We Need to Get a Few Things Straight

• · Donald Trump didn’t start the Covid-19 pandemic.
• · Donald Trump didn’t kill George Floyd.
• · Donald Trump didn’t do anything.

                              That’s the point.

His supporters will try to explain the few things he tried to do but, when the house next door is on fire and you call the cable company to make sure you can find out about it on TV, you did nothing. What the country needed was leadership; what it got was the usual campaign rhetoric about how tough he could be and how much power his position has.

When the Covid-19 virus was identified as a serious threat, when that virus started infecting and killing Americans, what the country needed was empathy for its losses, straight facts based on medical and scientific evidence, and a comprehensive plan to unite the nation in a common cause to fight the disease and minimize our losses. What it got was denial, lies, no empathy, and no sense of unity. The president went on national television, told us that the disease was no threat, and would just go away. When the nation needed comprehensive guidance at a national level, it got Trump’s response that the states were “on their own” and that this was their problem. That is not leadership, that’s an individual trying to duck responsibility so that it wouldn’t alter his election chances. The president actually announced at a press conference that he took no responsibility for anything. That’s not the leadership we deserve, that’s cowardice.

Trump, a sheep in wolf's clothing.

March 13, 2020 news conference, "I don't take responsibility at all.

"Yeah, I don't take responsibility at all because we were given a set of circumstances, blah, blah, blah...”

When George Floyd was clearly murdered by a sworn police officer in Minneapolis and the nation erupted in outrage, what the country needed was empathy and acknowledgment of the systemic racism prevalent across our nation. What it needed was a call for unity in our time of mourning. What it needed was a president calling for a national review of police policy as it affects the civil rights of its citizens. What it got was a president who wanted to stifle peaceful protests with strong-arm tactics under the cover of being tough on the more violent individuals. The violent acts during the protests were committed by people taking advantage of the situation for their own purposes.

The Point

Where was the violence in the legal protests of June 1, 2020, when the president wanted to pose for pictures at a nearby church? That violence was entirely one-sided and was perpetrated by the police and National Guard troops under Trump’s command. That violence involved tear gas and other riot control procedures against citizens exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech. The protestors were assaulted by police to placate the ego of Donald J. Trump. The president wanted a photo-op and didn’t care if people who were protesting police violence got a taste of that violence. Instead of empathy in a time of mourning, it got a call from the president for the police to “dominate the streets.”

Instead of empathy in a time of mourning, it got a call from the president for the police to “dominate the streets.”

Assault on our Constitution

None of this is in support of those who burned businesses and destroyed police cars and other property. Those acts of violence need to be dealt with in a manner and with such force as necessary to put down that violence. Marching a police phalanx in riot gear through a peaceful crowd in legal assembly exercising their right to free speech, is not a proper response. It is bad enough that racism is still a problem 157 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Until such time as racism is dealt with by the larger society, there will be racism within the ranks of the police. What is needed is an acknowledgment of the problem and new rules and policies to deal with that problem. While a president can’t dictate local police rules, he/she can establish laws and policies that may be enforced when police tactics violate human rights guaranteed by the Constitution. That would be the response of a real president showing leadership and not the faux bravery of a coward trying to look tough through the use of his military police forces.

January 1, 1863.  My high school in North Miami was still segregated in 1963, one hundred years after this document was the law of the land.

Donald Trump’s guidance, or lack thereof, throughout these most recent events, that involved an epidemic and racial unrest, are but two examples of Donald Trump’s failure to lead our nation in a time of crisis. There are situations when empathy is not just warranted but an exacting and necessary response. When you have an unsympathetic and unfeeling sociopath occupying our highest office, the nation will go wanting.  We need and deserve better.  What we don’t need is a reality television star yelling, “you’re fired” every time he doesn’t get his way.  We need unity, not division.  We need a real president and not a man-child throwing temper-tweet tantrums when he is disappointed or someone says something mean about him.