Who are the people at political rallies who cheer and scream in delight at the inanities spouted by their favored political candidate, or who quietly look up at the candidate in adoration, as if they’re seeing the second coming of the Lord?
They come in all political stripes, ages, genders, races, education levels, and socioeconomic classes.
Maybe it’s because women have higher-pitched voices, but the shrill yelling of women dominates the din at the rallies. Could it be that women are just as influenced by power and authority as men are?
Such people can be found at Harris’ rallies. To wit:
Such people also can be found at Trump’s rallies. To wit:
It’s embarrassing to admit, but people of my race and ethnicity were at Mussolini’s rallies:
Russians were at Stalin’s rallies.
This is not to suggest that Harris is the same as Stalin or that Trump is the same as Mussolini. It is to say that bad things can happen when people let their emotions overcome their reason.
That’s true in more than the political realm. Take marriage. One of the most important decisions that a person can make is selecting a spouse. Given that about half of marriages end in divorce, the decision is too often an emotional one not tempered by rational thinking.
Harris is not the same as Stalin, but if her belief in achieving equal outcomes through coerced redistribution and collectivism is ever taken to the extreme, a Stalin could be the result, along with the most unequal outcomes possible, as evidenced by the tens of millions who died by starvation and in gulags under communism.
Trump is not the same as Mussolini, but if his populism and demagoguery are ever taken to the extreme, a Mussolini could be the result. After all, Mussolini wanted to return Italy to the glories of the Roman Empire. His slogan could’ve been: Make Italy Great Again, or MIGA.
Loyalists on both sides won’t admit it, but both Harris and Trump say a lot of jabberwocky at their rallies.
At least Harris, as a leftist Democrat, is predictable in the nonsense she spouts. She’s going to say that making people dependent on the government is good for them and society, that the government can set prices better than markets can, that she and Joe didn’t let millions of migrants cross the border, that there are no negative consequences to the millions of migrants in any event, that going easy on criminals reduces crime, that replacing dads with the government is good for families and neighborhoods, and so on.
Trump, on the other hand, as an ideological whatever, is unpredictable in the nonsense he spouts. For example, he claimed at a recent rally that he’ll cut electricity prices by half within a year of taking office. Also, within 100 days, he’ll cut prescription prices and the cost of car insurance and homeowner’s insurance. And borrowing a page from the Democrat vote-buying playbook, he won’t tax tipped income or Social Security benefits. After he’s done with that, he’ll part the sea and turn water to wine.
Meanwhile, neither candidate mentions that the Social Security trust fund is running out of money, that today’s level of deficit spending is unsustainable, and that the current national debt of $35 trillion and the projected growth in the debt are a curse on future generations and a threat to the future security and prosperity of the nation.
If either candidate were to say that, I’d cheer and scream in adoration.
When he’s not cheering at a rally, Mr. Cantoni can be reached at craigcantoni@gmail.com.