POLI•RANT: What Part of Nazi Can You Not See?

This is NOT the way to stop a Dictatorship.

Day One of Trump 2.0 was in many ways exactly what was to be expected. Leaving the Paris Climate Change Accord, the WHO (smart!), the anti-trans shit and attempting to amend the Constitution via executive order. All terrible and all expected.

Of course, the worst offense was the pardons and commutations for almost every single J6 criminal. As is the case with so many things surrounding Trump, the fact that he said all along that he was going to pardon them somehow takes the shock out of it. But make no mistake: What Trump did is breathtaking — quite possibly the single most destructive blow to the Rule of Law in American history — at the very least going back to Trump’s idol Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears.

It’s also an important milestone on the march to Dictatorship. If he chooses to use them, Trump now has a paramilitary “police” force of thugs willing to do his illegal bidding with little to no fear of prosecution. If that sounds crazy it’s because it is.

So, yes, there’s plenty to discuss about Day One, but I’m going to dig into Elon Musk and his Nazi salute.

One thing we all need to be mindful of during Trump 2.0 is not falling for the distractions. Trump and MAGA in general are masters of saying outrageous shit that diverts attention from the more important things that are happening. And Musk is a master of that — literally the world’s foremost troll.

But, there are a number of important and instructive underlying issues surrounding the legacy media coverage and opposition passivity of Musk’s Sieg Heil salute. The first — media coverage — is yet another in a long line of examples proving that the media has failed us. The institutional, mainstream, legacy media covered the “controversy” with all the spine of a jellyfish — twisting themselves into pretzels to give Musk any possible benefit of the doubt when we all saw him give the salute (twice!) with our own eyes.

Even Rachel Maddow (back on MSNBC every night to cover Trump’s first 100 days and try to reverse their sagging ratings) rolled out the old you don’t know what’s in a person’s heart trope.

As for the Democratic “opposition,” only AOC made any kind of real headlines on the matter, calling out the Anti-Defamation League (the Never Again Jewish organization whose purpose for being is to call out anti-Semitism) for their own disgusting and tepid, benefit of the doubt response.

First to the media, and especially Maddow. I love Rachel, but one of her most repeated mantras is watch what they do, not what they say. I understand that media corporations are scared of Trump. It is tragic and may be one of the biggest factors that brings on the demise of our Democracy. But it’s not surprising. Maddow knows better, and she shouldn’t give Musk any possible wiggle room.

As for the “loyal” opposition, this doesn’t bode well. Why haven’t Democratic leaders not given a press conference denouncing Musk and demanding that Trump kick this unelected monster out of his administration?

Of course, he won’t.

But, that’s not the point. Giving a Nazi salute on live TV to millions was something that would have been unthinkable not too long ago. Do we now just let that slide?

Lastly — and it shouldn’t have to be done — but let’s take a look at the we don’t know what’s in his heart defense. MAGA is sharing a bunch of photos of Democrats with their arms in the air as if they were doing the same things and how this is all being misinterpreted. For starters, people raise their hands and all of these a captured moments meant to confuse.

Twice Musk purposefully made the salute. It could not be clearer. As for what’s in his heart, he has publicly endorsed the neo-Nazi party in Germany. He also knows damn well that the Sieg Heil salute is totally a thing in right wing nationalist circles around the world, including amongst many of the groups pardoned by Trump.

And if it was a mistake why no statement or tweet or apology saying so?

Because it wasn’t. Is Musk an actual Nazi or is he just trying to signal them? Who the fuck cares. He did what he did and he should be universally denounced for it.

There’s been lots of talk since the election about obeying in advance as one of the stages of allowing a Dictatorship to take over. And there has been lots of it. This really does have to be one of the worst examples yet.

If we’re going to save this Democracy we’re going to have to fight for it. We don’t know yet what that fight will entail. But, not even being able to denounce something so gross and antithetical to everything our country should stand for is a dereliction of duty for anyone calling themselves a patriotic American.

Shame.