Database Nov 22^nd

As you probably guessed from the heading of this piece it’s about Donald Trump, the dyed and blow dried savior (scourge) of the Republican Party. Trump arrived on the scene initially to the cheers of several hundred supporters some of whom, rumor has it, Trump paid to attend. There are organizations in the City that will provide actors for such events. A couple of people attending Trump’s coming out party were recognized as working for this outfit. Naturally there were denials all around, by the organization and by the actors. Who would want to alienate Donald Trump, the money source? I mention this because it is evidence that Trump’s deceptive practices start from the very beginning of his campaign.

Then there is the absurdity of Trump low-balling the amount he has spent on his campaign, He claims to have spent far less than the other candidates. Do you really suppose he is counting the cost of flying his huge jet around various venues where he is scheduled to speak, then having the jet and its crew wait until he has finished erupting and then fly him off to somewhere else? Do you think he counts the cost of that big helicopter giving rides to kids at some county fair?

He tells us that he will insist that all new Syrian refugees appear in a database. Then he tells us that if he is elected President he will send them all back. Of course there is already a database developing on the Syrian refugees because they are being processed for admission to this country. A database is no more than a listing of names and some other characteristics of people in some sort of order; the phone book is a database. We are far more at risk from visitors who are not even required to have visas to enter the country than from refugees; the 9/11 hijackers were an example.

Trump attempted to contribute to the recent paranoia about Muslims and discovered that he had pushed a tad too hard. A reporter asked him if he would recommend setting up a Muslim data base to which he replied, “absolutely” and “certainly.” He also wants “heavy surveillance of mosques and closing some of them.”  His response then changed because there was so much noise that he hadn’t really understood the question, but he also responded in the same way to the question in print.

Senator Cruz, while he has been a consistent Trump supporter, does not favor the federal government collecting databases on anyone. He is joined by Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, John Kasich and probably others. Senator Rubio, however, seems to agree with Trump.

Maybe if Trump wins it all we’ll have laws requiring Muslims to wear a little patch on their clothes showing a crescent moon and a star similar to the Star of David patch required of the Jews by the Nazis. As Sinclair Lewis wrote, “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”