If “living like vermin” puts me on Trump’s enemies list, I want in!

Commentary

Where do I go after a headline like that? Maybe it’s time to take a break.

A little over two weeks ago on November 11, Veterans Day no less, in a speech in Claremont, N.H., disgraced, multi-indicted, sexual predator, ex-president Donald Trump said,

“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections. They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream.”

Trump went on further to state:,

“…the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within. Because if you have a capable, competent, smart, tough leader, Russia, China, North Korea, they’re not going to want to play with us.”

Pretty standard Trump rhetorical hyperbole, except for one phrase…and this is an important exception, particularly given the recent events in Israel and Gaza which have heightened both antisemitism and Islamic-phobia…that live like vermin within the confines of our country

As most commentators with any sense of history have noted, the word “vermin” is one of the descriptors dictators and strongmen have used to dehumanize their enemies. And specifically in the case of Adolf Hitler, to describe European Jews, helping to rally latent, virulent antisemitism in Germany and in the countries he conquered.

“The language is the language that dictators use to instill fear,” said Timothy Naftali, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “When you dehumanize an opponent, you strip them of their constitutional rights to participate securely in a democracy because you’re saying they’re not human. That’s what dictators do.”

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian at New York University, whose latest book, “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” is a must read, said in an email to The Washington Post that “calling people ‘vermin’ was used effectively by Hitler and Mussolini to dehumanize people and encourage their followers to engage in violence.”

“Trump is also using projection: note that he mentions all kinds of authoritarians ‘communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left’ to set himself up as the deliverer of freedom,” Ben-Ghiat said. “Mussolini promised freedom to his people too and then declared dictatorship.”

There is no doubt that even if Trump didn’t really understand the “vermin” reference – after all, he’s not someone who could be characterized as a student of history – surely one of his advisors like Stephen Miller or Boris Epshteyn, sadly both Jews, did.

Then, after a week or so of badmouthing the judges, prosecutors and judicial staff involved in his four trials, simultaneously doing what he could to intimidate potential witnesses…all with the protection of the First Amendment’s free speech clause…Trump sent this Thanksgiving “greeting to ALL” on his Truth Social site.

What a way to kick off the holiday season. At least he didn’t use “vermin” again!

I’m sure if Trump is reelected, the people mentioned in his Thanksgiving screed will be dealt with, along with his former chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and former attorney general William P. Barr, as well as his ex-attorney Ty Cobb and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley, and others on a list that will be way too long.

Some of you are old enough to remember that another disgraced president, Richard Nixon also sought vengeance from his enemies. In fact, Nixon actually compiled a real enemies list, a list that included journalists, the most prominent, Daniel Schorr, of CBS News. Schorr’s notoriety as a Nixon enemy led many of his media colleagues to lament the fact that they had not made the list as well. That’s how I feel. And that’s why I headlined this story “If ‘living like vermin’ puts me on Trump’s enemies list, I want in!”

Let me finish by reprising my subhead: “Where do I go after a headline like that? Maybe it’s time to take a break.”

Why might it be time to take a break? Well, it’s not because there’s nothing to write about. The truth is, there’s too much to write about. But most of it is unpleasant, reflecting my frustration with the world and with the country in which we live. Here are some ideas that I’ve been working on:

• The tyranny of social media and the staying power of untruths.
• ‘What Aboutism’ – “Biden criminal family/Trump family grifters; Hamas/Israel war.
• The collapse of the American-Jewish coalition…if there ever was one.
• Democratic infighting: Will the Ultra Progressives, RFK Jr and Jill Stein hand the 2024 election to Trump?
• Trump again – it can’t happen here, can it? And if it does, what to do.

You know, when I started Around the Block 10 or so years ago, most of my posts were satirical. I remember writing that I was modeling myself after Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker’s satirist par excellence. It was a great time to make fun of events and public figures. Soon, not only Borowitz and Jon Stewart but “Daily Show” alums like John Oliver and Samantha Bee among others were having fun as well. And then came the 2016 election and Donald Trump. I tried to write funny and I did, for about two-three months. But the fact was, there was not much funny about Trump’s reign. Not only couldn’t I write funny, I stopped watching and reading the other political satirists; they were trying too hard and it wasn’t working. It wasn’t working because what they were satirizing was too bleak, too depressing to spoof. So I took a break. When I came back I focused on more serious commentary. I hope those posts were a worthwhile read.

I’ll still be writing during the break. I need to get back to a collection of short stories that have been unattended for quite a while. I’ve written a few performance pieces that need tweaking before I try to shop them around to a theater group. And, I think it might be time, in my 78th year, to begin working on a memoir.

Working title? “Around the Block”

See you soon.