Trump’s Storm Troopers

They are here, and they are his most powerful asset

“Porgie: What are you going to do when you get out of school, Mudhead?
Mudhead: I guess I’ll find a bunch of guys who dress alike and follow them around” — Firesign Theater “Don’t crush that Dwarf, hand me the pliers”

Mudhead’s aspiration is almost universally felt by boys trying to turn themselves into men. He could be talking about a street gang, the priesthood, a football team, a rock band, the Military, The Ku Klux Klan, or going to work for IBM. When there are no other outlets for this desire, Political movements use it to create barely disciplined mobs who terrorize everyone who disagrees with the Glorious Leader. Savonarola had his Piagnoni who burned Florentine renaissance masterpieces in their"bonfires of the vanities". Mao Ze Dong had the Red Guard, who destroyed Buddhist monasteries and texts in the name of Marxist purity. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have their morality police, who harass and torture the young women they are afraid to date. And before he came to power, Hitler had his storm troopers, who pretended to be soldiers by wearing uniforms and beating up old Jewish ladies.

Does Trump belong in this “distinguished” company? His followers don’t have uniforms per se, but they often wear merch that marks them off from other people (hats, T-shirts etc.), and Trump’s rallies are often the central focus of their lives. Many of these people have been to dozens of these rallies, often…