I usually don’t watch Trump’s speeches but I made an exception Monday night and while I was hoping for some kind of a message of healing, empathy and understanding, that turned out to be a pipe dream. Instead there was the ‘strongman’ speech as one might expect from Putin, Erdogan or some of other autocrats that Trump seems to like so much. There was nothing to address the ‘why’ of the protests. Again, let me be clear, I do not support violence, property destruction and looting. However, the failure to address the underlying causes of this ongoing situation and focus almost entirely on the violence just shows that in Trump’s world, every single situation, foreign and domestic, can only be dealt with through confrontation, bullying and force. ‘The Art of the Deal’ is a myth. Empathy is as rare as a unicorn.
And while the speech inflamed rather than calmed the situation the real travesty of the night was the photo op at St. John’s church which required mounted police and other riot geared officers to use flash bang grenades, tear gas and batons to move a peaceful protest out of the way so Trump could walk to the church for a photo op while holding a Bible. This is what dictators do!
“Marc Polymeropoulos, who formerly ran CIA operations in Europe and Asia, was among several former agency officials who recoiled at images of Trump hoisting a Bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington after authorities fired rubber bullets and tear gas to clear the president’s path of protesters.
“It reminded me of what I reported on for years in the third world,” Polymeropoulos said on Twitter. Referring to the despotic leaders of Iraq, Syria and Libya, he said: “Saddam. Bashar. Qaddafi. They all did this.” [Washington Post]
Trump’s speech was beneath the dignity of the office of the President (and certainly the gratuitous reference to the Second Amendment was grossly inappropriate!). The aggressive movement of the peaceful protestors for a photo op was beneath the dignity of the office of the President. The photo of Trump holding a Bible in front of St. Johns church was a travesty and the height of hypocrisy given that he has demonstrated on multiple occasions he has virtually no moral compass.
Think about this – all of this unrest is the result of racial injustice and the fact a black man was murdered (there is no more appropriate word) in broad daylight by a white police officer. And how many people of color did you see in the photo op with the President? Zero!! It was just a bunch of mostly old white guys. What the hell is wrong with this picture? Trump can talk all he wants and the GOP can talk all they want about how they are inclusive and supportive of diversity – bullshit! The photo of Trump and his entourage tells you all you need to know.
And that brings me to my final point for today. I have no doubt that Trump is a dangerous man that, in spite of his rhetoric, doesn’t give one whit about the United States of America – he cares about power and money. However, the even scarier part of the political landscape today is that so many Republican Congressmen are silent in the face of ongoing assaults on our democracy. And, further, twist themselves into knots to rationalize and justify behavior that, in any other administration, would be deemed completely unacceptable. These enablers are just as responsible for the current state of polarization and unrest in this country as the President himself.
George Will is a long-time conservative columnist who has solid ‘conservative’ credentials. In the spirit of full disclosure, George Will left the Republican party in 2016 because he saw the direction it was going. However, he was a conservative long before Trump ever showed up on the stage. The following are recent quotes from George Will. He says it much better than I could.
“In life’s unforgiving arithmetic, we are the sum of our choices. Congressional Republicans have made theirs for more than 1,200 days. We cannot know all the measures necessary to restore the nation’s domestic health and international standing, but we know the first step: Senate Republicans must be routed, as condign punishment for their Vichyite collaboration, leaving the Republican remnant to wonder: Was it sensible to sacrifice dignity, such as it ever was, and to shed principles, if convictions so easily jettisoned could be dignified as principles, for … what? Praying people should pray, and all others should hope: May I never crave anything as much as these people crave membership in the world’s most risible deliberative body.”
“The measures necessary for restoration of national equilibrium are many and will be protracted far beyond his removal. One such measure must be the removal of those in Congress who, unlike the sycophantic mediocrities who cosset him in the White House, will not disappear “magically,” as Eric Trump said the coronavirus would. Voters must dispatch his congressional enablers, especially the senators who still gambol around his ankles with a canine hunger for petting.” George Will
And now I think I’ll go for a real bike ride to enjoy the beautiful Montana countryside! Be safe, everyone!