Trump’s words as dangerous as it gets

This is no “Chicken Little” moment. This is, to me, as dangerous as it gets. This is the interview given by Donald Trump on Sunday morning, July 1: “There has never been a base in this country like my base. I hope the other side realizes that they better just take it easy, because some of the language used, some of the words used, even some of the radical ideas, I really think that they’re bad for the country. I think they’re actually very dangerous for the country.”

This is the most obvious threat that Trump has issued to date. We cannot let it go unanswered. There has to be someone in a leadership role in the Congress, in past government, in the military or in the clergy that should be screaming a warning. This behavior is not new. We have witnessed these acts by tyrants before, and they have led to global catastrophe. Maxine Waters has had death threats. This is nothing new for a politician. But there has never been a politician in this country that has had their own army. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is now tasked to track down and deport those people whom they think should be “de-nationalized.” Where are they getting the list of those individuals? Are they all immigrants and asylum seekers, or are they just not loyal enough?

I cannot stress how serious this is. As far as egotistical tyrants go, Benito Mussolini wrote the playbook for a national takeover. He told the people who should govern them, who to hate and which ideas were a threat to the state. Only he could save the economy. Only he could “make the trains run on time.” He made monuments to himself and to fascism. He created architecture and art that celebrated the new Italy, the renewed Rome, and of course, himself. Only he could do it; only he could bring back that which was Rome.

Il Duche, the leader, the hero and savior of Italy, was captured escaping to Switzerland. Hiding under a blanket, he was discovered in the trunk of a car disguised as an army private. Outside of Lake Como, he was shot by Walter Audisio, a local partisan. His body was beaten with claw hammers and pipes and was finally hung by its heels at an Esso gas station in Milan. Audisio was a hat maker and an accountant. He was a simple man.

Benito Mussolini wrote the playbook for a national takeover.