Urgent Need

There is a large group of Americans who mistake the mythology of this country for its history and the liturgical expressions of patriotism for patriotism itself. They are the ones who are inclined to talk about beliefs rather than provable facts and are far too often persuaded by slogans rather than sound arguments. The less educated you are the more likely you are to be one of those people and the more likely you are to be among the 30 % who support Donald Trump.

As you may have surmised I do not care much for a flag waving, pledge reciting type of patriotism, particularly when it is used to suppress the protests of people who are seeking the redress of very real grievances. But that does not mean that I consider all people who wave the flag and/or recite the pledge of allegiance to be unreasonable. That is why my first reaction to Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the playing of the national anthem was to say he was making a mistake. While I admire his courage and support his cause, it seemed to me that he was offending people he might have been able to persuade using a different tactic. Now Donald Trump, in his bombastic, xenophobic, race bating way, has made Colin Kaepernick's case far more effectively than any argument I could make in favor of what Mr. Kaepernick was doing.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’” the president said at a rally for Republican senator Luther Strange, who is running in a special election next week to remain in the seat vacated by attorney general Jeff Sessions...”

The crowd cheered! As far as they were concerned Trump was calling out someone showing disrespect for this country.  They and Mr. Trump simply refused to acknowledge the enormity of the grievance Mr. Kaepernick was expressing:

As the Huffington Post reported “[b]lack people are 2.8 times more likely than their white peers to be killed during encounters with police ...” This is literally a life and death issue! There is no equivalence between the offense Donald Trump and his supporters take over Mr. Kaepernick's protest and the offense we all should take over the needless loss of innocent lives! In this regard I have to admit that it took Trump's demagoguery to remind me of how urgent it is for us to deal with the deadly racial divide that still exists in this country. And to those of you still offended by players taking a knee during the national anthem let me say that true love is not blind love; the greater patriot is the one who tries to make our nation a better fairer place to live for all people.

What An Embarrassment

I tried to listen to the whole thing, I really did, but I was so embarrassed by our President that I just could not make it to the end. Donald Trump's speech to the U.N. was chalked full of “I,” as in ignorant, idiotic, and “me, myself, and I.” The Donald lied about his achievements as if he were back on the campaign trail. Then he talked about the Marshall Plan and the United Nations Charter, demonstrating such a superficial knowledge of both subjects that you had to wonder where he had been during his high school history and civics classes. News flash: the Marshall Plan was not just an aid package to help the devastated nations of Europe rebuild after World War II; it was part of an overall economic and defense strategy that emphasized cooperation and interdependence rather than narrow nationalistic interests. Similarly, the United Nations was created to help resolve issues in a peaceful manner and to encourage compromise and cooperation among its members.

Donald Trump is a throwback to an era of isolation that ended badly with a great depression followed by a horrible war! Trump sells fear and loathing as others sell bread. He indulges in absurd name calling and bombastic threats, and he does so at a body created to help avoid war. There is no one in the world who can seriously doubt our ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Letting the world know that we will do whatever it takes to defend ourselves and our allies from the likes of North Korea is sufficient with out the bombast. The pitch to get other nations to help us avoid a military solution by helping us enforce the sanctions on North Korea would have then been better received without boastful statements that made it sound like we want war. Furthermore Trump compounded the error by emphasizing the sovereignty and independence of all nations and the right of all nations to selfishly pursue their individual interests.   And he did this while asking those other nations to sacrifice some of their interests by not trading with North Korea!  He seems to lack the ability to avoid or even recognize inconsistencies.

If people in other nations are thinking that our President is a great big pile of stupid I sure don't blame them!