Dogwhistle rhetoric
You really hit the nail on the head when you said that Tom's fanciful (and not at all racist at a time when the President he despises is black) plantation smear would "resonate with those who already feel threatened by big government". Yup. It's the ultimate example of preaching to the choir.
Which is not discussion. Which makes it trite on a discussion site, as in trival and time-wasting. True, this is Flame, which by definition allows triteness; but allowed doesn't make it not trite. It's Flame-trite. "just a war of words"