by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
(Blogger Note: As 2017 was closing out I made a vow in this space to refrain from becoming caught up in the Trump stink in the New Year by limiting coverage of Donald John to just one day a week, a practice that I have since initiated and labeled "Trump Dump Thursday." Please let the record show that I made it all the way up to the 13th day of January before I felt absolutely compelled by circumstances beyond my control to break that vow. Please bear with me as I spend a second day this week discussing our continuing national embarrassment: Donald John Trump. I acknowledge the personal weakness on my part and beg your forbearance.)
Is the President of the United States a racist?
Who would have even thought that in twenty-first century America it would be necessary to ask such an awful question? The President is elected by the American people (usually) and is generally expected to operate in such a manner as to be held in high esteem by a large preponderance of the population. Whether we voted for that person or not, he or she is generally regarded as a living representation of our country, and, as such, the embodiment of American ideals.
America had such a leader in Barack Obama, a man who generated massive crowds wherever he appeared in this country and around the globe. When people saw Obama, they were looking at a sociological miracle, a bi-racial young man who emerged from modest circumstances, achieved a first-rate education, and built a life and a career of helping others. He was the personification of the American ideal, and he represented that vision with humility and dignity on the world stage. Barack Obama was - and he remains - an inspiration.
And then came Trump.
The son of a racist slumlord, Donald Trump inherited not only a fortune from his father, but also his open disdain for people of color. America's angry whites, many of whom had lived economically and intellectually impoverished lives for generations, managed to blame all of their troubles on the outgoing black President and showed their rage and discontent by voting for Donald Trump, a man that many of them recognized as basically unfit for office. Trump lost that election by three million actual votes, but through a quirk in the geographical distribution of those votes, he was elected to the presidency by the "electoral college" provision in the Constitution.
And so here we are.
This past Thursday Donald Trump exhibited his racism with all flags flying. While at a meeting with senators and representatives in the Oval Office in which immigration reform was being discussed, Trump interrupted the presenter, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, as the senator was explaining how the proposed agreement would impact people from Haiti. Trump snorted:
Moments later when Africa came up in the presentation, Trump seemed to have had all he could handle. He stormed:
Later Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who can make sense when pressed to do so, stepped into the fray and admonished Trump, telling him that "America is about an idea, not about race."
Senator Durbin said that Trump used the derogatory and racist term - shithole - "repeatedly" during the remainder of the session. The Illinois senator lamented: “I cannot believe that, in the history of the White House in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.” Trump's use of the word "shithole" to describe Haiti and countries from Africa was also reported by Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Remarkably, Republican Senator Tom Cotton who was also in that Oval Office meeting said that he could not recall hearing the word used. Senator Cotton, who has aspirations of becoming the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), might do well to have his hearing checked before tackling a position with that intelligence-gathering organization.
Trump and the White House, for their part, declined to comment for a day or to answer specific questions about Trump's reported use of the word "shithole." On Friday he posted a non-denial denial on Twitter which read:
Huh? Funny how the same individual can speak quite clearly when he wants to, but can also babble incoherently when that suits his purpose.
Is Donald Trump a racist? Is it even necessary to ask after his record as a slumlord and his defense of the White Nationalists in Charlottesville - and now with this crack about "shithole" countries - countries which also happen to be predominantly black - and his preference for immigration from predominantly white Norway? A white guy born to wealth who maintained and enhanced his wealth through actions and policies that were detrimental to people of color? A politician who reaped votes by intentionally stirring age-old racial prejudices? Of course he is a racist - and as a racist he should either resign the presidency or be impeached and removed from office.
Is Donald Trump an embarrassment to our country? Daily. Constantly. The Washington Post has tabulated over two thousand lies that he has told during his first three hundred days in office. He's a racist and an inveterate liar, and he uses the White House like a self-absorbed huckster peddling his wares on infomercials. Trump is an embarrassment and a national disgrace - and for those reasons he needs to resign or be impeached and removed from office.
Godspeed, Robert Mueller!
