Super-spreader Donald Trump is making dark pre-World War II history real again
Echo opinion by Diane Mufson, published in the Huntington West Virginia, the Herald-Dispatch.
About Donald Trump's super-spreader political rallies, I am troubled by wildly cheering unmasked crowds at the campaign rallies where violent rhetoric and perverse, unacceptable references often appeared.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I asked my friend, during a walk in Huntington West Virginia's Ritter Park. “Have you seen the pictures of the Nuremberg Rallies?”
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Adolf Hitler addressing a rally in Germany, c. 1933.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” I asked my friend, during a walk in Huntington West Virginia's Ritter Park. “Have you seen the pictures of the Nuremberg Rallies?”
I indicated that I had seen pictures of the Nuremberg trials in Germany after World War II. “No, not the trials, the rallies,” said my friend.
Needing more information, I Googled the Nuremberg Rallies, begun in 1923 and becoming an annual event from 1933-1938. These involved thousands of passionately cheering (Nazi cult!) supporters of Germany’s Nazi leaders who promised solutions for all Germany’s social and economic ills. It did not matter that these solutions were inhumane and targeted political opponents, people of Jewish faith, homosexuals and others.
To me, the most jarring aspect of this conversation was that my friend, who raised the subject of the Nuremberg Rallies, was born, raised and educated in Germany. It should distress most Americans to know that a person with this background saw even the slightest similarity between Trump’s rallies and those in pre-World War II Germany.
While Trump’s rallies and campaigning are not akin to those of Nazi Germany, similarities in crowd adoration and devotion to the leader (forget social distancing and masks despite scientific advice during a pandemic), encouraging bigoted stances toward minorities (“Mexican rapists” and Charlottesville’s “very fine people on both sides”) and cheering unlawful behaviors of political opponents (“lock her up” Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer) should cause Americans to have concerns about these messages and fallout from inflammatory political rallies.
When people with extreme positions on one side of the political spectrum feel emboldened, extremists on the opposite flank believe they must react. This is no way to unify a nation facing health, economic, educational, environmental and election crises.
Extreme dissension in our national politics has rendered Washington unable to handle critical problems (inability to pass a needed stimulus for the millions out of work and businesses facing bankruptcy). Yet, there must still be hope, which I found right here in West Virginia.
Last week’s TV debate between gubernatorial candidates Republican Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic challenger Ben Salango, moderated by Hoppy Kercheval, showed you can have two candidates with very different political viewpoints conduct themselves productively and civilly, even with a few zingers included.
Needing more information, I Googled the Nuremberg Rallies, begun in 1923 and becoming an annual event from 1933-1938. These involved thousands of passionately cheering (Nazi cult!) supporters of Germany’s Nazi leaders who promised solutions for all Germany’s social and economic ills. It did not matter that these solutions were inhumane and targeted political opponents, people of Jewish faith, homosexuals and others.
To me, the most jarring aspect of this conversation was that my friend, who raised the subject of the Nuremberg Rallies, was born, raised and educated in Germany. It should distress most Americans to know that a person with this background saw even the slightest similarity between Trump’s rallies and those in pre-World War II Germany.
While Trump’s rallies and campaigning are not akin to those of Nazi Germany, similarities in crowd adoration and devotion to the leader (forget social distancing and masks despite scientific advice during a pandemic), encouraging bigoted stances toward minorities (“Mexican rapists” and Charlottesville’s “very fine people on both sides”) and cheering unlawful behaviors of political opponents (“lock her up” Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer) should cause Americans to have concerns about these messages and fallout from inflammatory political rallies.
When people with extreme positions on one side of the political spectrum feel emboldened, extremists on the opposite flank believe they must react. This is no way to unify a nation facing health, economic, educational, environmental and election crises.
Extreme dissension in our national politics has rendered Washington unable to handle critical problems (inability to pass a needed stimulus for the millions out of work and businesses facing bankruptcy). Yet, there must still be hope, which I found right here in West Virginia.
Last week’s TV debate between gubernatorial candidates Republican Gov. Jim Justice and Democratic challenger Ben Salango, moderated by Hoppy Kercheval, showed you can have two candidates with very different political viewpoints conduct themselves productively and civilly, even with a few zingers included.
Americans expect their political candidates and leaders to present their views openly, but political rallies that fan the flames of hate for those who think or look differently are very troubling.
Diane W. Mufson is a retired psychologist and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch Opinion page.
Diane W. Mufson is a retired psychologist and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch Opinion page.
Labels: Diane Mufson, Herald-Dispatch, Huntington West Virginia
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