How language became a weapon

Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric is fueling an unstable political divide and weaponizing words on America’s streets, writes Dr Jeff McMullen.

As POLITICAL VIOLENCE escalates and chaos spreads in the United States, democracy itself is threatened. Ill-conceived and increasingly vulgar words of anger are fueling the American bonfire.

President when Donald Trump He told his senior generals and admirals: “This is a war from within…we are under invasion from within.” He took on the role of Chief Provocateur.

US Supreme Court in 1942 reigned Even the utterance of certain words like these can disrupt the peace by encouraging violence. This wise guidance was ignored by President Trump and many of his declared enemies. They forget that violence is contagious.

After shooting of MAGA crusader, Charlie KirkLast month in Utah, the President boasted that he did not forgive his enemies. He hated them. The war of words escalated very quickly.

I’m toying with the idea of calling National Emergencies Act of 1976 or more radically, Sedition Act 1807Trump has shown a willingness to deploy the military and National Guard to Democratic-run cities and Blue strongholds such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Memphis, Chicago and Washington DC. HE requested It was Portland, Oregon “on fire” Because of domestic terrorists.

As National Guardsmen from the Red State of Texas were sent to a base outside Chicago, the Chief Provocateur went further. He demanded the appointment of his longtime enemy, the billionaire Governor of Illinois. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson He will be imprisoned for not doing enough to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as agents continue to round up Latino immigrants.

These Democratic officials committed no crime. They vehemently oppose Trump because they fear he will create a crisis in next year’s midterm elections to use the National Guard in Democratic strongholds.

This is not a one-sided war of words. Governor of California Gavin Newsom mercilessly trolled Trump with sarcastic AI parodies that continue where the animation takes place south park The series was left unfinished.

their Policy War Room podcast, Democrat veterans James Carville And Al Hunt He derides President Trump as a crazy, wannabe king and hopeless liar.

Trump’s opponent in the last presidential contest Kamala Harrishas his share of provocative remarks about his opponents.

At an event in Los Angeles this week ‘Irrational Talk Day‘Harris in question:

“These motherfuckers are crazy!”

The President’s loudest defenders, especially the Vice President J.D. Vance and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen MillerBy responding with apocalyptic warnings, rhetorical barrages, and childish memes, he aims to prove that “the evil ideology of the radical Left” is responsible for the darkness of this “American nightmare.”

“We will defeat the forces of darkness and evil” Stephen Miller in question In Charlie Kirk’s surprising sermon following his MAGA martyrdom.

These are all definitely fighting words; Not unlike Trump’s extraordinary defiance after the fact. Thomas Matthew Crooks On July 13, 2024, an assassination attempt on the President at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania narrowly missed. Raised fist, angry blood-stained face and “struggle, fight” still echoing loudly.

President Trump is now full of vengeance in his words as he seeks to draw world attention to his attempts to end the conflict in Gaza, that storied quest for the Nobel Peace Prize at home in America.

Is the revenge a result of Trump’s anger over his 34 felony convictions? Is that why he’s keeping the former FBI Director? James Comey Is there anyone who is challenging the belief that “he owns it all” who is on trial and is threatening to go after others in the judiciary and Congress? Put yourself in his shoes for a moment.

Interestingly, the 79-year-old President has been the subject of at least four failed assassination attempts. This will cause some leaders to be more careful about their words and public appearances.

In 2016, a 20-year-old British man Michael Steven SandfordHe tried to grab a police officer’s gun to shoot Trump at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada. in 2017 Gregory Lee Leingang In North Dakota, he stole a forklift with the plan to crash into the then-President’s armored vehicle known as “The Beast.” Just two months after Trump’s close shave in Pennsylvania last year, Secret Service officers captured a rifleman. Ryan Wesley RouthThe person who planned to ambush the President’s golf course in Florida.

The truth is that violence haunts American leaders, whether incited by mobs with deep grievances or a dangerously disturbed individual.

As a foreign correspondent in the United States for over a decade, I reported on assassination attempts against Presidents. Gerald Ford And Ronald Reagan. While covering the White House, I was aware that four sitting presidents had been assassinated. I began to seriously appreciate that the job of the Secret Service is very difficult in a country where so many calculations are ruthlessly calculated.

The United States was born in a bloody revolution and has never recovered from frontier massacres, the bone-deep poison of slavery, and catastrophic destruction. Civil warIt causes between 600,000 and 800,000 deaths. Addiction to carrying guns, feuding gangs, conspiratorial cults and extreme religious nationalism is a very toxic mixture. What we are witnessing is that the growing danger of a political divide as deep and threatening as the San Andreas Fault has been long in the making.

I used to joke with my mobile cameraman, war veteran David Brill, “Who is making this movie?” When John Lennon assassinated, hitman, Mark ChapmanHe was obsessed with the music of the Beatles. Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin John HinckleyI wanted to prove something to the player Jodie Foster.

Somehow the American Dream becomes an illusion for angry men. The real America, which I discovered while traveling through all 50 states, was much more troubled and troubled than Hollywood imagined.

Therefore the current box office draw card, One war after anotherIt is certainly a timely reflection of the ongoing American violence frenzy. Leonardo DiCaprioWe are facing the exhausted radical left of Sean Penn‘s pathetic paramilitary thug leads ICE raids to capture hapless immigrants. The war begins in a cage where “fugitives” are detained.

Radical extremes, violence of Left and Right are strangely satirized by the director Paul Thomas Anderson. But you’ll come out of this dystopian movie thinking this is art imitating life. The nightly news is more disturbing than the movie.

While Donald Trump may be the Chief Provocateur, he has spent years assembling a team of true haters. Who can forget War Room podcaster, Steve BannonDr. said that the country’s leading infectious diseases expert is leading the fight against Covid-19. Anthony Faucimust be his headbutt a pikenext to the skull of then-FBI Director, Christopher Wray?

Podcasters on the Political Left Hasan Piker They have gained a massive following and are not shy about using exaggerated violent rhetoric. Piker recently apologized and admitted that he said some things without thinking. rash taunt He said if people there really cared about Medicare fraud, the Florida Senator should be killed.

After United Health Care CEO, brian thompsonHe was shot and killed in New York, social media was filled with sympathetic comments about the attacker, Luigi Mangione. Many times someone carelessly says that the victim deserves it.

Most Americans have probably forgotten what Fox Television’s former infamous shock jock was like. Bill O’Reillyregularly Dr. was making fun of George Tiller This women’s health provider with “Babykiller Tiller” before he was murdered. According to the report, anti-abortion activists committed at least 11 murders, 42 bombings, 200 acts of violence and 531 attacks. Southern Poverty Law Center.

In America’s war of words, these most horrific truths remain ignored. The USA has seen the most school shootings in the world this year, with at least 53 incidents. Approximately 125 Americans are killed by guns every day.

Yes, Mr. President. Your words are locked and loaded. You will say that there is a war inside. Tragically, it is you and your fellow Americans who have done more damage to your democracy and its place in the world than your deadly foreign enemies.

Dr Jeff McMullen AM is a journalist, author and filmmaker known for his reporting and advocacy for six decades. McMullen has served as a foreign correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a correspondent for Four Corners and Sixty Minutes, presenter of ABC Television’s 33-episode Issue Series, Opinion Difference, and director of independent documentaries. He was awarded the United Nations Media Peace Prize for his trilogy of hour-long documentaries about the conflict in Central America.

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