There is a political technique that has been used in this country that has been used in the past by several leaders of foreign countries. It involves the creation of an unreal menace that is used to frighten and anger followers of a political party. This fear and anger is weaponized by the leader for political gain. This created menace is usually something that runs totally contrary to patriotic beliefs and therefore causes outrage, victimhood and vengeance. The purpose of created menaces is the manipulation of thinking, division of political stances and the rejection of other political ideas. Trumpβs claim that the 2020 election was stolen is an example of this technique. There was outrage and anger, and vengeance was taken. The rioters on Jan 6th felt that they had to correct a wrong, but the wrong they were correcting was a phantom. Creating menaces was and is common in fascist politics. It behooves the electorate to be able to detect this treacherous technique before it metastasizes.
Steve Rasmussen
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
