In reporting on events, the Observer draws on factual evidence primarily, but tries not to fall into the trap of thinking he has to prove every assertion as if he were in a court of law. To be sure, every effort must be made to avoid misrepresentation or simply making things up. Opinions should be supported by evidence. Assertions need to be sustained by a “preponderance of the evidence”, but not by “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”.
In essence, on some matters the test that makes sense is, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.”
Donald Trump’s recent use of a Nazi symbol that was used by the Nazis to identify political prisoners in concentration camps should be called out for what it is: a blatant attempt to appeal to neo-Nazis and their sympathizers for support.
See,
Ali Beland, “Nazis Put This Symbol on Political Opponents’ Arms. Now Trump is Using It; The upside down red triangle was used in Hitler’s concentration camps,” Mother Jones, June, 2020.
There can be no excuses here. It was done by Donald Trump’s campaign. That means it was done by Donald Trump.
The tragic state of our news media was revealed by the fact that most media stories focused on the fact that Facebook took down the ads using the symbol, rather than on the astounding and obscene fact that the President of the United States had used the symbol in appealing for Neo-Nazi and white supremecist support.
With Trump appealing to fascists, fascism can’t be far begind.
The Trenchant Observer
