By Marshall Carder
[This essay appeared originally on WordPress, posted on March 20, 2016, prior to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Republished here with the permission of the author.]
The rise of Donald Trump as a serious contender for President has elicited an avalanche of criticism aimed at stopping this impending catastrophe in its tracks. Comparing his rapid ascent to that of the most reviled figure in recent history, Hitler, is so common that it may have lost its power to disgust. The tired analogy is generally thrown around mostly as pure hyperbole by both sides of the political spectrum, but in Trump’s case that is chillingly not so. In a few short months he has gone from a laughingstock orange carnival barker to the overwhelming favorite to gain the Republican nomination, and he has done so with a sordid mix of lies, insults and incitement which can only be understood properly if you have lived through this type of thing before. There is a good reason that the experts and pundits failed miserably to notice his sick and widespread appeal. They have not witnessed first-hand what “normal” people will resort to when the rhetoric and circumstances have ignited their inner furies and primal fear. There is almost nothing they won’t do in defense of their “principals” (read Rights).
