Trump: A man with no political platform

By Allen R. Gray
NDG Special Contributor

In the cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon’s only friend ran for class president on a simple and undiluted political platform: Vote for Pedro. On the strength of that unpretentious and tenuous slogan—and a song and a dance from his devoted support base, that was Napoleon alone—Pedro won the election. In 2016, there too, was an unassuming and unadulterated slogan: Vote for Trump. That unpretentious and tenuous slogan was the entire legitimacy of his political platform then—and with the launching of the 2020 Republican National Convention—we discovered that Trump is sticking with that same conceited political platform for this upcoming election.

The president has continuously been chided for his constant spewing of hateful and racist rhetoric that has an appalling effect on those who would dare sip of its poison. Although, one man’s poison is another man’s platform.

The lack of a legitimate platform has ardent Trump supporters circling the wagons like it’s Custer’s last stand, with whites being outnumbered by people of color and immigrants one-hundred to one. The pervasive phobia of the Trumpeteers is evident in their words and their actions.

 

Scores of Trump followers are voicing their fears that immigrants and people of color have allied against true Americans. The most ardent of Trump supporters are no longer closet racist but have become brazen enough to brandish swastikas and confederate flags while pumping their fists in the air to shouts of “white power!” Even the president was bold enough to publicly suggest that four Democratic Representatives with ethnic names should “go back” to “the places from which they came.” This brand of racist banter has gotten to be so blatant that even Republican stalwarts are becoming unnerved at the division it promotes.

Racist words and sentiments are harmful and hurtful, but words fall short of physically harming and hurting. That has become the patriotic duty of self-proclaimed militias—who surprisingly are not comprised of 50-year-old bigots with pot bellies—but by young white men who are armed and on a military mission. Here is a small sample of the “missions” on which these dutiful “patriots” have been deployed.

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May 29, 2020, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Four young “patriots” covertly infiltrate enemy lines pretending to be peaceful protestors and burned down an enemy command post (a.k.a. a police station), while relieving the outpost of its supplies.

September 4, 2020, Manhattan, New York: A young “patriot” drives a military vehicle (a.k.a. a Ford Taurus) into a crowd mowing down a gathering of “hostile insurgents” who were pretending to be peaceful protesters exercising their constitutional right.

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August 25, 2020, Kenosha, Wisconsin: While on sentry duty guarding a patriot stronghold (a.k.a. gas station) a 17-year-old “patriot” exacted his shoot-on-sight orders, killing two supposed insurgents and wounding several others. For this last act of valor, the “patriot’s” name was listed in a Dallas classroom among a list of heroes such as Mohandas Gandhi and Malcolm X. Even the Kenosha PD honored this young “patriot” by co-signing on his actions with, “We appreciate you guys. We really do.”

If there is one platform that can be attributed to Trump it would be that of self-preservation, and that of the savior of the white race. A recent study by University of Kansas professors David N. Smith and Eric Hanley stated, “The decisive reason that white, male, older and less educated voters were disproportionately pro-Trump is that they shared his prejudices and wanted domineering, aggressive leaders…” One Trump supporter went as far as to say that after eight years of the “terrible job” done by the “Muslim” “Marxist” President Obama, Trump was needed to “get things back in order.”

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The Trump platform—or lack thereof—was emphatically challenged in a recent town hall meeting, where he was engaged by undecided and informed Philadelphia voters, who were willing to stand their ground when offered the usual Trump propaganda. So, when Trump made asinine statements like “a lot of people think masks are not good,” he was asked who said masks were no good. Trump replied, “Waiters.” When asked about the most difficult part of his presidency during the pandemic and what he had learned, Trump self-centeredly replied by recounting the people he knew personally who had succumbed to COVID-19. “Six people. It was five until about two weeks ago. Now, it’s six.” When asked about the recordings of him admitting downplaying the effects of the coronavirus, Trump replied, “Yeah, well, I didn’t downplay it. I, actually, in many ways, I up-played it, in terms of action.” Fox News concluded that Trump had been ambushed at his own town hall meeting.
Progress and the legitimacy of platforms, though, are always subjected to the eye of the beholder, and who one chooses to support. And what one considers to be a legitimate platform is also based on one’s desired end goal.
So, with this upcoming presidential election, you can vote for the platform that will strengthen our nation and uplift the least of its people, which means voting with your intellect…
Or you can Vote for Pedro.