When Good People Get Played

MY FATHER & MOTHER, God bless them, grew up in 1920's and 30's Germany, when people were being told the worst about their neighbors. When propaganda targeted their heart strings, slippery slogans and lies dulled their senses to fact and truth, and uniformed officers and emboldened mobs intimidated their daily lives.

My parents were German patriots, they were God-fearing, and they loved their country, seeing better days ahead. Regretfully they were played. Played by people in power for their own ends.

The better days ahead numbered far under 4400. Within 12 years, by the time my parents entered their 20's, the Germany they knew had become the Germany on a warpath that nearly killed them. By year 12, war bombs had demolished their towns and homes.  War camps and graveyards, refugees and rubble crystalized damage done for all to see. Hospitals in cities and churches in Dorfs commemorated soldiers and citizens sacrificed for the cause. 

My thoughts drifted back to those horrendous times when the Trump rioters broke into our nation's Capitol on the 6^th of January. In Germany the attack on the Bundestag – the country's Parliament – in February 1933 had been instigated by the man sworn in as Chancellor just four weeks before. To solidify his base. He was bent on restoring Germany to his idea of "greatness" whatever it took.  

In Washington, DC, the shocking insurrection took place four years after the election of the man who vowed to make America great again. His position, frenzy and vicious voice incited a crowd of supporters to show strength, to take back “their" country and "stop the steal". To overturn results of a democratic election he called rigged because he lost.

Trump and his powerful enablers played millions of Americans like so many other authoritarians have  over time. We may be taught to love our neighbors yet often are swayed to hate them. 

It's important for us to remember the magnitude of what has happened, and why. The Capitol crowd was on an inspired mission, so much so that the riotous mobs did not even care to hide their identities, their hate, or their arms. Even now, a good many remain proud of their deed, showing no remorse or understanding. More than a few sought their minutes of fame. Schadenfreude.

The scenes underscore how millions of people were pushed over the edge by a sustained barrage of lies about the past, present and future. Taken on a ride by drivers drenched in fear who became ever more dangerous and threatening. They, like Trump, must be held accountable under the law. 

Much has been said about the politics of it all, Democrats and Republicans at each other's throats for much too long. But January 6th was a wake-up call in my view.  Some have called it a turning point, the day when the Trump fever broke in all its fury and ugliness. 

In the corporate democracy in which we live, where Inc. after your business name equates you with a person, the future will remain all about donors and money.  Many politicians with divisive, hateful messages may find it harder and harder to play their game.

But not all.  Already, the disgraced outgoing president has assembled a political action group sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars.  The Trump fund was built before the Capitol attack with money from faithful families and powerful corporate interests. You can guess who controls it. 

Photo credit: Reuters