In
2004, the great American writer Philip Roth published what, looking back from
2017, was a prescient novel, The
Plot Against America. It is the
fictional story of how America Firster Charles A. Lindbergh won the
presidency. Roth grew up in Newark New
Jersey. My siblings and I followed him
in attending the same high school. Some
of his famous novels including this one are set in the community where we all grew
up. While a work of fiction, he injects a
good number of historical figures into the narrative including my father, a
Hitler refugee and American civil rights leader who was rabbi of one of city’s
largest synagogues. He was among those
leaders opposed the Lindbergh administration.
Roth story, set in the 1940s, focuses particularly on anti-Semitism, but
his underlying message is that it could happen here. Substitute Muslims and immigrants for Jews
(and we have seen signs of renewed anti-Semitism since the election) and you
will know that not only could it happen, it feels like it has.
The
well-worn anti-Semitic trope is that Jews are bent in the most sinister way on
controlling the world. A clear echo of
that can be seen in statements and speeches by Steve
Bannon and Michael
Flynn, key members of Trumps inner circle, suggesting that Islam is some
kind of spreading cancer. I am not
saying that Donald Trump is an anti-Semite, his daughter married Jarred Kushner
and converted to Judaism. His son-in-law
is perhaps his closest advisor in the White House, but then one of Roth’s key
Lindbergh supporters was a fictional rabbi named Bengelsdorf. What I do believe is that whatever community
pushes back on the new president can expect a harsh reaction including name calling
a mischaracterization. This
administration is sure to systematically caricature and question the
loyalty-to-country of any and all who challenge its policies or actions,
including elected officials and, just wait and see, the judiciary.
I’m
still waiting for some positive action coming out of the retooled White House,
something that commends itself to bi-partisan support. I’m waiting for some words that can’t be seen
as some sort of dog whistle. I’ve
already written about Trump’s attack on the free press and now we can add their
“get with the program” or get out threat to career public servants. One only has to hope that they will grit
their teeth and hang on because the onslaught is meant to drive them first to despair
and then out the door. If the civil
service is undermined, we will be all the less protected.
In
a stunning development, EU President Donald
Tusk has added Donald Trump to Radical Islam, Russia and China as principal
threats to the Union. Fair assessment or
not, this is the EU, membered by our closest allies. Considering the president’s support of Brexit
and having expressed the opinion that other EU members should follow suit it’s
not surprising that Tusk is concerned.
For sure, the threat posed by Trump is quite different than those of the
other three – Tusk is not concerned about military action against it by the US – but the very fact of this fear could have serious consequences. We’re not in a go-it-alone world and can’t
afford the luxury of dissing friends.
But then collaboration with others is not part of the Trump playbook.
In
an unprecedented way, the Republican controlled senate blocked even the most rudimentary
consideration of Merrick Garland nominated for the Supreme Court by Barack Obama, with still almost a
year left of his presidency. Now they
are complaining about the due diligence being exercised with regard to Trump
nominees and what will clearly be a major fight over his court appointee. Normally new presidents have somewhat of a
honeymoon period with congress but most importantly with the American
people. Trump has a historically low 36%
approval rate coming into his presidency.
He continues to talk about a mandate, which is hard to argue with such
numbers. Other presidents have used
executive power upon entering the White House, especially when taking over from
a chief executive of the other party, including Obama. The question here is when Americans writ
large and their elected representative will start considering his moves as an
abuse of power. From a legal standpoint
that may not have happened yet, but it’s hard to believe we’re not headed in
that direction. Meanwhile, while Philip
Roth hardly needs me hawking his books, you may want to pick up a copy of the
Plot Against America.
