Trump, Protests, Free Speech and Fascism

"Get him out! Out! Schnell!"

So can we just agree that Donald "Trump" Drumpf is a wacky, malicious liar? This isn't an opinion. It's a fact. It's a proven, quantifiable fact. He preys entirely on people's fears, distrust in government, and the lack of information that fuels the former. Knowing that people trust him more than reality, Drumpf can literally say anything he wants and have millions of people (shiver) hang on his every word, regardless of how scientifically false it is.

So it becomes a big issue when he preys on another thing that most Americans don't quite understand: Free Speech. A quick and easy primer can be found here on Jezebel. If you don't feel like clicking links, I'll sum it up below:

1. The 1st Amendment reads as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
2. Thus, free speech can only be violated by the government. The government cannot create laws or interfere with things like criticism, peaceful protest, or artistic expression, with certain exceptions.
3. Thus, free speech does NOT protect you from the consequences of the stupid shit you say, particularly if said consequences are also free speech.

Trump claims that protesters are violating his free speech. "We have 1st Amendment rights," he yelled in Kansas City, MO while pointing at a protester, "but we can't exercise it because of this garbage here." That is patently false. Protesters cannot violate his free speech because they are not the government. Trump's free speech does not protect him from a protester's free speech.

He does claim that the protesters are violent, attacking supporters and being "mean and nasty and punching people," but that is also patently false. There are no videos of Trump protesters attacking supporters without provocation, and almost every video where Trump claims that protesters are "swinging, punching people" shows the supporters attacking the protesters.

There has been footage of protesters swinging back or resisting when supporters attack them, but even those are incredibly rare compared to all the footage showing supporters pushing protesters around, yelling racial slurs while the police drag the protesters out, and taking free shots at the helpless protesters.

A lot of this is very easy to resolve. Trump could be a big boy, and just let the protesters be. Let them exercise their 1st Amendment rights. A lot of them really aren't doing anything aside from sitting there. But no, due to his remarkably fragile ego, Trump has to get rid of literally every single heckler, because he can't handle even the slightest amount of resistance. Who does that? What kind of world leader would do that? Not an American one, I'll tell you that.

Trump made it clear that he hates the 1st Amendment, and only invokes it when it applies to him. One of his favorite lines is "dishonest journalists! Dishonest media! Liars, all of them!" He actively endorses the notion that no one can be trusted outside of his own, narrow-minded circle of thought. He turns his supporters against protesters in an irreconcilable and violent divide, and isn't shy about spewing hate toward everyone who disagrees with him. This is a manchild who is willing to use violence, legal measures, and potentially military force against any man, woman, and child he considers his enemy. And it doesn't take much to be Trump's enemy.

He's not looking to unite America, as he so often espouses. He's looking to conquer it.

If his vision for America entails crushing every single dissident, one by one... that's not protecting his right to Free Speech. That's setting the stage for outright Fascism.