Shortly after winning the presidency, after receiving an intelligence brief on threats facing America, Donald Trump cautioned the public there were “lots to fear.” Hardly a reassuring tone from the person whose word can launch a thousand nuclear-tipped missiles.
Well, are you feeling relief now that Russia has denied that the blabbermouth-in-chief revealed classified information to its foreign minister and ambassador to the United States during an unprecedented visit to the Oval Office last week? Do you feel safer, less anxious?
Give The Donald his due. He has elevated the art of instilling fear to an extreme.
Of course, the fear-monger-in-chief might have chosen to calm the public’s nerves since taking office. But that’s not his style. Instead, through his rhetoric and executive actions he has unleashed a Pandora’s box of fears:
Fear of foreigners
Fear of immigrants
Fear of political retribution
Fear of Twitter shame
Fear of Twitter bullying
Fear of mass deportations
Fear of mass incarcerations
Fear of mass prosecutions
Fear of mass persecutions
Fear of a police state
Fear of the world coming to an end
Fear of nuclear conflagration
Fear of unchecked climate change
Fear of unsafe air and water
Fear of a religious state
Fear of censorship
Fear of loss of health care coverage
Fear of insurmountable health care bills
Fear of widening racial divide
Fear of widening income disparity
Fear of loss of faith in government
Fear of loss of belief in media objectivity and veracity
Fear that elected officials will blindly follow rather than act on their conscience
Fear of politicization of the FBI
Fear of authoritarianism
Fear of flying (United or any U.S. airline)
Fear of government by Twitter
Fear we have an idiot as president and not just any idiot Fear we have a mean-spirited, cruel, vindictive idiot as president
Fear the Constitution will be subordinated for political gain
Feel free to add your own fears to this list, if you’re not already cowed into the fetal position.
