Whether it's based on politics, racism or both, Donald Trump is placing a huge bet on immigration, an issue he's weaponized to energize his base. On Sunday, he tweeted, "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!"
As we know, Trump hates to back down, and reflexively doubles down instead. So it's not surprising that after having to back away from his, Attorney General Sessions and
Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen's disastrous, immoral and indefensible family separation debacle, Trump is now doubling down with this
renewed threat to shut down the government if Congress doesn't authorize and fund his Great Wall.
From sea to shining sea
Border wall meets the Pacific Ocean
No matter how most of us react to him, Trump is a master at stirring up his faithful followers. I'm sure he's thrilled that his tweet garnered 120 thousand likes within the first 24 hours.
"
The United States will not be a migrant camp," he
declaimed in June of this year, "and it will not be a refugee holding facility. It won't be. You look at what's happening in Europe, you look at what's happening in other places, we can't allow that to happen to the United States, not on my watch."
Given that Trump has previously referred to migrants as
pouring in and infesting our country, his current tweet just builds on a foundation of fear and hate that he has been building for years (we can date it back at least as far as
Trump's pushing the so-called Obama birther conspiracy starting in 2011).
Back in September, 2016, two months before the election, I
posted a comment on a poll that showed that two thirds of Trump supporters were "extremely enthusiastic" about voting for him, while fewer than half of Hillary supporters were similarly enthused. The polling company commented, presciently as we all now know, that " . . . turnout in a close election will likely decide the winner of the race."
Three months from now, Americans will be voting for 35 of their senators, all of their representatives and the governors of 36 states. Who wins may well determine Trump's political future, the makeup of the Supreme Court for decades to come, and the direction America will take on immigration, womens' rights, workers' rights, climate and the environment, and crucial international issues such as trade, nuclear arms, war and peace.
Again, many of those races will be close, and turnout will likely decide the winners.
We can count on Trump keeping his core supporters--
roughly 41 percent of voters--riled up and eager to go to the polls to protect the US from those invading armies of dangerous immigrants, or from the Democrats, who after all are the immigrants' dangerous supporters, or from the press--America's "
biggest enemy," or from Iran, or from you name it.
It's up to the rest of us--the 53 percent who do not support him--to be equally enthusiastic. We need to
be sure we are registered,
register or re-register if we're not, and
vote.
If we didn't learn that lesson in November of 2016, 2020 may just be too late.
And going back to Trump's wall--how long can anything built on fear and hate stand? Rather than waiting, watching and someday finding out, let's elect progressives who will make sure it never gets built.
REA
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