Maybe I just didn’t see it, but the media seems to have missed an opportunity this weekend while giving saturation coverage to Donald Trump’s pathetic little campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Trump campaign has gone all in on vilifying “antifa” (anti-fascist), which is not an organization but a philosophy — a philosophy shared by the millions of Americans and others around the world who served in World War II to rid the world of fascism.
When Donald Trump attacks anti-fascists, by definition he is saying that he is pro-fascist. As I have explained for years, Trumpism is the new American fascism.
A famous anti-fascist was folk singer Woody Guthrie. As fate would have it, the Woody Guthrie Center is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Reconciliation Way in the Greenwood District, the scene of “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history” in 1921 when a white mob jealous of the financial success of “Black Wall Street” burned it to the ground.
Woody Guthrie made famous his guitar on which he wrote “this machine kills fascists” (above photo). The Woody Guthrie Center has a Woody Guthrie Store where you can buy a sticker based on his “this machine kills fascists” sticker which he used on later guitars.
I think it would be a fitting tribute to Woody Guthrie in the present state of affairs in this country if musicians of all styles of music and musical instruments would wear the buttons, patches, stickers, T-shirts and hats for “this machine kills fascists” as a symbol of protest against Trumpism, the new American fascism.
If he were still with us today, you can bet that Woody Guthrie would be taking on these fascists. He would have been there to greet Donald Trump with his guitar in hand.
The introduction at the Woody Guthrie Center web site reads:
The Woody Guthrie Center is dedicated to spreading Woody’s message of diversity, equality and social justice. In today’s world, where it seems intolerance, bigotry and violence are on the rise, it’s an honor to share this positive message with a new generation that can create its own ripples of change. Our facility honors Woody’s life and legacy by educating visitors of his relevance today and his important role in American history.
ABOUT
Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was one of America’s greatest folksingers and most influential songwriters. Although born in Okemah, Oklahoma, Guthrie’s true home was all of America—“from California to the New York island,” to take a line from his most famous song, “This Land Is Your Land.”
Woody’s songs celebrate the beauty and bounty of America and seek the truth about our country and its people. He turned complex ideas about democracy, human rights, and economic equality into simple songs that all Americans could embrace. Woody spoke for those who carried a heavy burden or had come upon hard times. His words gave a voice to their struggle, and his songs gave them hope and strength.
The Woody Guthrie Center, home to the Woody Guthrie Archives, preserves his legacy and life story and communicates the social, political, and cultural values found in his vast body of work. The Center is a repository for Woody’s writings, art, and songs and an educational resource for teachers and students everywhere.
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The Washington Post’s fact checkers make clear, “Who caused the violence at protests? It wasn’t antifa.”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/22/who-caused-violence-protests-its-not-antifa/
Seth G. Jones, director of the transnational threats project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reviewed protests in more than 140 cities and spoke with U.S. officials within the joint terrorism task force. Most of the violence, Jones said, was committed by “local hooligans, sometimes gangs, sometimes just individuals that are trying to take advantage of an opportunity.”
“There were reports of some antifa at different protests,” he concluded. “But they stood back, did not engage, certainly not in a violent way.”
Roughly 80 federal charges, including murder and throwing molotov cocktails at police vehicles, reveal no evidence of an antifa plot. Four people who identify with the far-right extremist “boogaloo” movement are among those facing the most serious federal charges. Asked whether anyone who identifies as antifa had been charged, Department of Justice spokesman Matt Lloyd said via email, “We do not collect statistics based on potential inspiration but on unlawful acts according to statute.”
An intelligence bulletin issued by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center that was obtained by ABC News warned that …“the greatest threat of lethal violence continues to emanate from lone offenders with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist ideologies and [domestic violent extremists] with personalized ideologies,” specifically pointing to boogaloo-related groups as likely to be “instigating violence” at the protests.
A Twitter account that claimed to be run by antifa activists and called for violence at the protests was later linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa. A viral May 27 tweet, from a popular QAnon account, alleged that the protests were an effort by the “deep state” to “start a race war before the election,” arguing “antifa & BLM are domestic terrorist organizations that need to be STOPPED.” Conservative media outlets and prominent Twitter influencers, including Donald Trump Jr., amplified the theory that antifa was connected to the violence.
The Pinocchio Test: There has not yet been a single confirmed case in which someone who self-identifies as antifa led violent acts at any of the protests across the country.
Trump earns Four Pinocchios.
Blue, I can’t believe you left this out. Woodie wrote a song about Fred Trump.
Old Man Trump
Words by Woody Guthrie Adapted by Ryan Harvey, Music by Ryan Harvey
I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate
He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts
When he drawed that color line
Here at his Beach Haven family project
Beach Haven ain’t my home!
No, I just can’t pay this rent!
My money’s down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!
I’m calling out my welcome to you and your man both
Welcoming you here to Beach Haven
To love in any way you please and to have some kind of a decent place
To have your kids raised up in.
Beach Haven ain’t my home!
No, I just can’t pay this rent!
My money’s down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!
Thank you for this article.