July 19, 2017
What transpired in the college town of Charlottesville, Virgina this past weekend is a pivotal moment in American history. The election of Donald Trump was a surprise to many in the United States, and around the world, myself included. While I did not think Hillary Clinton was the best choice for President of the United States, I did not think President Trump would shame this country in the eyes of the world community. His election gave racists and "aggrieved" white men an opportunity to become emboldened to be open about their horrible worldview.
The movement of racists, neo-nazis and white supremacists came into the open with the planned support and defense of Confederate monuments in Charlottesville against their proposed removal. The sight of hundreds of white men with torches marching through the town shouting shameful slogans such as "Jews will not replace us!" and "we shall not be replaced," was bad enough. What made the images worse was the open, physical fighting between those white men and residents and others in opposition. The tragedy of a white supremacist driving his car (images above) into a crowd of opposition groups, which resulted in the death of a 32-year old woman, Heather Hyer was so appalling. That this is 2017, and America is still fighting the Civil War in a figurative sense, is very sad indeed. President Trump had a wonderful opportunity to shame those racist groups (known as the "alt-right,)" but chose to spread the blame around is not indicative of this great country. I am at a loss as to why he would not publicly speak against the alt-right is questionable. What is the reason for that? What is President Trump's end game for his cowardice?
I am of the opinion that he is genuinely afraid to call out these groups because he desperately needs them in order to mount a defense of his first term, should be want to run for re-election. Since he has the loyalty of a small segment of die-hard supporters, many of whom are part of the alt-right, he cannot make them angry. Otherwise, he has no strong coalition for victory in 2020. President Trump will not carry a majority of women, Asians, blacks or Hispanics, he needs to protect what little of his coalition he has. I think Trump is truly afraid of losing people who support him because, without them, he cannot validate anything he says or does.
Trump is, at his core, a very insecure and needy man. He does not have the capacity to genuinely be sorry for what he says or does, and by doing so, he feels that doing so would lower his self-esteem. Since he grew up in wealth and privilege, there was no need for him to be humble and generous.
Additionally, I feel that he is incapable of expressing remorse. The reason I have strong feelings about this is before he challenged President Obama's legitimacy, he was a 'man about town' in New York City. He was friendly with many members of society and attended social events throughout the city. In fact, he had good relationships with both Democrats and Republicans. Trump was a well-known commodity in the city, and he, from what I have read and researched, was not the person he is now.
I think it all changed when Donald Trump attended the White House Correspondent's Dinner in Washington, D.C. a few years ago (2014 or 2015), and sat in that large crowd, listening to SNL's Seth Meyers and President Obama tear into him, and make fun of him personally. From that moment on, he was on a war path to avenge his image. This plays into my belief that he wanted to repeal Obamacare since it was the signature achievement of America's first black President of the United States as revenge. Trump is motivated by vindictiveness, and it clearly shows in his demeanor when talking about Obamacare and the 44th President.
His poor habit of tweeting instead of going through the White House Press Secretary and Office of Communications makes a mockery of the official process. Tweeting shows the world how far the politics of the country has fallen, in that an immature man leads the so-called Free World. President Trump has no filter, which can be good when you want to change the ways things are done in the nation's capital. However, when that filter cannot bring unity towards the various groups in conflict in Charlottesville, then the bully pulpit, the power of the president is muted.
What brings me to my decision that President Trump needs to resign, is that when he had an opportunity to shame, by name, the alt-right groups that caused mayhem and fighting amongst American citizens, he lost a lot of the benefit of the doubt that he was given when he was elected President last November 2016. If a sitting President of the United States does very little to show the nation that he covertly supports the alt-right groups that embarrassed the nation last weekend, it meant that he has lost the country. Various members of the GOP took umbrage with what he said and condemned the alt-right groups in attendance. However, being the GOP, those members of Congress did not call out President Trump by name and did not shame him into being more forceful in his own condemnation of what transpired in Charlottesville. That shows that most Republicans want to salvage his presidency as long as possible so that one or two more Supreme Court justices can be appointed. Those Republicans have more allegiance to their own party and their worldview, rather than protecting the office of the president and the reputation of the country around the globe.
