'Disturbing'
Undertones Detected in Trump's Bizarre Poland Speech
Thursday, July 06, 2017
Before curated crowd of right-wing supporters, many observers
made connection between president's nationalist rhetoric and pre-WWII
propaganda
Trump returned to "the same life-or-death language as his
inauguration speech, which promised a war against the 'American carnage' of
urban crime," noted Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the New
York Times. (Photo: Slawomir Kaminski/Agenja Gazeta)
During a speech at the site of the Warsaw Uprising Monument in
Poland on Thursday, President Donald Trump proclaimed in terms some
characterized as "disturbing" that "the fundamental
question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive."
Speaking before an audience of close to 15,000 enthusiastic, flag-waving
Poles—many of them bused in by Poland's ruling right-wing
Law and Justice Party—Trump returned to "the same life-or-death language
as his inauguration speech, which promised a war against the 'American carnage'
of urban crime," noted Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the New
York Times.
"Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at
any cost?" Trump asked. "Do we have enough respect for our citizens
to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our
civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?"
Many observed that the speech was noticeably
"Bannonesque," with its stark good-versus-evil imagery and its
invocation of a battle of civilizations. The speech, argued Vox's Sarah Wildman,
"sounded like an alt-right manifesto."
Others, however, detected a more ominous current running beneath
Trump's words, which were delivered in a nation governed by a fervently
nationalistic party that has sparked fierce and widespread protests for what
critics view as a sharp drift away from democracy.
Honing in on Trump's repeated emphasis on "the will"
and his declaration that "our civilization will triumph," many made
connections between the speech and an infamous 1935 Nazi propaganda film titled
"Triumph
of the Will," which was directed by Leni
Riefenstahl and based on the 1934 Nuremberg Rally.
So POTUS gave a speech in Poland extolling the Triumph of
the Will? Was Leni Riefenshahl directing?
— David
Waldner (@davidwaldnerdc) July 6, 2017
Trump just went to Poland and gave a speech about how we
need the triumph of the will https://t.co/7ygnMDGqdQ pic.twitter.com/spLd6uI9mM
— Alex
Zalben (@azalben) July 6, 2017
That's Bannonesque--triumph of the will. https://t.co/eIfWaFoL4U
— Steven
Metz (@steven_metz) July 6, 2017
*checks off yet another box on Nazi bingo* pic.twitter.com/cQQDWCijdi
— Howard
Zinndafel (@Boringstein) July 6, 2017
I used to think I was losing my hearing, but suddenly I'm
hearing dog whistles as clear as day. #ThanksTrump https://t.co/Dhrs2daVGJ
— Michael
Ian Black (@michaelianblack) July 6, 2017
somebody's been reading more Daily Stormer recently https://t.co/GxH1J37XRN
— down
the shore goer (@Phylan) July 6, 2017
Though the curated crowd responded to Trump's words with raucous
praise and the waving of flags, there were dissenters.
Most notable, The Guardian observed, was a "small left-wing party
[that] held a protest with activists dressed as women from The
Handmaid’s Tale, an American TV drama series based on a novel about a
future totalitarian society, in protest over Trump's treatment of women."
Demo przeciw Trumpowi na rogu Miodowej i Schillera już
się zbiera. Można dołączać:) #TRUMPwPOLSCE @partiarazem @Zieloni @inicjatywaPL pic.twitter.com/friMCpKx8c
— Agata
Diduszko (@agatadiduszko) July 6, 2017
—
Agnieszka Grabowicz (@noneistheno) July 6, 2017
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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