Amped by hate

A couple evenings ago the nasty guy held a rally in Orlando, Florida to officially announce he is running for a second term. Melissa McEwan of Shakesville says his speech was full on authoritarian. What caught her attention was the crowd. Some waited outside the venue for days to make sure they’d be part of that crowd. And, McEwan wrote, they are rabid. They booed “fake news” more than once. They chanted “Drain the swamp!” and “Lock her up!” and went wild for him. They’ll do anything for him. And it will make no difference to them what he does.

I’m all for building community and there was definitely a community in the stadium. But it was a community glorying in their supremacy. If the nasty guy leaves office for any reason other than a natural death these people will be a problem. They will feel cheated of their leader. They will not disappear quietly.

This is not a reason to avoid impeachment.

McEwan summarized:

Trump has tapped into resentments and anger and hatred and bigotries that the Republican Party has spent *decades* cultivating, nurturing, and stoking. He knows how to inflame it. He knows how to exploit it. And he is eminently willing to do it, no matter the cost to this country or its people who aren't among his cultists.

I am horrified watching his crowds react to him, especially knowing keenly that he can and will provoke them to violence at any moment.

This, too, underlines the urgency of impeaching him.

Because that seething resentment and inflamed bigotry doesn't stay behind in the venue. His followers take it with them, out into the world. They are amped by hate.

And that is tremendously dangerous.

Lupinella12 added a comment. Orlando is where the Pulse Nightclub massacre happened in which 49 LGBT and Latinx people died:

We just had the 3 year anniversary of Pulse.

I have friends who have lived here since infancy who are now in fear of getting deported.

Last night I had a conversation with a friend who is non-binary, they are dating a man who is transgender, we were talking about the rally, & how it turns up our hyper-vigilance from our PTSD. They were talking about avoiding certain corner stores/petrol stations due to who was frequenting them. We had both noticed a recent uptick in MAGA hats, which also adds to the general feeling of no longer being as safe as we had been.

Another friend was talking about the rally making her want to move away from a city to be further from people & to feel less like a target for a mass shooting. As she pointed out, since she is also a bisexual Jewish woman, that brings up a whole other list of fears.

Before the rally the McEwan lamented that she doubts the Democratic candidates are ready for the nasty guy cultists and the political press setting off fireworks for him. McEwan notes the Orlando Sentinel will be an exception:

Donald Trump is in Orlando to announce the kickoff of his re-election campaign. We're here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020, or, at least, who we're not endorsing: Donald Trump. Some readers will wonder how we could possibly eliminate a candidate so far before an election, and before knowing the identity of his opponent. Because there's no point pretending we would ever recommend that readers vote for Trump. After 2½ years we've seen enough.