If President Trump does nothing to heal the country and continues to quietly support the alt-right, then he will lose the good faith of many Americans, and eventually, his ability to govern. If that is the case, then Trump would do the country some good by resigning. If he does not, he will allow the country to tear itself apart. Some say that we as a country are still effectively fighting the Civil War. With the ending of fighting in most wars, the victor generally gets to write the rules. What should have happened after General Lee signed the Confederacy's surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse is that President Lincoln should have tried in court those that led secession in the states, and along with Jefferson Davis. Additionally, any symbols of the Confederacy (the Stars and Bars rebel flag, uniforms, etc.) should have been outlawed and burned.
Since that was not what happened, and General Grant vociferously pleaded with President Lincoln to not try General Lee, Lincoln instead allowed those who fought against the Union to be forgiven, which was an attempt to heal the country. However, that mercy that President Lincoln showed allowed the Confederacy to still linger for an additional 160 years.
President Trump could have taken this opportunity to do what Lincoln should have done, and made efforts to outlaw the rebel flag and force the alt-right and those harboring negative views about the Union to move into the 21st Century, and let the Confederacy die already. That would be part of "draining the swamp," because those horrible beliefs by some conservatives about race is an underlying part of Washington, D.C. and the lack of compromise. The Republican party has morphed from a party of limited government compassionate citizens into a party that encourages dog whistles in its ideology to inflame bitterness and anger about race relations in this country, and slavery, America's original sin.
Since he chose not to follow that route, his behavior has emboldened the alt-right to continue to seek conflict. This will eventually create such a large fissure amongst citizens of this country and could tear it apart. Donald Trump needs to resign from his position as President of the United States. To save this country from internal conflict and rage, he must, for the first time in his short presidency, do the right thing, and resign.
His poor habit of tweeting instead of going through the White House Press Secretary and Office of Communications makes a mockery of the official process. Tweeting shows the world how far the politics of the country has fallen, in that an immature man leads the so-called Free World. President Trump has no filter, which can be good when you want to change the ways things are done in the nation's capital. However, when that filter cannot bring unity towards the various groups in conflict in Charlottesville, then the bully pulpit, the power of the president is muted.
What brings me to my decision that President Trump needs to resign, is that when he had an opportunity to shame, by name, the alt-right groups that caused mayhem and fighting amongst American citizens, he lost a lot of the benefit of the doubt that he was given when he was elected President last November 2016. If a sitting President of the United States does very little to show the nation that he covertly supports the alt-right groups that embarrassed the nation last weekend, it meant that he has lost the country. Various members of the GOP took umbrage with what he said and condemned the alt-right groups in attendance. However, being the GOP, those members of Congress did not call out President Trump by name and did not shame him into being more forceful in his own condemnation of what transpired in Charlottesville. That shows that most Republicans want to salvage his presidency as long as possible so that one or two more Supreme Court justices can be appointed. Those Republicans have more allegiance to their own party and their worldview, rather than protecting the office of the president and the reputation of the country around the globe.
If President Trump does nothing to heal the country and continues to quietly support the alt-right, then he will lose the good faith of many Americans, and eventually, his ability to govern. If that is the case, then Trump would do the country some good by resigning. If he does not, he will allow the country to tear itself apart. Some say that we as a country are still effectively fighting the Civil War. With the ending of fighting in most wars, the victor generally gets to write the rules. What should have happened after General Lee signed the Confederacy's surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse is that President Lincoln should have tried in court those that led secession in the states, and along with Jefferson Davis. Additionally, any symbols of the Confederacy (the Stars and Bars rebel flag, uniforms, etc.) should have been outlawed and burned.
Since that was not what happened, and General Grant vociferously pleaded with President Lincoln to not try General Lee, Lincoln instead allowed those who fought against the Union to be forgiven, which was an attempt to heal the country. However, that mercy that President Lincoln showed allowed the Confederacy to still linger for an additional 160 years.
President Trump could have taken this opportunity to do what Lincoln should have done, and made efforts to outlaw the rebel flag and force the alt-right and those harboring negative views about the Union to move into the 21st Century, and let the Confederacy die already. That would be part of "draining the swamp," because those horrible beliefs by some conservatives about race is an underlying part of Washington, D.C. and the lack of compromise. The Republican party has morphed from a party of limited government compassionate citizens into a party that encourages dog whistles in its ideology to inflame bitterness and anger about race relations in this country, and slavery, America's original sin.
Since he chose not to follow that route, his behavior has emboldened the alt-right to continue to seek conflict. This will eventually create such a large fissure amongst citizens of this country and could tear it apart. Donald Trump needs to resign from his position as President of the United States. To save this country from internal conflict and rage, he must, for the first time in his short presidency, do the right thing, and resign.
-AK
