The First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law …. prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging THE FREEDOM of SPEECH, or
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble”. Along with the rest of the Bill of Rights,
the amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791. Fifteen years
earlier, in 1776, the second year of the American Revolutionary War, the precursor of
this Right is seen in the action of the Virginia colonial
legislature when this body passed its Declaration
of Rights.
Fast forward to the events of
yesterday when the right of free speech was on display again in Virginia, this
time in the city of Charlottesville. A
planned rally was organized to protest the removal of a statute of Robert E.
Lee and promoted as “Unite the Right”.
The organizers and the critics both said it was expected to be one of
the largest gatherings of white supremacists in recent times attracting the KKK
and Neo-Nazis, with movement leaders such as David Duke and Richard Spencer. Duke told reporters Saturday that the
protesters were going to “fulfill the promises of Donald Trump” and “take our
country back”. Chanting Nazi-era slogan
and waving Confederate Flags, the protesters began chanting “You will not
replace us” and “Jews will not replace us”.
In response, counter-protesters
made up of religious leaders and Black Lives Matter activists and antifascist
groups known as Antifa surrounded the park singing spiritual songs, chanting
and carrying their own flags.
When the dust cleared, Freedom of Speech
had sadly claimed several innocent victims, led by some whack job who decided
to try some ISIS inspired tactic and drive in to a crowd of counter-protesters,
killing one and injuring others. In
addition, two policemen were killed in helicopter crash, the unfortunate victims
of the unintended consequences of the day.
For the record, I want to observe
that the Far Right does not have a monopoly on whack jobs, for we only have to
look to the shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalise and three other individuals
shot back in June as Republican lawmakers and aids conducted baseball practice
in preparation for an upcoming game against their Democratic counterparts.
I make that point so you understand
that the purpose of this post is not to focus on the perverted driver who drove
into the crowd of counter-protesters, no, I wish to save my commentary for our
President’s failure to specifically call out the actions of these white
supremacist nut jobs. So let’s look at
what the President had to say when he spoke briefly on the protests from his
private golf club in New Jersey.
"We condemn in the
strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence
on many sides, on many sides It has been going on for a long time in our country
-- not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long
time. It has no place in America."
With the events of the day being
what they were, it was hard to comprehend the President’s reference to condemn
hatred “on many sides, many sides’. For
in this case, on this day, there were the White Supremacists on one side and, well,
everyone else on the other side, i.e. the good guys
.
The President did not mention
white nationalists and the alt-right movement in his remarks, and later called
for a "study" of the "situation.
So while our commander in chief,
struggles to decide what to do about one of the biggest zits on the face of
America, other Republicans, who already understand our history, are ready to lead
on the matter. Listen to some of their commentary.
· Timothy
Naftali, Presidential Historian and Former Director, Nixon Presidential Library
observed that the four confederate statutes in dispute were not erected in
Charlottesville during the civil war or shortly thereafter, but were erected in
the 1920s during a time of great social change in the US and during the second
coming of the KKK and white supremacists were worried about losing their
country
· Bill Crystal,
Republican Strategist was asked why Trump didn’t call out White Supremacists
and just acknowledged that “he said what he meant, and he meant what he said”
· Republican Senator Orin Hatch of Utah tweeted that
“We should call evil by its name.
My brother didn't give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go
unchallenged here at home.”
· Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida
tweeted "Very important for
the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they
are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists."
· Republican Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado
tweeted “Mr. President - we must
call evil by its name. These were white
supremacists and this was domestic terrorism."
· Republican
Senator John McCain of Arizona stated that "White supremacists and
neo-Nazis are, by definition, opposed to American patriotism and the ideals
that define us as a people and make our nation special. As we mourn the tragedy that has occurred in
Charlottesville, American patriots of all colors and creeds must come together
to defy those who raise the flag of hatred and bigotry."
President Trump was extremely critical
throughout the election of President Obama for not calling out Terrorists as
Radical Islamic Terrorists. Conversely,
President Trump seems unable to utter the words “White Supremacist” or “Neo-Nazi”.
So, why the disconnect with
everyone else? Why ? His fellow
Republicans know what’s right and wrong, but still our President fails to grasp
the basic concept
A.
Is he just playing to his base, and doesn’t want
to lose any votes in the next election cycle?
B.
Does he secretly sympathize with the thinking and
ideology of these groups?
C.
Does he think he won’t appear to be a strong
leader if he caves late, after receiving stinging criticism from so many
members of his Republican Party?
D.
Does he want to avoid giving in to the desires
of the Left Leaning Press, because that would make him a loser?
or
E.
Is it all of the above?
Obama never used the term Radical
Islamic Terrorists, because he didn’t want to alienate a few billion moderate
Muslims. Now I admit, I don’t get out
much, and so I have never heard of one, but I guess President Trump must be
worried about insulting all the moderate Neo-Nazis out there. Most of them are just homebodies, who play
bridge, watch Wheel of Fortune, tend their gardens…. And vote Republican.
Like
all Americans, the First Amendment guarantees the right of our President to say
what he wants, or conversely, ignore topics of his choosing, but the bully
pulpit which he commands magnifies both his comments and his silences, and so when
he fails in his role to be the moral authority for our nation, the echo is loud
and long.
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