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.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler addressing a rally in Germany, c. 1933.

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?” 

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. 

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. 

Donald Trump - a ruthless & immoral "unjust" man

What does it mean to be human?

An echo opinion by Kathleen Parker published in the West Virginia newspaper the Huntington Herald-Dispatch

An "unjust" person and illegal leader- Donald Trump

WASHINGTON — In his most famous dialogue, "The Republic," Plato, via Socrates, explored the idea that a just state would best function under the leadership of a perfectly just philosopher-king.

That is, an intellectually curious person who pursues knowledge, is intelligent, reliable and wise, and embraces the simple life. 

To test the hypothesis, Socrates is asked by an interlocutor to imagine a competition between a perfectly just man — who would be perceived by an ignorant public as unjust — and a perfectly unjust man, who is ruthless, immoral, gets away with murder, figuratively, but appears to be just.

Though this is more complicated than described here, one unavoidably thinks of Donald Trump, who, apparently seems "just" to — or at least is approved by — 39 percent of the electorate, yet meets the very definition of "unjust." 

Ruthless and immoral, he somehow always escapes accountability.

As we know, Trump doesn't like to read, seems to abhor knowledge, is unreliable from moment to moment and embraces a gaudevillian, as well as vaudevillian, life. He's the opposite of the philosopher-king and, given the pendulum theory of presidential succession, we're now primed and ready for one. But, who?

Does such a person even exist in the land of Twitter and Snapchat? 

Does our narcissistic culture engender the sort of person we last saw strolling along a wooded path lost in thought? 

If such a person were to exist, would he or she stand a chance of attracting voters with the kind of message that urges people to think rather than cajoles them with sophistry?

The Greek sophists were learned men who made clever arguments that were, in fact, false. This also nearly defines our president, who has manipulated people by invoking emotion rather than reason. 

It must be sublime to be unencumbered by conscience, weightlessly bloviating to the cheers of admirers without the burden of truth.

Then again, maybe not. My guess is that a majority of voters know that they deserve better. And the ambient unease people feel is the very real sense that the ship of state is listing and a lunatic mans the helm.

So, let's say we're in the market for a philosopher-king — or queen — who understands the extraordinary challenges ahead because he or she has studied them. Someone who is reliable and won't say one thing today and its opposite the next. Given our dot on the timeline, perhaps he or she might also be a bit witty. We surely wouldn't want to be bored.

The diverse roster of Democratic candidates is testament to how far we've come from the ridiculous era of playboys, fast cars and the bigger-better-richer-than-thou dogma to which Trump has entrusted his flexible faith. Is there a perfectly just philosopher-president among them? We'll find out during the next 19 or so months, as stories are shared about humble origins who has suffered poverty, endured discrimination, or been sexually harassed - or hugged by Joe Biden.

But, which one of them is capable of elevating the dialogue, of inspiring citizens to look beyond their immediate needs to something that unites all? We're not only physical beings with basic needs; we're also soul-filled and spiritually yearning for something greater than ourselves. It is to the latter that our next president should focus some of his or her attention, because we are entering a new age without much guidance.

At this particular time in history, we have to answer an exceedingly tough question: What does it mean to be human?

Technological advances have so overwhelmed us that we may be unable to process their ethical ramifications, which have an increasing impact on our daily lives — from robots and artificial intelligence to synthetic biology. With advances in gene manipulation, we'll soon be creating improved humans, most likely without the bother of mating and pregnancy. Enough of: Who am I? The question now is: Who are we as a species?

Many of these developments are already upon us. 

And though academics and scientists may be well-versed in various consequential scenarios, no one in the public sphere has yet approached the deep philosophical/psychological implications that could lead to circumstances most unpleasant. If you think income inequality is challenging, wait for gene inequality and its companion privileges.

I don't know who our philosopher-president could be, but I feel safe in saying that the country is ready for her — or him.
Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist. Her email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.

