When political name-calling crosses a line

In what appears to be growing desperation, Democrats with access to a microphone or a lens went bonkers trying to draw a parallel between Donald J. Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, and a pro-Nazi rally held at the old Madison Square Garden in 1939.

Also at the new Madison Square Garden, the 1992 Democratic Convention, where fascist Bill Clinton accepted his party’s nomination for president. Calling him a fascist for being at the Garden is as stupid as tarring Trump.

The farther left you go on the Democratic horizon, the more likely you are to engage what I’ll call the “Deplorable mindset” — traffic in hot-button taunts like racist, misogynist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, transphobic.

Just a few weeks ago, one of my closest friends called me “sexist” when I told him Kamala did not have my vote. (Trump also doesn’t, and won’t, have my vote. MAGAheads say that is Trump Derangement Syndrome, as if there were no good reasons to oppose him.)

Back to my friend. I was deeply insulted and shocked that he was so blinded by his progressive ideology.

My reply was something like, “I’m sexist? I voted for Hillary. How about racist? I voted for Obama.”

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against name-calling, especially creative name-calling. I like it, but only if it is tied to some kind of reality.

And this is where harebrained “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe jumped the rails, making “jokes” about Puerto Ricans at the exact moment Trump is courting Hispanics. The “jokes” were not rooted in reality.

Talk about unforced errors.

Cleanup on Aisle 4!

But that doesn’t amount to Hitler, and as little as I like Trump, he is no Hitler, who was a unique evil in the world. As a Jew, I resent dragging Hitler down to the level of Trump, who is a festering boil on America’s ass, but not one of the greatest mass murderers of all time. The Hitler name doesn’t square with his actions. (Oh! He said he wants generals as loyal as Hitler’s. He doesn’t seem to know some of those loyal generals tried to kill him.)

For years I have been arguing against the Hitler slur with Democrats, including Jewish Democrats, who really ought to know better. If they call him Hitler, I say “Show me the 6 million bodies.” That’s just Jews, he murdered millions more who were not.

Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism to marry Orthodox Jew Jared Kushner, whom Trump made a close advisor. 

Trump’s grandchildren are Jewish, and he moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is Israel’s capital, and where Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu wanted it.

He says things like Jews who don’t vote for him are not real Jews, but that’s not much worse than Biden saying African-Americans who don’t vote for him are not Black.

Neither Trump nor Biden are the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I was prepared to vote for Biden. . . Until, well, you know.

And, yes, Republicans have a propensity to call political rivals Marxists, socialists, and fascists. In America today, anyone can be a fascist.

And by this time next week, we will be drowning in claims that the election was fixed, irrespective of who wins.

Blame the fascists.