Heil PresidentTtrump

January 20^th marked a new day in our history, for our country has now embraced the new movement, “Make America Great Again.”  However, accompanying this movement is the morphing of the Constitutional right of freedom of speech into restricted intimidation.

Individuals with whom we now disagree are no longer considered simply misguided, but instead are labeled as malevolent and toxic.  More and more Americans now fervently characterize any person or institution providing facts challenging their point of view as liars engaging in demonized brainwashing.  They also prefer to rely on social media as their sole source of information, ignoring its authenticity, and in many cases accepting one-sided propaganda as long as it supports their political ideology.  Sadly, many Trump supporters have chosen to replace the fourth estate with presidential Tweets.

Dictators embrace and reinforce this type of behavior because their control over those they govern is dependent upon their success in totally eliminating news sources that question their authority or decisions.   President Trump seeks to accomplish this by delegitimizing news sources that question or challenge his decisions.  He uses disparaging terms like “fake news,” “liars,” or “a failing piece of garbage” when discussing these sources.   Additionally, as is the case with most thin-skinned dictators, he promotes other media sources that feed his ego as the only source of the “true facts.”

President Trump’s inner circle just recently initiated another component of his well-orchestrated game plan to discredit some media sources.  This involves the crafting of “alternative facts” as cover for the many false media statements Trump makes that are not supported by empirical evidence.

However, they do provide another unintentional side benefit by protecting Trump’s fragile ego.  These “alternative facts” allow him to keep intact his desperate need to always appear to be the best in all his life’s endeavors.  They also help feed his self-proclaimed image of the savior, the only one that can rescue this nation from doom and gloom, but let's keep in mind that "alternative facts" are lies.

Another troubling aspect of our new president lies with his obsessive intolerance towards radio and TV talk shows, influential U.S. bloggers and websites, and even TV comedy shows that don’t agree with his political actions.   A review of his many disparaging Tweets indicates the degree to which this obsession borders on abnormality.

Tragically, what President Trump and some of his supporters fail to understand is it’s essential for the survival of this democratic nation that all types of multidimensional perspectives continue to exist.  It is not the role of the Commander-in-Chief to assist in the demise of any, for they help to keep everyone honest.   We do not live in a dictatorship!

As the singer/song writer Rosanne Cash so aptly noted, “It is the people who scream the loudest about America and freedom who seem to be the most intolerant for a differing point of view.”  Unfortunately this has reached a boiling point in our nation.  What is even more disturbing is that President Trump has intentionally adopted a demagogue role that continues fanning the fire to keep it raging.   This is not how one “Makes America Great Again.”