SAVONAROLA – OR JUST ON A ROLL-A?

When I saw the news clips of TFG’s CPAC speech last Saturday, the first thing I thought of was Savonarola (above).   

Quickie Wiki: 

Girolamo Savonarola, (1452 –1498) was an ascetic Italian Dominican friar and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal. He denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule, and the exploitation of the poor.

Savonarola and his two acolytes were eventually burned at the stake for heresy, but before Savonarola was ignited, he ignited Florentine crowds with speeches like this one given on December 10, 1494: 

I announce this good news to the city, that Florence will be more glorious, richer, more powerful than she has ever been; First, glorious in the sight of God as well as of men: and you, O Florence will be the reformation of all Italy, and from here the renewal will begin and spread everywhere, because this is the navel of Italy. Your counsels will reform all by the light and grace that God will give you. Second, O Florence, you will have innumerable riches, and God will multiply all things for you. Third, you will spread your empire, and thus you will have power temporal and spiritual.

I must be a masochist, because I read the transcript of the CPAC speech.  Compare Savonarola’s vision of Florentine greatness with TFG’s vision of America’s to-be-very-quickly-rekindled greatness:

This is the turning point and the time for that decision because, as you’ve probably heard me say before, we will not back down…

We started a great, great, positive revolution. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it before. It’s called Make America Great Again. We want to make America great again. We will cross the finish line. We will dismantle the deep state. We will demolish woke tyranny, and we will restore the American republic to all of its radiant glory, and with God’s help and your support, we will make America powerful again...

We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again... [W]e will make America proud again. We will make America safe again, … and we will make America great again.

The similarities in content and rhetorical flourish are more than historically interesting; each man enlists the help of God in his prophecy.  This does not seem accidental.

The second thing I thought of while watching the clip of TFG’s CPAC speech was the Book of Revelations, the Apocalypse, and the Rapture.  TFG occasionally refers to himself in the third person and is fond of the Germanic style of capitalizing nouns.  Is He going to start capitalizing Himself and referring to Himself as The Word?  Consider this grandiose excerpt from His speech:

In 2016, I declared I am your voice. Today, I add I am your warrior, I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution.

Our enemies are desperate to stop us because they know that we are the only ones who can stop them... They know that we can defeat them. They know that we will defeat them. But they’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you and I’m just standing in their way. That’s all I’m doing. I’m standing in their way. And that’s why I’m here today. That’s why I’m standing before you, because we are going to finish what we started. We started something that was America. We’re going to complete the mission. We’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory.

This is the final battle. They know it, I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. This is it. Either they win or we win. And if they win, we no longer have a country.

Was this CPAC thing just a "Wow, I'm really on a rally roll here!" campaign speech angling for a second term?  Or was it a not-so-subtle reference to the Second Coming?  Sounded like a combo to me, Savonarola plus I'm on a roll-a.  It struck me as cheap pandering by a televangelist politician, and his call for an electoral response from the Evangelical Christians in the MAGA base. 

Anyway, lots of fire and brimstone here from the 15th and 21st centuries to kindle the modern imagination. 

An interesting Wiki footnote:  “Under torture Savonarola confessed to having invented his prophecies and visions, then recanted, then confessed again.” 

Absent torture, I don’t see TFG recanting anything.    

Keep it real!

Marilyn