We Must Not Normalize Trumpista Intolerance/Violence

(cartoon image is by Clay Jones at claytoonz.com.)

Trump's crowd of "deplorables" was ugly and violent during his campaign, and they have not gotten any better. That was illustrated by the behavior of Trump supporters at a recent rally in Tampa -- and instead of trying to correct their intolerant behavior, Donald Trump continues incite them. Some of the talking heads on cable news talk of civility and tolerance, but tolerating the intolerant and being civil to uncivil behavior is not a solution. It just normalizes their behavior and makes things worse.

The following is part of an article at Daily Kos by Kelly Macias:

We all know that Donald Trump is a monstrosity and that this presidency is a disaster and embarrassment. But it’s beyond time that we also admit that he is inciting widespread violence and mayhem. According to the FBI, hate crimes are up since he was elected. And according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, they are up since he became a candidate for public office. And yet, the mainstream media presents these facts as if they are in a vacuum. They are not. They are the direct result of a wannabe dictator who appeals to white supremacy and hatred in the hearts of millions of people. And let’s be clear: they are indeed hateful and violent.

The mainstream media continues to try to get us to empathize with Trump voters, ad nauseam, consistently presenting them as disaffected, down-on-their luck, everyday Americans. But this is not normal and neither is their behavior. Their are lots of people who are marginalized in this country. But it’s only Trump voters that we’ve seen for the last three years on video repeatedly behaving as enraged mobs who shout down people, shove people, kick and spit on people. They are nothing but angry white folks who pose a danger to the other people around them, especially people of color and now journalists.

We must stop normalizing them as rational human beings and voters that we simply disagree with. Enough of the civility bullshit. What we are witnessing is people behaving like animals who have zero self-control, all while encouraged by their idiotic, hateful president. Some of them have killed people of color. It’s only a matter of time before they kill a journalist. And it will probably happen on video. We should all be terrified at what’s happening at this moment. None of this is normal.