(Not) Out of Control

Back in the day I provided education to domestic violence offenders. I learned lots of things then that have stuck with me: abusers are not "out of control." They're perfectly capable of controlling themselves in contexts where they may be held to account. They exercise rage when they find it safe to do so. Maybe they feel out of control, but that's not the real problem. 

Donald Trump's recent messaging may seem out of control. It certainly feels that way, as his daily outbursts escalate in intensity. He's behind in the polls, six months remain, and we wonder: will Donald Trump take society over the edge?

He might. But he's not out of control. His apparently crazy tweets indicate effort and diligent research. I doubt Trump is doing it himself, but who knows? 

This week I tracked the signs that Trump's racist attacks against Stacey Abrams were carefully designed. During a single tweetstorm Trump repeatedly retweeted a guy named John K. Stahl, whose timeline is filled with race-baiting material. On inspection it becomes clear that Trump didn't retweet something he ran across accidentally. Trump picked the race-baiting tweets he could get away with, at once signalling his real message to hard-core racists who know the language and maintaining a lingerie-thin level of deniability. 

As Minneapolis burns we have new tweeting from the Racist in Chief. Trump retweeted a group called Cowboys for Trump, in which the head cowboy proclaims, "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat." Trump's retweet, "Thank you Cowboys. See you in New Mexico," has been called out, but it remains active.

(The speaker, who holds public office in New Mexico, did say he didn't mean it literally. Awesome.)

Then there's the aftermath of George Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis police. Classic Trump: after Joe Biden spoke out, Trump finally promised justice for Floyd and his family. Trump did not, of course, mention Floyd's race. Then, when violence broke out in Minneapolis: Trump issued this:

These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!

So the rioters, not the police officers, are "thugs," and Trump will order the military to shoot civilians for property crimes. (Kent State went great didn't it?) As happens with Trump, the racial worm has turned. 

Thank God for historian John Fea, Fea uncovered the racist backstory to Trump's tweet. "When the rioting starts, the shooting starts" goes back to a Miami police chief, Walter Headley, who threatened to shoot looters during 1967 race riots. The full Miami Herald excerpt provided by Fea makes clear the racist undertones. I'll save the selections for below.

How did Trump manage to echo language from a racist police chief in 1967? Maybe the phrase stuck in his memory. More likely, someone very evil dug up this phrase and kept it handy for an opportune moment. 

Donald Trump isn't out of control. But our country is very close.

Selections:

• "Community relations and all that sort of thins has failed. We have done everything we could, sending speakers out and meeting with Negro leaders. But it has amounted to nothing."
• "We haven’t had any serious problems with civil uprisings and looting because I’ve let the word filter down that when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
• He said the major group his “get tough” policy is aimed at is young Negro males, from 15 to 21.
• “Ninety per cent of our Negro population is law abiding and wants to eliminate our crime problems. But 10 per cent are young hoodlums who have taken advantage of the civil rights campaign.”