05 July 2019

And the bands played on



At the 2016 Republican Convention Donald Trump delivered what I consider is the worst acceptance speech in American history.  I suppose he may tonight (4 July 2019) sink even below his established level.

The simple fact that he is speaking lowers the cultural content of the country. The excessive military presence he has ordered makes the exercise not merely dark, but also menacing.

As I type, I do not know where this all ends. When I hear this idiot claim he should receive an extended term because he has been subject of successful investigations, and seriously suggests delaying the constitutionally mandated census; my notorious optimism falters.

The republic with all its flaws, especially racism, and slavery, has never been perfect. But it has been an evolving experiment in Western Liberal Democracy. We perhaps have not always gotten it right, but we have kept trying. Winston Churchill famously said that, "America can always be counted on to do the right thing; after trying everything else." Historically, the republic sometimes takes a while, consider the distance between Plessy and Brown.

But now the really hate filled are increasingly emboldened. The white supremacists are so willing to be public that the newspaper of the klan has endorsed Trump for the 2020 election.

So this 4th of July I am not feeling celebratory: I am afraid. Perhaps the institutions will hold, I hope so, but the one clear reality is the attack.

1 comment:

RonF said...

Turns out you were wrong - Trump gave what has been generally recognized as one of the best speeches of his Administration. It was non-partisan.

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