The Trump Alternative to ISIS

During the campaign, Donald Trump thrilled his base when he openly attacked "radical Islamic terrorism" and called Barak Obama the founder of ISIS. His inaugural address pleased that base again as he said that patriotism in the heart blocks out prejudice. According to President Trump's inaugural, his accession to office is a world-shaking event guaranteeing that America will start winning in a big way, like never before.

"Mainstream" journalism is struggling to grasp the significance of President Trump's message and style. Many seem to be experiencing self-doubt as Trump's counter-factual campaign has turned into a presidency always on attack against even the smallest criticism of its claims. Trump's advocates claim he was treated unfairly by the media, yet increasingly facts are emerging about FBI investigations of serious allegations that were not publicized for Trump as he and the media pounced on less significant FBI announcements targeting Hillary Clinton that were publicized during the campaign.

My opinion, as a historian, is that the media's attitude toward candidate and now President Trump has not been the problem. The real challenge is the way the internet has produced counter-factual bubble groups (to use Obama's term in his Farewell Address) who care less and less about truth. The convenience of the internet with its ease of access to information (the information super highway, as Bill Clinton called it) removes editorial checks or other filters to ensure accuracy.

All kinds of fringe views can find supportive "information" and communities on the internet. That is how ISIS and other terrorist groups find, recruit, and indoctrinate followers that cross every international border. These recruits find a new sort of patriotism with beliefs hostile to Western values and are willing to take innocent lives as they waste their own life in pursuit of glory.

As a teacher of survey history courses, one of my tasks is to help students understand and practice essential skills of historians as they follow current events. Historians recognize that all news stories, in fact all historical accounts, are interpretations so that no single interpretation can be presented as the entire truth. What is essential, however, is beginning with information that is accurate and authentic.

The problem for my students and everyone else today is the difficulty of sorting reliable information from the propaganda, hoaxes, and outright lies that proliferate in social media and internet news sites. Journalists are expected to use historical skills in their profession - and citizens are increasingly required to follow those professional standards to avoid entrapment by sinister false realities.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump illustrates how American democracy can be undermined by internet propaganda and lies. He gained a following by promoting an effort to delegitimize President Obama through the internet and refused to accept documentary proof as the lie was asserted for years. This led to a presidential campaign filled with insults, exaggerations, and lies. When his statements were challenged, he attacked with increasing ferocity to insist his false information had to be accepted. Real apology hasn't yet been shown to be part of his character.

In his first weekend in office, President Trump used official government instruments that had been reliable and credible to perpetuate his use of false information. Creating a stir over an insignificant point like the size of the crowd attending the inauguration resulted in the Press Secretary telling an overt lie in his first press briefing. Outlets for government information whose truthfulness have not usually been questioned are now in danger of having to present only Trump approved information. Those in President Trump's inner circle defend false information as "alternative facts" to the documented facts of journalists and historians.

My thesis is that Donald Trump, the fierce opponent of ISIS, is in fact relying on an American version of ISIS. His inaugural address was directed more to his base than the American public at large. That base consists of many groups whose outrageous views have scattered "alternative facts" over the internet that Trump has often claimed to be true. This group, which Trump says includes 10 million people, are "radicalized" Trump followers. Some of them have engaged in terrorist activities (KKK, supporters of confederate flags, and various white supremacy groups) in the name of patriotism. Now these radicalized groups, most of them overtly racists, have been told what they want to hear - that real American patriotism is not prejudice.

It is time the American people recognized that the man who holds up American patriotism as a primary value in fighting "radical Islamic" terrorism has adopted too many of the methods and values of terrorists, to the detriment of American democratic values and traditions. No, President Trump has not encouraged random murder. But look at his idea of leadership as attacking disagreement or criticism. Look at how he discounts the value of any group that disagrees with him. Look at how his version of American patriotism leads to the exclusion of ethnic and religious minorities as valuable. Look at the role model of daily bullying that is being presented to young people as American style leadership.

Other presidents have fought international terrorism without adopting their methods and values. This is an unacceptable change that President Trump is trying to impose on our democracy. We desperately need courageous media and political leaders who insist on "speaking truth to power" by revealing how President Trump is using a base too similar to ISIS to be acceptable to American democracy.

Edward G. Simmons is a historian who is retired from a career in Georgia state government and now teaches for Georgia Gwinnett College and Brenau University. His writing focuses on history, religion, education, and relationships. His latest book is entitled Talking Back to the Bible: A Historian's Approach to Bible Study. See additional articles on his blog: http://www.edwardgsimmons.WordPress.com.



 By Edward G. Simmons


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