“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”-George Orwell.
Previous entries:
- Chronicling Trump Right in Front our Noses: The Case of iPhones
- In Front of our Noses: The Golden Dome
- In Front of Our Noses: Lies about Balancing the Budget
- In Front of our Noses: Dictatorial Claims
The point of these posts is to highlight specific, clear examples of Trump’s attempts at blatantly constructing his own authoritarian unreality. It is a list that may be of use to me in the future or to readers. It is also hopefully places seeds that I hope will germinate in the minds of supporters who may some day question that support.
This is actually a great example of the kind of thing that inspired this post series because it is the kind of thing that is so very easy to ignore, because it is part of the wall of sound that Trump creates.
But any dispassionate reader has to know that this is not a normal way for a human being to communicate, let alone the sitting POTUS.
I will not parse the whole thing, but will point out that the 21 million figure is an upper-end estimate of the total number of undocumented persons in the country, not just those that entered during the Biden administration (as the post implies). It is worth noting, too, that most estimates are far lower than 21 million and that the higher number tend to be propagated by right-wing sources.
I will only further note that this is classic politics of “us v. them” and part of his ongoing demonization of immigrants. Remember, it is this kind of rhetoric that creates the permission structures to seize students off the streets for writing op-eds, detaining US citizens, shipping people off to CECOT for life, and/or dumping them in South Sudan.
This is also part of the ongoing attempt at making people believe in unreality.
It is definitely fear-mongering and asserting that only Trump and his administration have the wherewithal to make the country safe.
These things are not just harmless all-caps rantings.
And yes, he does something similar every holiday, which is what makes it become background noise that we then end up ignoring when we shouldn’t.
A thought for any who might wish to entertain it: if you like this kind of rhetoric and behavior, why? What do you think it says about you? If you ignore it while still supporting Trump, why?
Rationalizing this stuff away because of partisan preferences at some point may still provide explanations for mass outcomes, but it does not absolve individuals from using their intellects and moral judgements to assess what is right in front of their noses.
