If, as current polling and projections suggest, Donald Trump loses the presidential election on November 8, 2016, as a nation America will nonetheless have to deal with the forces of hate and bigotry that Trump has not only release but also, at least in some circles. legitimized. And, many indications are that Trump, like a spoiled and petulant child would rather destroy the nation rather than face the reality that what he was peddling was abhorrent and not the face on a majority of Americans. Already his campaign and behavior suggest that such is the case. An op-ed in the New York Times sums up Trump's destructive attitude and the poison that he has unleashed. The column is worthy of a full read and it must be remembered that it is the Republican Party that created this monster and helped legitimize the ugliness that he represents. Here are op-ed highlights:
A wounded bear is a dangerous thing. Detested and defeated, Donald Trump is now in a tear-the-country-down rage. Day after day, he rips at the last remaining threads of decency holding this nation together. His opponent is the devil, he says — hate her with all your heart. Forget about the rule of law. Lock her up!
He’s made America vile. He’s got angel-voiced children yelling “bitch” and flipping the bird at rallies. He’s got young athletes chanting “build a wall” at Latino kids on the other side. He’s made it O.K. to bully and fat-shame. He’s normalized perversion, bragging about how an aging man with his sense of entitlement can walk in on naked women.
Here’s his lesson for young minds: If you’re rich and boorish enough, you can get away with anything. Get away with sexual assault. Get away with not paying taxes. Get away with never telling the truth. Get away with flirting with treason. Get away with stiffing people who work for you, while you take yours. Get away with mocking the disabled, veterans and families of war heroes.
[N]ow, in the final days of a horrid campaign, an unshackled Trump is more national threat than punch line. He’s determined to cause lasting damage.
But those who take pleasure in watching Trump destroy the Republican Party are missing the bigger picture. He’s trying to destroy the country, as well. Civility, always a tenuous thing, cannot be quickly restored in a society that has learned to hate in public, at full throttle.
Trump has made compassion suspect. Don’t reach out to starving refugees — they’re killers in disguise. Don’t give to a charity that won’t reward you in some way. Don’t pay taxes that build roads and offer relief to those washed away in a hurricane. That’s a sucker’s game. We’re not all in this together. Taxes are for stupid people.
Every sexual predator now has a defender at the top of the Republican ticket.
Trump could not get hired at the drive-through window at a Jack in the Box. Knowing about his history would make any employer liable. It took decades to get the workplace to that point where Trumpian predators are shunned. Given the biggest pulpit in the world, Trump is trying to bring that consensus down.
He’s destroyed whatever moral standing leading Christian conservatives had — starting with Mike Pence. Their selective piety is not teachable. . . . . Trump is “actively promoting the very things that we Christians ought to oppose,” the students wrote.
[I]t has come to this: The core lessons that bind a civilized society are in play in the last days of this election. We long for family dinners where Trump no longer intrudes, for tailgate parties where football is all that matters, for normalcy. Remember those days? They may be gone forever.
Whatever the fate of the GOP, it must never be forgotten that is Republicans who created the toxic atmosphere where Trump could flourish, at least among the GOP base. They must be held accountable and become political and social outcasts. The put self-advancement and partisanship ahead of the country and common decency.
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