Washington Post (Opinion)
By Danielle Allen
February 21, 2016
Like
any number of us raised in the late 20th century, I have spent my life
perplexed about exactly how Hitler could have come to power in Germany.
Watching Donald Trump’s
rise, I now understand. Leave aside whether a direct comparison of
Trump to Hitler is accurate. That is not my point. My point rather is
about how a demagogic opportunist can exploit a divided country.
To
understand the rise of Hitler and the spread of Nazism, I have
generally relied on the German-Jewish émigré philosopher Hannah Arendt
and her arguments about the banality
of evil. Somehow people can understand themselves as “just doing their
job,” yet act as cogs in the wheel of a murderous machine. Arendt also
offered a second answer in a small but powerful book called “Men in Dark
Times.” In this book, she described all those
who thought that Hitler’s rise was a terrible thing but chose “internal
exile,” or staying invisible and out of the way as their strategy for
coping with the situation. They knew evil was evil, but they too
facilitated it, by departing from the battlefield
out of a sense of hopelessness.
One
can see both of these phenomena unfolding now. The first shows itself,
for instance, when journalists cover every crude and cruel thing that
comes out of Trump’s mouth
and thereby help acculturate all of us to what we are hearing. Are they
not just doing their jobs, they will ask, in covering the Republican
front-runner? Have we not already been acculturated by 30 years of
popular culture to offensive and inciting comments?
Yes, both of these things are true. But that doesn’t mean journalists
ought to be Trump’s megaphone. Perhaps we should just shut the lights
out on offensiveness; turn off the mic when someone tries to shout down
others; reestablish standards for what counts
as a worthwhile contribution to the public debate. That will seem
counter to journalistic norms, yes, but why not let Trump pay for his
own ads when he wants to broadcast foul and incendiary ideas? He’ll
still have plenty of access to freedom of expression.
It is time to draw a bright line.
One
spots the second experience in any number of water-cooler conversations
or dinner-party dialogues. “Yes, yes, it is terrible. Can you believe
it? Have you seen anything
like it? Has America come to this?” “Agreed, agreed.” But when someone
asks what is to be done, silence falls. Very many of us, too many of us,
are starting to contemplate accepting internal exile. Or we joke about
moving to Canada more seriously than usually.
But
over the course of the past few months, I’ve learned something else
that goes beyond Arendt’s ideas about the banality of evil and feelings
of impotence in the face
of danger.
Trump
is rising by taking advantage of a divided country. The truth is that
the vast majority of voting Americans think that Trump is unacceptable
as a presidential candidate,
but we are split by strong partisan ideologies and cannot coordinate a
solution to stop him. Similarly, a significant part of voting
Republicans think that Trump is unacceptable, but they too, thus far,
have been unable to coordinate a solution. Trump is exploiting
the fact that we cannot unite across our ideological divides.
The
only way to stop him, then, is to achieve just that kind of
coordination across party lines and across divisions within parties. We
have reached that moment of truth.
Republicans,
you cannot count on the Democrats to stop Trump. I believe that Hillary
Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, and I intend to vote for
her, but it is
also the case that she is a candidate with significant weaknesses, as
your party knows quite well. The result of a head-to-head contest
between Clinton and Trump would be unpredictable. Trump has to be
blocked in your primary.
Jeb
Bush has done the right thing by dropping out, just as he did the right
thing by being the first, alongside Rand Paul, to challenge Trump. The
time has come, John
Kasich and Ben Carson, to leave the race as well. You both express a
powerful commitment to the good of your country and to its founding
ideals. If you care about the future of this republic, it is time to
endorse Marco Rubio. Kasich, there’s a little wind
in your sails, but it’s not enough. Your country is calling you. Do the
right thing.
Ted
Cruz is, I believe, pulling votes away from Trump, and for that reason
is useful in the race. But, Mr. Cruz, you are drawing too close to
Trump’s politics. You too
should change course.
Democrats,
your leading candidate is too weak to count on as a firewall. She might
be able to pull off a general election victory against Trump, but then
again she might
not. Too much is uncertain this year. You, too, need to help the
Republicans beat Trump; this is no moment for standing by passively. If
your deadline for changing your party affiliation has not yet come,
re-register and vote for Rubio, even if, like me, you
cannot stomach his opposition to marriage equality. I too would prefer
Kasich as the Republican nominee, but pursuing that goal will only make
it more likely that Trump takes the nomination. The republic cannot
afford that.
Finally,
to all of you Republicans who have already dropped out, one more, great
act of public service awaits you. As candidates, you pledged to support
whomever the Republican
party nominated. It’s time to revoke your pledge. Be bold, stand up and
shout that you will not support Trump if he is your party’s nominee. Do
it together. Hold one big mother of a news conference. Endorse Rubio,
together. It is time to draw a bright line,
and you are the ones on whom this burden falls. No one else can do it.
Marco
Rubio, this is also your moment to draw a bright line. You too ought to
rescind your pledge to support the party’s nominee if it is Trump.
Donald
Trump has no respect for the basic rights that are the foundation of
constitutional democracy, nor for the requirements of decency necessary
to sustain democratic
citizenship. Nor can any democracy survive without an expectation that
the people require reasonable arguments that bring the truth to light,
and Trump has nothing but contempt for our intelligence.
We,
the people, need to find somewhere, buried in the recesses of our
fading memories, the capacity to make common cause against this
formidable threat to our equally
shared liberties. The time is now.
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