The shots fired at Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign rally, July 13, are a big deal that will have political repercussions. While little is yet known about the motivations of the shooter, there is plenty that we can be certain of, including that this event will be used to legitimize and promote a reactionary, right-wing agenda.
Trump has made clear time and time again what he is about. For anyone who has forgotten, the events at DC’s Capitol building on January 6 were Trump’s creation. The conspiracy theories, the unhinged wearing hats with horns, and gallows on the Capitol lawn are Trump-world. Prominent in Trump rallies are references to the “horribly treated January 6 hostages.” As polarization in the country intensifies, Donald Trump is on the edge of the fire fanning the flames. So now, as Malcom X once said, “the chickens have come home to roost.”
It is unfortunate that the Republican talking point, “we are all MAGA now,” is being met with silence in some quarters. We need to clarify. His misfortune can never be equaled to the calculated cruelty that Trump has visited upon millions. Think back to the practice of putting immigrant kids in cages and Melania Trump’s visit to the camp for detained immigrant children – while wearing a jacket reading, “I really don’t care, do U?” Trump and company don’t hide it, they tell you what they are about.
Those of us working to build the progressive movements have our work cut out for us. We need to build meaningful struggles for peace, justice and equality. If Trump returns to the White House, we need to make the U.S. ungovernable.
The U.S. empire has entered a period of decline. As a result, all the contradictions within this country are sharpening. Trump is a political representative of monopoly capitalism in decline. Joe Biden advocates a more traditional set of ruling class views about the U.S. place in the world, one that has Washington DC centering an empire. This approach has led him into complicity with the Israeli genocide in Gaza. We are up against a rotten political system gives us presidential candidates who are unworthy of our support.
The period ahead will be challenging. We need the clarity of purpose and courage to bring millions of people into the streets and fight for the change we need and deserve.
