Micheal Tomasky put it best: "Come on, America. What more evidence do you need?"
I would submit it's been right there under our nose for quite some time. One look at this man's depraved life is all the evidence you need. Google "Donald Trump" and "racism" and the list of examples is longer than most people are tall. From 1973, when he and his father were sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination, to his deeply offensive ads on the Central Park Five in 1989, to his outrageous birthirism claims about then President Barack Obama, to his infamous "Mexicans are rapists" charge that launched his presidential campaign, to his attacks on the character of an Hispanic judge during the campaign, to the insulting "both sides" comments following the Charlottesville attack, the man is the personification of a racist. You could also throw in sexist, homophobe, narcissist, pathological liar, the list goes on. But that's a story for another time.
I keep asking myself, when will enough be enough? With this president, the answer appears to be never. The latest embarrassment for him occurred in a meeting at the White House with various members of Congress who are desperately trying to come up with a solution for eight hundred thousand dreamers and, at the same time, keep the government open. When presented with the details of a bipartisan deal, Trump raged, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here? Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out." What made the remarks particularly hurtful, other than the obvious racist overtones, was that they were said on the eve of the 8th anniversary of an earthquake that killed over a quarter million Haitians.
Of course, der Fuhrer later denied he made the remarks in a series of tweets - what else is new? - but one senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, who was at the meeting and heard them for himself, wasn't having any of it. "He said those hateful things," Durbin said, "and he said them repeatedly." Not unexpectedly, two Republicans who were also at the meeting chose to channel their inner Sgt. Shultz by saying they didn't recall hearing anything.
The complicity didn't end with those two dimwits. Fox News did their best to try and rationalize the vile remarks. Tucker Carlson went so far as to say that what Trump said almost every American agrees with. Even if that were true, and I pray to God it isn't, that's still no excuse for saying it out loud. Presidents are supposed to act presidential, not like the guy at the end of the bar who's had one too many.
I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Keeping up with this man's outrageously racist comments has become a full-time job. I've been writing about them since he first declared his candidacy, and not only am I not shocked by them, I've become almost numb to them. Sadly, this is the new normal for this White House.
Think about it: a grown man with the attention span of a gnat, the temperament of a child, the intellectual curiosity of a simpleton, and the racial views of a David Duke, has so debased the presidency that, regardless of what happens in 2020, it will take years to repair the damage. And consider we still have a week to go before the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Astonishing. He hasn't just turned the country into the laughing stock of the world; he's turned the entire GOP into a sniveling bunch of enablers. The Party of Lincoln has now officially become the Party of Trump.
At least Rome burned to the ground. I feel our fate will be a lot more painful and drawn out.
I am deeply concerned about what is happening. It isn't just the policies that have been put into place or even the speed at which he is appointing his judges to the courts. Bush had eight years to do all that and we still survived as a nation. But when a sitting president behaves in such a disgraceful manner, it can have dire consequences at home as well as abroad.
The midterms are ten months away and we still have no way of effectively stopping the Russians from interfering with them. For all we know Vladimir Putin already has a plan in place to steal the election. The Korean Peninsula is this close to erupting; if that happens, millions, if not billions, will perish. Our allies wonder what has happened to America, while our adversaries rush to fill the void created by our lack of leadership. Our isolationism has led to a world that is far more volatile, fragmented and prone to conflict. The last time we were in this position, World War II broke out. A World War III would be game, set and match for the human race.
It is times like these that nations look up to their leaders for answers, but none are forthcoming, at least not from the party currently in power. Republicans have, for the most part, chosen to ignore this president's clear flaws. Worse, some of them are doing everything possible to undermine the investigation into his possible collusion and / or obstruction of justice. Democrats have called for Trump to be censured over his latest remarks. Good luck with that. When two Republican senators who were in the same room with him won't speak up, you'd have a better chance of winning Mega Millions then getting a censure through this Congress.
Face it: we have a racist in the White House and the party that once boasted the likes of Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt among its ranks could give a shit.
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