Whoever said that the mainstream media were good for nothing? Their lefty frenzy over the Saturday Charlottesville riot has forced President Trump to clarify his position on the race question.
On Saturday, President Trump issued a statement that blamed "many sides" for the riot. He then proceeded to stake out a position that we are all Americans etc.
But the liberals in the media didn't like that, and neither did the old GOP establishment, like Attorney General Sessions and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). What all these people demanded was a condemnation of white racism. OK, so on Monday Trump gave it to them, and they didn't like it.
But then, on Tuesday, at a press conference in Trump Tower about his infrastructure initiatives, Trump made it clear that he blames both sides for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Meanwhile Mitt Romney tweeted a condemnation of the white nationalists.
OK. So Trump didn't call out Black Lives Matter as black racists, and he didn't call out the Antifa as fascists by any other name. But he has made it perfectly clear where he stands. He stands in the middle and condemns racists and rioters of both the left and the right.
So let me return to Trump's remarks that I posted on Monday.
We must come back together as a nation.
And the extremists of both sides are to blame.
Frankly, if you are a racist, sexist homophobe like me you have been waiting 40 years for a Republican to have the guts to say this. But for 40 years Republicans and conservatives have been afraid, afraid of the accusation of racism and automatic conviction from which there is no appeal.
Now comes Trump, and he has made his position clear. He stands right in the middle, an American president for Americans. Can he succeed? Can he tempt the victims out of their identity ghettos, and get all of us to stand together on the glorious fruited plain of America and Americanism?
Nobody knows. But here are a couple of points.
First, Trump may be doing himself a favor by getting into a pissing match with the CEOs that have been resigning from his manufacturing council over the Charlottesville flap. If Trump has a weak spot, it is the suspicion that Trump, the billionaire, is probably in bed with the CEOs and the rest of the billionaires.
Second, Trump may be doing himself a favor with women. Women do not like street riots, any more than they understand hunting and the crunch of beef in football. Women do not settle their arguments with fists, their dirty work by naming and shaming. And women understand that when rioters are in the streets women are particularly vulnerable.
But the basic point is that Trump has done what no other Republican has dared to do. He has plunged his hand into the radioactive bath of race. Time will tell whether he will live to tell the tale.
On Saturday, President Trump issued a statement that blamed "many sides" for the riot. He then proceeded to stake out a position that we are all Americans etc.
But the liberals in the media didn't like that, and neither did the old GOP establishment, like Attorney General Sessions and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). What all these people demanded was a condemnation of white racism. OK, so on Monday Trump gave it to them, and they didn't like it.
But then, on Tuesday, at a press conference in Trump Tower about his infrastructure initiatives, Trump made it clear that he blames both sides for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Meanwhile Mitt Romney tweeted a condemnation of the white nationalists.
OK. So Trump didn't call out Black Lives Matter as black racists, and he didn't call out the Antifa as fascists by any other name. But he has made it perfectly clear where he stands. He stands in the middle and condemns racists and rioters of both the left and the right.
So let me return to Trump's remarks that I posted on Monday.
Above all else we must remember this truth: no matter our color, creed, religion, or political party, we are all Americans first. We love our country, we love our God, we love our flag, we're proud of our country, we're proud of who we are. So we want to get the situation straightened out in Charlottesville, and we want to study it. And we want to see what we are doing wrong as a country where things like this can happen.
My administration is restoring the sacred bonds of loyalty between this nation and its citizens, but our citizens must also restore the bonds of trust and loyalty between one another. We must love each other, respect each other, and cherish our history and our future together. So important. We have to respect each other, ideally we have to love each other.Do you see what the president (or Stephen Miller or Steve Bannon or whoever) is doing? He is doing the only thing that can stave off a ruinous white identity politics. He is saying: enough off all this division and hate; we are Americans; we are a nation. We must restore the bonds of trust and loyalty. We must cherish our history and our future together.
We must come back together as a nation.
And the extremists of both sides are to blame.
Frankly, if you are a racist, sexist homophobe like me you have been waiting 40 years for a Republican to have the guts to say this. But for 40 years Republicans and conservatives have been afraid, afraid of the accusation of racism and automatic conviction from which there is no appeal.
Now comes Trump, and he has made his position clear. He stands right in the middle, an American president for Americans. Can he succeed? Can he tempt the victims out of their identity ghettos, and get all of us to stand together on the glorious fruited plain of America and Americanism?
Nobody knows. But here are a couple of points.
First, Trump may be doing himself a favor by getting into a pissing match with the CEOs that have been resigning from his manufacturing council over the Charlottesville flap. If Trump has a weak spot, it is the suspicion that Trump, the billionaire, is probably in bed with the CEOs and the rest of the billionaires.
Second, Trump may be doing himself a favor with women. Women do not like street riots, any more than they understand hunting and the crunch of beef in football. Women do not settle their arguments with fists, their dirty work by naming and shaming. And women understand that when rioters are in the streets women are particularly vulnerable.
But the basic point is that Trump has done what no other Republican has dared to do. He has plunged his hand into the radioactive bath of race. Time will tell whether he will live to tell the tale.
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