerpts from the series of the pieces I wrote on Trump prior to, and even after what may yet turn out to be his tragic election for Americans, and the world at large, if it is not so already. And I derive a great sense of vindication doing so. Enjoy!

 

WHO WILL SAVE AMERICA FROM TRUMP?

 

At the conclusion of the World War II in 1945, most of the Nazi henchmen who had not already committed suicide, or fled to South America, were swiftly rounded up by allied forces, and shipped to the sleepy German town of Nuremberg to await trial for their various crimes against humanity.  The trials were the first of its kind in human history.

 

Ahead of the trials, Gustave Gilbert, the Austrian-American psychologist with a Jewish ancestry who was also a commissioned officer arrived in Nuremberg and was granted unfettered access to the prisoners. Gilbert’s mission was made smoother because he also spoke fluent German. He was also later to act as translator when the trials eventually commenced.

 

On the evening of the 18th of April 1946, Gilbert found himself alone with Goering in his prison cell when the following conversation ensued. “We got round to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful to leaders for bring them war and destruction.”
 

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

 

Before Donald Trump’s candidacy, the closest that America ever came to experiencing the sort of absurd xenophobic rhetoric he typified, was during the ill-fated run of Barry Goldwater for the presidency in 1964, and, of course, the disastrous tenure of George W. Bush, with his emphasis on the invasion of Iraq and regime change, both of which inevitably left the entire Middle East in severe turmoil.

 

But even Goldwater and Bush were civil compared to Donald Trump and his uncouth language.  What is even more disturbing, is that Trump has the blond hair and apparent hair cut to go with Hitler’s illusionary perfect image of his preferred master race and Aryan supremacy.

 

Trump’s apparent strategy is to inject the fear of Islam into the average American and so far, it seems his methods are paying off bountifully. As the Iowa caucuses are set to begin, Trump is already miles ahead of his nearest challenger Ted Cruz, whom he alleges is not American enough, having been borne in neighboring Canada.

 

It is more than six decades now since the Second World War ended, and history is abundant with its many lessons. We know how it all started with Hitler’s careless and xenophobic demagoguery especially against the Jews of Europe.  Getting rid of the Jews was not the desired solution to all the problems Germany inherited after the unjust armistice imposed on it after the First World War.

 

Similarly, getting rid of Muslims cannot secure America or improve its economy. The world has moved on since 1939. This is the age of the internet coupled with globalization on an unprecedented scale. We live in the age of ideas and opportunities exemplified by the exploits of Microsoft, and Apple, among others, none of which would have had such a global impact if the world were a fragmented mess.

 

If truth must be told, it is not only Muslims and the rest of the world that have much to fear from Trump’s presidency. Surely, the Jews who fled Europe for America before, and during the Second World War can’t have forgotten their history so soon. To refresh their memory, they don’t only need to read the reprinted copies of “Mein Kampf”, they may also need to peruse Gustave Gilbert’s “Psychology of Dictatorship” which resulted from his lengthy sessions with Nazi prison inmates at Nuremberg.

 

COULD TRUP BE A RUSSIAN AGENT?

 

It is barely two weeks into his presidency, but already, Trump has commenced the process of relaxing some sanctions imposed on Russia by previous administrations. The speed with which that has occurred has got many including members of the President’s own party scratching their heads in disbelief. It is highly unusual for an American president. Trump's rhetoric throughout the campaign trail not only openly praised Russia, it was an embarrassing mockery of American foreign policy in the past 70 years. The trend has not diminished two weeks after his inauguration.  

 

TRUMP AND THE SPECTRE OF DICTATORSHIP

 

The threat of the accident waiting to happen to America now resembles a shipwreck of Titanic proportion. It is set to drown the American dream as we knew it. And with the President’s rash and ill-thought out Executive Orders, a spectre of dictatorship, which will surely test the strength and resilience of America’s democratic institutions, hangs uneasily over the nation.

 

Most of the promises are in direct conflict with the First Amendment of the American constitution except if the framers of the document never knew that Islam existed or that the freedom of religion could one day apply to Muslim-Americans – which is doubtful since Thomas Jefferson was known to have kept a copy of the Quran in his study. 

 

AMERICA: THE DAY AFTER TRUMP’S AMBUSH

 

The bigger worry is how Trump’s victory is likely to be interpreted in the rest of the world. For Nigeria, some pro-Biafra groups have continued to celebrate his victory on the social media in the dubious belief that his xenophobic credentials will hasten the actualization of their own infamous Republic.

 

In Europe, Trump’s victory will further accelerate the frightful rise of right-wing nationalism and resentment of immigration in whatever guise. I was not surprised that among the first individuals to congratulate Trump was a certain Marine Le Pen, leader of the extreme right-wing party in France – the National Front.

 

POSTCRIPT

 

With his current approval ratings barely hovering above thirty percent, it is hardly surprising that the spectre of impeachment is beginning to loom precariously over the head of President Trump. In my previous writings, I expressed the hope that the 2018 mid-term American Congressional elections in which many GOP candidates could lose their seats could signal the beginning of the end of his political odyssey; but with all the chaos in Washington presently, it is beginning to appear that even 2018 could be a bridge too far President Trump.

 

For that to happen, though, more Americans will need to reject Trump’s notion of patriotism which is similar to Hermann Goering’s. They will need to distinguish between loyalty to his king-sized ego and loyalty to the timeless American values of freedom and democracy. From the size of the crowd at his inauguration to how he is perceived in the liberal media, the story of the Trump presidency thus far has been about him alone, and not about the greater half of America who rejected him at the polls. America is not Trumpville.