Who Wins from the Terrorist Attack in Orlando, Florida? Donald Trump

During the early Sunday morning hours, 53 people were murdered in a Orlando, Florida nightclub by a man named Omar Mateen. According to early reports, he may have been inspired by the terrorist group ISIS. This massacre is the result of too easy access to firearms and the noxious power of radical religion and anti-gay hatred. 53 people are dead and at least 50 people are injured. The latter will most likely add to the total of the former. In all, many thousands of people will be impacted both directly and indirectly by the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

This terrorist attack will also impact the American people's the sense of well-being, safety, and security.

The pundit and chattering classes have misjudged the rise of Donald Trump and his brand of proto fascism at almost every juncture. These so-called smart people predicted that Trump cannot win the White House in 2016 unless--and here is where the qualifier becomes a prediction--there was some type of "game changing" event, such as an international crisis or a terrorist attack in the United States. It would appear that they spoke an event into existence.

Some would bemoan and complain that "politicizing" a tragedy before we have allowed a community to grieve is in poor taste and inappropriate. These are faux rules of comportment that have little bearing on realpolitik and the world as it actually exists. Who wins from the mass shooting and terrorism in Orlando, Florida? Donald Trump. It is best to embrace the question now rather than avoid it and be surprised later.

Donald Trump's unconstitutional plan to ban immigration by Muslims to the United States, and to also create an enemies list and database of Muslims already living here, will resonate beyond the tribal bigotry of his Republican and other supporters. The visual of 50 dead Americans killed during a night of celebration and revelry will create a sense of fear and dread among many in the mass public. Fear can push the rational towards irrational behavior and make what was heretofore unthinkable seem practical and reasonable. 

Several days ago Hillary Clinton was triumphant and Donald Trump was flailing. The political winds are fickle. They are most certainly blowing, again, in Donald Trump's favor.

Ultimately, the American people must ask themselves what type of leader prospers from the politics of fear? And do they want to elect such a person to the highest political office in the country?