‘2024’

In his classic dystopian novel “1984,” George Orwell warned “who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

Donald Trump has tried to rewrite history and control the past by insisting, ad nauseam, that the 2020 election was stolen and that the January 6 attack on the nation’s capitol was a peaceful gathering.

On April 13, during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump again tried to rewrite history and control the past.

The former president spoke of the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg, which resulted in 50,000 casualties. Equivocally, Trump appeared to condone rebellion and glorify war declaring, “Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was.... I mean it was so much, so interesting, so vicious and horrible, so beautiful in so many different ways. It represented such a big portion of the success of this country, Gettysburg, wow.”

How is the American Civil War and a battle that ends with 50,000 casualties “beautiful in so many different ways”?

Although a pathological liar and many times confused and incorrect, Trump knows exactly what he’s doing. He wants to control the past by praising the battle and imply that the civil war was good in a nefarious attempt to control the minds of Americans thereby influencing their present and future action.

I venture to say that this is another dog whistle to his core base in that if he loses the 2024 presidential election, another civil war even with 50,000 casualties although “so vicious and horrible” can be “so interesting” and “so beautiful” and represent “the success of this country.”

Orwell prophesied, “And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed — if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth.”

Marc Bullaro