By Anthony Element
For the past twenty four hours we’ve seen right wing politicians around the world, including the Turnbull government and One Nation, rushing to tell us not to worry, we’re already seeing a post election, more presidential Trump.
Apparently, he’s nothing like election Trump.
The message is that it’s all good, nothing to worry about.
Well, that’s not quite right.
The fact that there is such a vast difference between the two versions of Donald Trump tells us something about the man that should terrify us: That for the incoming president the end justifies the means.
He wanted to be president, so it was okay to malign and demean women.
He didn’t really mean it.
It was perfectly fine to stir up racial tensions to the point that he was officially endorsed by the KKK, who, a day later, are still enjoying orgasmic spasms of self justification and delight.
He didn’t really mean it.
Great strategy to repeat, over and over again, “Crooked Hillary”.
he didn’t really mean it.
It was a mere trifle to commit to actions that are patently unconstitutional.
He didn’t really mean it.
It was perfectly logical to promise his followers that he would do things that he knew all along are impossible, like banning all Muslims from entering America.
He didn’t really mean it.
In Trump’s mind all these, plus many more equally reprehensible actions were perfectly legitimate things to do because they would get him what he wanted, to be elected president.
And anyway, he didn’t really mean them.
Meanwhile, we’re all supposed to be sanguine about that?
Well, I’m not.
Because the damage is already done.
Last night in a lane outside a bar in LA, a group of young white men, beat up a Canadian gay man and smashed him over the head with a bottle, all the while screaming, “We’ve got a new president now.”
On election night a huge crowd of Trump supporters gathered in Times Square and shouted, over and over again, “We hate Muslims. We hate blacks. We want our country back.”
But, hey, not to worry, Turnbull and Bernardi tell us, Trump didn’t really mean those things he said.
Well, I have this question: If all those means were acceptable to achieve Trump’s desired end, then what means are not on the table, going forward?
In Trump’s mind, is it acceptable to bomb yet more countries for spurious reasons, or because he doesn’t like the leader?
Is it acceptable to torture?
Is it okay to use presidential power to persecute those who speak against him?
Is it okay to destroy the planet in order to keep the profits flowing?
Time will tell, but I see no reason to be relaxed about the Trump presidency, just because he’s – for now – stopped acting like a megalomaniac.
It’s said that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.
And on that, I see the rush by Right Wingers around the world to justify Trump’s recent past as nothing more than naïve sycophancy.
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