In German, grosse Luge (roughly) can be traced back to Hitler’s Mein Kampf in 1925. He contended the Jewish people and Marxists told “The Big Lie” by blaming German General Ludendorff for their loss in WWI. Ludendorff was an anti-Semite and Nationalist, and thus respected by Hitler.
Hitler’s lieutenant Joseph Goebbels was probably the first to have said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it often enough, it will be believed.” But it was Hitler that gave the definitive analysis of its effectiveness in his book. “The broad masses of a nation” are “always more easily corrupted by” a big lie than a small one. The Big Lie effects “the deeper strata of their emotional nature.”
And so we saw what we saw on Wednesday, January 6th, 2021, a small-time insurrection against our Democratic Government, a regular Beer Hall Putsch in Washington D.C.
The Beer Hall Putsch was part of a very unstable time in Europe and the world: the post WWI period. It may seem only a cliché, but something is deeply true about it; in society, old orders were in decline, new and uncertain forces were pushing forth. People searched for answers and some found them in different kinds of extremisms. Many people became adamant Communists; others turned to racial and ethnic identifications and discriminations — extreme Nationalists; others hung desperately to the the old system of aristocracy. This was the faction and forces represented by Ludendorff, an aristocrat himself and still an advocate for the Kaiser and the nobility; they temporarily, at least, aligned with the rising charismatic leader, Hitler. (Similarly, American Fundamentalist Christians hitched their wagon to the rising but erratic star of that vulgar, irreligious man, Donald Trump.)
Hitler attempted to follow the course of Mouselini in Italy and seize power. At a mass meeting at the Burgerbraukellar (Citizen’s Beer Cellar) Hitler leaped upon a chair and fired a shot into the ceiling with a pistol to gain attention. He declared that his Nazi Party troopers had the building surrounded and were ready to march. He demanded the support of opposition factions and eventually Ludendorff led this temporary coalition through the streets to overtake German government offices.
Well, at least Hitler had the ‘courage’ to accompany his supporters on their march. Mr. Trump, in his 80 minute incitation to sedition, promised to march with his people but that did not happen.
The Big Lie in America
A shocking series of events these were, in the U.S. of A., over these past two weeks. Our current President, Donald J. Trump, now stands Impeached for the second time in his four year term. He incited the overthrow of our government. History was made as American politics took a deep dive into the dirt, as it occasionally has in our 200 year history.
January 6th was unprecedented in American history. An out-going president urged a large group of his supporters to march on The Capitol building in protest of an election he claims he won “by landslide” but was being “stolen”. “Stop the steal”, they chanted. Trump vowed he would “never concede” and that they should “never stop fighting.” “Strength” is what is needed now, “not weakness”. he told them. One of his warm-up speakers, Rudy Giuliani, told the crowd, what was needed now was “a trial by combat” — a fight — to decide the issue. Trump had previously promised his people, that if they came to Washington, “it will be wild.”
And so it was “wild”, deeply disturbing, and very un-American! Five people died. One shot by Capitol Police as she attempted to forcibly enter the Chambers of the House of Representatives while its members were huddled inside. Another was a Capitol Policeman hit in the head with a fire extinguisher while resisting the seditionists. The remaining three were Trump supporters who died of medical emergencies, such as heart attack, in the uproar. One of these, her family reported, had gone to Washington in spite of their efforts to dissuade her, and that in recent months she had become deeply interested in online conspiracy theories. “It just started to spiral” said her sister.
One of the many incredible aspects of these events, was Trump’s eventual treatment of his longtime loyal Vice President, Mike Pence.
In the build-up to January 6 and the joint session of Congress to accept the Electoral College ballots to officially sanction the elections results, Trump put tremendous pressure on Pence, both privately and in public, to not accept the ballots, to rule them invalid in several key states. But, Pence did not have the power — by law — to do so, and this was overwhelmingly regarded to be the case and the historical tradition.
In the immediate hours before the joint session, the President’s supporters began to gather for their “Rally to Save America” and Trump made one last call to Pence. He cajoled him, pleaded with him and finally told him that this was his chance “to either go down in history as a patriot, or you can go down in history as a pussy.“ Some of our international readers may not be familiar with that slang term; it is an extremely derogatory term for a women that simply equates her to her genitalia. (As reported by the N.Y.Times, 1/12)
But, Pence refused to break the law and ended up huddled in the Capitol basement with various Congresspersons and under tight security as the seditionists had breached the building. Some of them were chanting, “Hang Pence, hang Pence.”
Such is the character of our outgoing president. He is a massively destructive influence to American political integrity. In other words, he is not honest; he is not concerned about right or wrong, and he has no principles outside his own ambitions.
How Did It Go This Far?
There are many questions about the events of January 6, but let me focus on just one, a big one. Why did Americans follow this man? How did it get this far? And this returns us to THE BIG LIE.
As far back as September, I wrote of my concern with Trump’s reckless rhetoric concerning the upcoming election. Mr. Trump had already supercharged the political atmosphere by vilifying those that disagree with him. They are “evil”, “criminal”, “crazy”, “stupid”, “communists”, “brain-washed” (by the mainstream media), and not “true Americans”. Immigrants from Mexico are “rapists”, “thieves”, “murderers” and infiltrated by “terrorist”. Democrats “want to destroy our country”, he contended, and media organizations that criticized him were “fake news”.
I commented that discussion with his supporters was already nearly impossible because of their bizarre views, their “alternative facts” and highly charged emotions. And so, Mr. Trump has Lied Big on many occasions and as Hitler had observed, appealed to his supporters at a “deep emotional level.”
In the September post, I wrote of my particular concern about one claim of his, and that I would politely contest it with any of his supporters in spite of this toxic atmosphere. I wrote,
“I will propose that Mr. Trump is doing us all a disservice when he says, “If I lose, it is because the election is rigged.” After all, one of the spectacular realities about our country is that Our Democracy is Real.” (see The American Presidential Election…https://wordpress.com/post/naturereligionconnection.org/5926)
Mr. Trump has now played that card. The election was stolen and those that are Not True Americans will now hold power, he still believes I will not go into detail to refute this claim of the theft, sufficient to point out that 60 of his lawsuits have been dismissed, all 50 Secretary’s of our States have certified their election results as accurate, and that his own FBI chief and (former) Attorney General have declared no evidence of any significant irregularities.
But the card was played, and the January 6th attack on our Democracy was the result. The vehemence of his supporters and their delusional states were well on display. Trump has been Impeached by the House, and we will wait on the outcome in the Senate. How many Republican office holders will continue to stand by this farce and this denigration of our country? Many have abandoned it and him.
Today is Sunday, January 17th, the day further ‘rallies’ by his supporters are to take place in Washington and various state capitols. And to these, these ‘Americans’ have sworn to carry their weapons! I wait apprehensively, my only hope is that the rather thorough denunciation and negative outcry against the law-breaking and desecrations of January 6th will have dampened the mood and convictions of many of these potential and continuing insurrectionists. (But also, a huge police and National Guard presence!)
Nature Religion Connection 