Our Disloyal President

The white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, resulted in the death of three people and was a disheartening and disappointing regression for our country.

It took three days of public backlash before the president named the KKK, white supremacists, and neo-nazis as responsible. His unconvincing speech starkly contrasted his first remarks that described the issue as having “many sides.”

The only “sides” at play here are the forces of good and basic human decency rallying against bigotry and racism that have no place in this country. The way the president handled this is one of many signs we have seen that he is not loyal to the American people.

It was clear in July when he voiced his intent to “let Obamacare fail.” His desire to prove a point took priority over the lives of millions of Americans. The same is clear for Charlottesville. The president made a lasting and telling impression when he equated the actions of peaceful protesters with white supremacists’ head-beatings and assault with a deadly automobile.

This man clearly does not have the interests of the people in mind. We must unite; we must talk to each other; we must work together to change this. The normal civil, political climate is overturned. We cannot afford to hold petty ideological grudges. It is unacceptable to stifle collaboration over the smaller debated issues in the face of the monumental problem of the Trump administration’s actions and their consequences. We cannot afford to put party before principle.

Very few prominent Republican politicians have shown an ability to do this. Only three Republican senators were willing to vote “no” to halt the disastrous Republican health-care bill that would strip medical insurance from millions of Americans. The danger of such low numbers is that the fewer who speak out, the more people, in the President’s mind, comprise his “base.” For real progress toward resisting this administration, Republican leaders need to speak out. Party loyalty caused a lot of Republicans to stand behind Trump and an agenda that does not represent them or their party.

In mass, we the people have the power and right to influence our government. But until liberals abandon their hypersensitivity and leave behind their comfort zone of like-minded views, until Republicans stop calling people snowflakes before they can get a word out, until we live in the same reality and agree on what “real news” is, we’re not getting anywhere close to progress. This administration does not represent any of our interests, so let’s get to talking.