But KJU said he didn't do it? Lies, damned lies and Donald Trump

Donald Trump's strange attraction to tyrants - Kathleen Parker

Lies, damned lies and Donald Trump

This echo opinion by Kathleen Parker was published in The Herald-Dispatch, a newspaper published in Huntington, West Virginia.

WASHINGTON — If he were alive today, Mark Twain might say the following: "There's lies, damned lies — and Donald Trump." The president of the United States not only lies routinely, but he believes other people's lies without a modicum of skepticism.

This past week, the liar in question was North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (aka "KJU"), who claimed to have known nothing about what appears to have been the torture and, ultimately, murder of American college student Otto Warmbier. After holding a second nuclear summit for which he was grossly unprepared, this time in Vietnam, Trump said Kim "tells me that he didn't know about it and I will take him at his word." He added that Kim "felt badly about it. He felt very badly."

Right. Because Kim's empathy and compassion toward his starving countrymen and those he has had killed, allegedly including his half-brother, are legendary.

It is mind-numbing and breathtaking to hear such nonsense from a president, who, if normal, would vindicate the victim through punitive actions rather than side with a violent dictator in some weird, contrived, non-productive chit-chat about nuclear weapons. Warmbier's parents were appropriately outraged by the president's cavalier comments — especially since he had used the Warmbiers as props during his 2018 State of the Union address -and they issued a harsh rebuke.

The 21-year-old Warmbier had been touring North Korea when on Jan. 2, 2016, while going through airport security to leave the country, he was detained by North Korean authorities. He was accused of stealing a propaganda poster from the Pyongyang hotel where he was staying. No conclusive evidence was provided that he did so, but he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

After 17 months, Warmbier was sent home in a coma, having suffered severe brain damage from possible multiple beatings, and he died a few days later. His brutal death was surely no accident, as Cindy and Fred Warmbier asserted in their statement rebuking Trump, nor was it likely unknown to Kim, whose Supreme Leadership doesn't leave much wiggle room for independent action. No one familiar with North Korea believes that Kim wasn't well aware of his American captive. How could he not have been after a year-and-a-half of international news coverage and outreach from the U.S. State Department? Thus, make no mistake, Warmbier's death was as much an assault on America as it was on this young American son.

But Trump, who confessed to having a "warm relationship" with Kim, based presumably on whatever pheromones* passed between them, said he believed the man he previously called "little rocket man." This is because the president is (a) a useful idiot; (b) a malevolent force in the universe; (c) a small-pawed, big-dog fanboy; (d) a strategic genius.

I think most of us can eliminate option d.

Option c is probable, given Trump's strange attraction to tyrants, dictators, murderers and thieves. He has used similar terminology with other strongmen, with whom he has been equally credulous. Trump believed Russian President Vladimir Putin when he denied knowing about Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. And he believed Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman when he denied knowing anything about the torture, murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

At the same time Trump believed their lies, he disbelieved the conclusions of American intelligence agencies, which, in each case, pointed a finger at the top guys. How could it be otherwise?

Even if we pretend that Trump is a strategic genius who is flattering his foes by faking belief in their lies, one is left to wonder to what end? To win their approval? To soften them for the next round? To charm them into believing he's one of them, that they are essentially the same but for minor differences resolvable through the art of the deal?

If only he were trying to seize a widow's home to make space for a new limo parking lot at one of his casinos. Or negotiating a new Trump tower in Moscow. But the stakes are a little higher now. And Trump, in trying to be a tough guy, has created the opposite perception.

What every foreign ruler, dictator, president or potentate now knows is that every American tourist, journalist, college student or diplomat is fair game for capture, arrest, hostage-taking, torture or murder — all without consequence. All they have to do is lie to the president, a proven weakling, and the bad thing that happened will just go away.

The American people must not let him get away with it.

Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist.

* Thanks Ms. Parker learned another new word: Pheromones- a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect, affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its species. This is obviously Donald Trump's false belief about "how to influence others", misguided theory. He seems to rely on "pheromones".  In my opinion, pheromones, can also be nature's repellent.