FITZGERALD: TRUMP CRITICS

Just when you think the relentless vilification of Donald Trump by his unhinged critics has reached the bottom of the ethical barrel, we’re dismayed by the realization they can reach a lot lower still.

Warmonger? Xenophobe? Misogynist? Predator? Ruthless?

Oh, he’s been called all of that and more, and now you can toss in heartless, as in oblivious to the gutwrenching scenes of sobbing children who’ve been separated from their parents along our porous border with Mexico.

It’s a knowingly vile accusation, shamelessly distorting what’s really taking place down there, but we all know that’s the game Trump’s critics are playing: They’ll throw everything they can at our 45th president, then see what sticks.

But this is truly despicable.

An anguished child is painful to behold. We all know that. There’s nothing partisan about it.

Tears always flow when a kid’s world is turned upside down, whatever the reason.

Maybe Dad’s in uniform, heading off to war. Maybe he’s in handcuffs, heading off to prison. Maybe he’s holding a suitcase, having washed his hands of Mom.

Whatever the scenario, our hearts ache for kids caught up in painful situations over which they have no control.

We are not a country without compassion.

In New York Harbor, arrivals to our shores are greeted by this warmest of welcomes: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Our national motto, E Pluribus Unum, describes us perfectly: “Out of many, one.”

But since the earliest days of this republic we’ve also identified ourselves as “a nation of laws, not men.”

That’s not complicated, and there’s nothing hateful about it.

Immigration is an integral component of America’s history, but it’s always been an orderly process.

The world is not, and should not be, welcome to just barge through our doors, especially now with concerns over admitting criminal, subversive elements.

Only an agenda-driven demagogue would trash Trump for reaffirming there’s a traditional, accepted way of coming to America to breathe free air and pursue a dream.

If you’ve never heard of Ellis Island, look it up. It’s a proud chapter of American history.

Those weeping kids whose plights weigh heavily on our hearts are, truth be told, offspring of parents who placed them in those situations by brazenly thumbing their noses at our laws.

That’s bad enough. But now those kids are also being exploited as political pawns by Trump critics who’d have you believe the president couldn’t care less about a traumatized child.

That’s inaccurate, indecent, and even by their shallow standards, it’s exceedingly vicious.