Donald Trump stands with the Nazis
In case there was ever any doubt that Donald Trump is the most unfit American president ever, he just went ahead last Tuesday and proved it once again.
So many boundaries of propriety have been crossed to describe this man. Stupid. Ignorant. Liar. Racist. Sexist. All true. The evidence on each of those descriptions comes from the man’s own words and actions, not from the opinions of disgruntled Americans and frustrated journalists who wish Hillary Clinton was president.
On Monday, Trump offered a half-hearted condemnation of the Nazis and the white supremacists behind the tragic events in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.
On Tuesday, Trump revealed that he was lying again Monday and what he really meant to say was that there were some nice white supremacists down there, protesting quietly, just minding their own business, with their torches and their arms raised in the Nazi salute.
He says he didn’t have all the facts and that he didn’t want to make a statement until he had all the facts.
This coming from a man who has never let the facts get in the way of any of his intolerance, his bullying and his lying. Spare us. Good people on both sides? The fake news media isn’t calling these people Nazis and white supremacists.
The Nazis and the white supremacists are sporting swastikas and claiming racial superiority. These are the people the president of the United States of America is defending and to defend their beliefs is racist. This is not a matter of free speech or two sides to the story or it’s complicated.
These are the words of a stupid, arrogant man, utterly ignorant of the history of his country, ignorant of slavery, the Civil War, the Confederacy, segregation, lynchings, the Ku Klux Klan, civil rights, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and all the rest.
He is so mired in his narcissism that he fails to see the comfort and encouragement he brings to a group of Americans who don’t believe in equality, don’t believe in the rule of law, don’t believe in democracy, don’t believe in science, don’t believe in history and don’t believe in the love and decency encouraged by every major world religion. As the president of his country, Trump is saying people who believe in racial purity, in dictators, in fascism and in murder and genocide need to be heard and treated with respect.
To stand with him now is to stand with the Nazis. To say Trump deserves a chance or he’s still new to this politics thing is to make excuses for his stupidity, his ignorance and his racism, to treat an adult man as if he were a child in the playground, to refuse to hold him responsible for the power his office and his words command.
Furthermore, to not speak out is to quietly condone his words, to remain silent in the face of injustice. Canadians and all citizens of the world should be equally outraged by Trump. Racism and intolerance need no passport to cross borders.
For the racists and intolerant bigots in Prince George, in Canada and throughout the world, Trump has validated their warped worldview.
That validation makes him undeserving of respect, both as a man and as a leader. He has earned those badges — stupid, ignorant, racist, sexist, liar — all on his own. To refuse to challenge him and any of his defenders is to accept their righteousness and their racism. That can not, must not, stand. (This editorial appeared Aug. 15 in the Prince George Citizen and was distributed by the Canadian Press.)