Dr. Samuel Johnson (1790-1784) wrote “Patriotism is the last refuge of a tyrant.” Seeing President Trump wrap his arms around the flag reminded me of the quote. A few weeks before, I saw him bring the Republican power structure to an embarrassing Rose Garden kiss-up. I saw him say to the cameras and the audience, “These people will now say how great I am.” He sat on the corner of the stage with his arms crossed beaming like Kim Jong II.
His pals are dictators of North Korea, China, and Russia. His enemies may be the democratically elected leaders of Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He talks about his pals with admiration and how the media isn’t a problem to them in their countries. He says strong men are loved by their people.
President Trump has told the Secretary of Defense to give him a military parade like Kim’s, Xi’s and Vlad’s. He wants to tell the world that he commands one of the largest, most expensive militaries in the world and they will do what he says.
His demand for subservience not only reflects today’s dictators, but reminds one of German troops parading in front of Adolf Hitler. He demanded the military swear allegiance to him, not Germany. His leadership and generals kowtowed to him or they were replaced by those who would. Sound familiar?
Those of us who have studied history and Geo-politics know this behavior has never led to anything po9sitive. His pals and those figures of the past developed personality cults to control their people. Combining massive ego and nationalism does not have a good result. Using Hitler’s propaganda minister’s Big Lie tactics to dupe people requires lying every day and dismissing and belittling the regular media and those who tell the truth. Putin buys the media company, closes it, or kills the reporters and owners. Murdoch and Sinclair Medias are buying up media companies. Our lie-fighting, truth-telling media is called fake news while the administration tries to get legislation to repress it.
In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Commentary About the Blue Marble 