Headlines declare that President Trump gave a dark and divisive speech that amounted to a culture war bonfire. Whoa! Well, I'm going to have to see this speech!
In the speech, Trump honored the presidents represented on Mount Rushmore. He offered a brief biography of each and why he is honored. He also proposed a new monument, a Garden of American Heroes that would host many statues of great Americans. Gee, that sounds cool. On the other hand, he denounced those who were tearing down or defacing statues across the country. He announced the arrest of a ringleader who tried to pull down Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square. He proposed that this was a cultural revolution and that the vandals want to overthrow America. He also observed that the vandalism was taking place in localities governed by Democrats. Ah, there's the divisive line.
Trump also hits on the ongoing defamation of America in the school system, something I have brought up in numerous blogs. The good is minimized and the bad is highlighted. Kids are taught to loath their country rather than love it. The only way to view the speech as divisive is to view the vandals and their supporters as equal to those opposed to vandalism. There is no reason to respect vandals who clearly hate the country and are unwilling to use the democratic processes available to them to change it. The vandals have been clever. By starting with Confederates who defended slavery, a considerable portion of the country was unwilling to speak against it. Then they moved on to those who were slave owners. It has progressed to where an abolitionist has been defaced and a statue of an elk was destroyed. Whatever this movement claimed to be, it has gone off the rails.
"In the vicious culture war that is dividing our nation, President Trump has taken the side of the United States."
Scott Johnson, PowerLine
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