Citizen Journalist
(Blogger Note: As 2017 was closing out I made a vow in this space to refrain from becoming caught up in the Trump stink in the New Year by limiting coverage of Donald John to just one day a week, a practice that I have since initiated and labeled "Trump Dump Thursday." Please let the record show that I made it all the way up to the 13th day of January before I felt absolutely compelled by circumstances beyond my control to break that vow. Please bear with me as I spend a second day this week discussing our continuing national embarrassment: Donald John Trump. I acknowledge the personal weakness on my part and beg your forbearance.)
Is the President of the United States a racist?
Who would have even thought that in twenty-first century America it would be necessary to ask such an awful question? The President is elected by the American people (usually) and is generally expected to operate in such a manner as to be held in high esteem by a large preponderance of the population. Whether we voted for that person or not, he or she is generally regarded as a living representation of our country, and, as such, the embodiment of American ideals.
America had such a leader in Barack Obama, a man who generated massive crowds wherever he appeared in this country and around the globe. When people saw Obama, they were looking at a sociological miracle, a bi-racial young man who emerged from modest circumstances, achieved a first-rate education, and built a life and a career of helping others. He was the personification of the American ideal, and he represented that vision with humility and dignity on the world stage. Barack Obama was - and he remains - an inspiration.
And then came Trump.
The son of a racist slumlord, Donald Trump inherited not only a fortune from his father, but also his open disdain for people of color. America's angry whites, many of whom had lived economically and intellectually impoverished lives for generations, managed to blame all of their troubles on the outgoing black President and showed their rage and discontent by voting for Donald Trump, a man that many of them recognized as basically unfit for office. Trump lost that election by three million actual votes, but through a quirk in the geographical distribution of those votes, he was elected to the presidency by the "electoral college" provision in the Constitution.
And so here we are.
This past Thursday Donald Trump exhibited his racism with all flags flying. While at a meeting with senators and representatives in the Oval Office in which immigration reform was being discussed, Trump interrupted the presenter, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, as the senator was explaining how the proposed agreement would impact people from Haiti. Trump snorted:
"Haiti? Why do we want people from Haiti here?"
Moments later when Africa came up in the presentation, Trump seemed to have had all he could handle. He stormed:
'Why do we want these people from all these shithole countries here? We should have more people from places like Norway."
Later Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who can make sense when pressed to do so, stepped into the fray and admonished Trump, telling him that "America is about an idea, not about race."
Senator Durbin said that Trump used the derogatory and racist term - shithole - "repeatedly" during the remainder of the session. The Illinois senator lamented: “I cannot believe that, in the history of the White House in that Oval Office, any president has ever spoken the words that I personally heard our president speak yesterday.” Trump's use of the word "shithole" to describe Haiti and countries from Africa was also reported by Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona.
Remarkably, Republican Senator Tom Cotton who was also in that Oval Office meeting said that he could not recall hearing the word used. Senator Cotton, who has aspirations of becoming the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), might do well to have his hearing checked before tackling a position with that intelligence-gathering organization.
Trump and the White House, for their part, declined to comment for a day or to answer specific questions about Trump's reported use of the word "shithole." On Friday he posted a non-denial denial on Twitter which read:
“The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.”
Huh? Funny how the same individual can speak quite clearly when he wants to, but can also babble incoherently when that suits his purpose.
Is Donald Trump a racist? Is it even necessary to ask after his record as a slumlord and his defense of the White Nationalists in Charlottesville - and now with this crack about "shithole" countries - countries which also happen to be predominantly black - and his preference for immigration from predominantly white Norway? A white guy born to wealth who maintained and enhanced his wealth through actions and policies that were detrimental to people of color? A politician who reaped votes by intentionally stirring age-old racial prejudices? Of course he is a racist - and as a racist he should either resign the presidency or be impeached and removed from office.
Is Donald Trump an embarrassment to our country? Daily. Constantly. The Washington Post has tabulated over two thousand lies that he has told during his first three hundred days in office. He's a racist and an inveterate liar, and he uses the White House like a self-absorbed huckster peddling his wares on infomercials. Trump is an embarrassment and a national disgrace - and for those reasons he needs to resign or be impeached and removed from office.
Godspeed, Robert Mueller!
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