Trump’s Hurricane of Bullshit Tour, Part Eight
Last stop (for now): Mobile, Alabama
Catch up on previous installments of this series:
- Part One: Cincinnati, Ohio
- Part Two: Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Part Three: Des Moines, Iowa
- Part Four: Baton Rouge, LA and Grand Rapids, MI
- Part Five: West Allis, Wisconsin
- Part Six: Hershey, Pennsylvania
- Part Seven: Orlando, Florida
At first I was surprised that Trump would announce a Thank You Tour Stop in Mobile. In an election where many pundits believed that Texas and Georgia, of all places, were up for grabs by Clinton, nobody regarded Alabama as a swing state. But then Trump and his warm-up speakers reminded me that the Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile was the site of his very first Republican primary rally back on August 21st, 2015. So this rally was meant to serve as a bookend to Trump’s rallies, a way to close the circle.
The South Has Risen Again
America’s Founding Fathers wrote of all men being created equal to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, but the cold hard truth remains that our nation was built upon slavery and genocide. Nowhere exemplified that truth more than the states of the former Confederacy, the states that started our Civil War because the North tried to stop Southern slavery from spreading further West.
Small wonder, then, that after announcing his candidacy in New York’s Trump Tower our aspiring Dear Leader would choose to launch his initial tour of campaign rallies in the deepest part of the Deep South. Trump knew that he would find the most fertile ground for his movement in the land where white supremacy bloomed most vividly. Indeed, Trump’s best showings throughout the primary season came from the Southern states, while rival Ted Cruz fared better in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
But don’t take my word for it. Listen to the day’s speakers, beginning with Alabama state representative Perry Hooper:
“God, Alabama and the Southern Majority won this election… [it’s] great to be an American, great to be a TRUMP American… Trump and [Attorney General appointee Jeff] Sessions will restore law and order.”
Ever since Trump responded to a debate question about how he would respond to the grievances voiced by the Black Lives Matter movement with a call to “restore law and order to our inner cities,” I cannot hear the phrase law and order without hearing a dog whistle.
Then later on, from Trump himself before introducing Jeff Sessions:
“We are really the people who love this country… we are thanking the people of Alabama and we are thanking the people of the SOUTH.”
It’s worth repeating here that The Donald may very well be the son of a Ku Klux Klansman. The proof may be inconclusive, but the Trump family would certainly have fit right into a Klan meeting, given the housing discrimination allegations that have haunted Donald throughout his career. And let’s not forget the birth-certificate conspiracy he fanned throughout President Obama’s administration.
No wonder he loves Alabama and the South so much. I am now quite happy to have escaped before spending too many of my formative years there. I only hope that my adopted Pacific Northwest can block this new Crimson Tide before it floods us all.
More Pining for Theocracy
Trump supporters may hate ISIS with a well-deserved passion, but don’t think for a minute that their hate is rooted in fear of all theocratic authoritarianism. Many would no doubt cheer on such a system if it was implemented here with right-wing Christianity taking the place of right-wing Islam.
Cliff Sims, the emcee for this rally, followed the invocation with this:
“Trump says… that we are one nation, under one God, saluting one flag.”
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker quoted Psalms 82:5 in his segment:
“If judges don’t follow the law, all the foundations of the earth are shaken… uncontrolled federal justices shredded our Constitution and hacked away at the cultural foundations of our nation.”
It seems likely here that Justice Parker refers obliquely to the SCOTUS rulings in Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges, among other decisions. For all I know, his grievances could even extend as far back as Brown v. Board of Education and Loving v. Virginia. His statement leaves plenty of room for listeners to read whatever they desire into it.
State representative Barry Moore and evangelist Franklin Graham, son of Billy, plainly opined that Donald Trump was ordained by the Lord to solve the problems of our country. Perhaps this is merely common practice whenever a post-Reagan Republican wins the White House. I’ve never heard Christians say that about a Democrat, however, with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter.
To drive their point home further, they played The Battle Hymn of the Republic while Trump walked towards the podium:
Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord;
he is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored;
he hath loosed the fateful lightning
of his terrible swift sword;
his truth is marching on.Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
Sounds more like ‘The Battle Hymn of the Empire,’ if you ask me.
Just When You Thought It Was Over…
Oh wait, did you think this was really the last rally? Here’s Trump again to disabuse you of that silly notion:
“They’re saying, ‘as president, you shouldn’t be doing rallies,’ but maybe we should. It’s the only way to get an honest word out. We can’t give it to [the press]… [The New York Times will] never change.”
So now you see why it took me so long to type this one out: depression. Where’s the rush, if I’ll have even more of these damned events to cover after Inauguration Day? Surely I’ll get plenty of other opportunities to quote the ascendant Know-Nothing bastards.
But for now, I’m taking a short break. Next time: I summarize and review the lessons I have learned from tracking this hurricane of bullshit as it wove its drunken path across the eastern half of our continent.
Notice, too, that Trump did not dare to set foot west of the Continental Divide. He knows damn well that resistance to his agenda will be fiercest in the Pacific states. He says he wants to unify the country, but lacks the courage to enter the lions’ den.
When he’s not writing, Dave crochets and works the night shift supervising a group home for adults with I/DD.
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