According to our dear leader, Trump has done more for blacks than any president in the past, "with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln." A statement like this would have made Joseph Goebbels proud. Trump's singular accomplishment has been a trillion dollar giveaway to the richest Americans. The man who is supposedly fighting for underdogs, especially white underdogs, has been doing his very best to keep them leashed.
We are in difficult times--our nation and the world have been wracked by a plague at the very same time that our nation and the world are in the midst of a political crisis. Will democracy meet current challenges? For the first time in my life, and I'm not young, I have my doubts. This is not a time for despair, (yet?), however; it is a time to fight.
When Trump was campaigning, he tried to solicit black support by saying, "What do you have to lose?" If Goebbels were now the provost of the University of Hell, I'm sure he would have recommended giving Trump an honorary citation, dishonoris causa, for that one.
No matter what our ethnic background is, we do have a lot to lose.
Our nation has been reeling since the murder of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer who showed as much concern for the sanctity of human life as a Nazi thug. The extensive and prolonged demonstrations against the atrocity of racism continue at the time of this writing, over a week since the murder. They have been overwhelmingly peaceful. There is a good possibility that something is going to change this time--for the better. Enough of too much!
Our dear leader has no moral core, no ideology other than genuflecting before the golden idol of himself. Protests have been muted in cities and towns of rural America, Trump's base. With the savvy of a demagogue, Trump knows that the majority of those protesting the death of George Floyd are also protesting against him; they are, therefore, in his narcissistic Manichean worldview, evil--for the sole reason that they are likely to be 'never Trumpers.'
So what did our president do? Give a speech that attempted to bring the country together? Yeah, right.
Prompted by Ivanka and Jared, he decided to have a photo tableau taken of himself as the god of Law and Order. Peaceful protesters were cleared away by force from the vicinity of the church, near the White House, where the photo was to be taken. The use of military force to disperse citizens exercising their First Amendment rights--what are we coming to?
You've all seen the photograph of Trump holding up a bible (upside down, it turned out) in front of an iconic church. He's doing his very best to look Serious and Dominant--the latter being a favorite word of his; instead he looked Pitifully Ridiculous. He looks like a madman who thinks he's General Custer, sanctioned by God, preparing for Man's wackadoodle Last Stand.
2.
The misuse of religious symbols didn't start with Donald Trump. Holding up the Bible as a symbol of Law and Order reminded me of an even more egregious use of such symbolism, as demonstrated by the Archbishop of Paris on May 27, 1610. This was the date of the execution of François Ravaillac for murdering Good King Henri lV of France. While the bishop held a cross before the unfortunate man, who by all accounts was mentally unstable, he was subjected to despicable acts of torture. His flesh was torn by pincers; molten lead, sulfur and boiling oil were poured into the wounds. During all this, the cross was held up before the victim's gaze; I imagine the bishop had an expression on his face similar to Donald Trump's at the church: one that proclaimed domination for all to see; a visage completely lacking in empathy.
The onlookers, a large swath of the public, were on the bishop's side. After the initial tortures were over, Ravaillac was drawn and quartered by horses. When one of the horses at its macabre task faltered, a nobleman volunteered his steed. This torture lasted for about an hour. After Ravaillac died, children made a bonfire to burn the regicide's flesh. When the spectacle was over, nothing was left of the poor man but a piece of his shirt.
3.
Mr. Trump, you are wrong. Everyone, not only blacks, has a lot to lose by voting for someone like you.
The injunction against cruel and unusual punishment is a precious part of the Constitution. When Trump appointed General Mattis as the Secretary of Defense, the president stated outright that he favored torture of terrorists. The Archbishop of Paris would have been proud.
On May 27, 1610, no opposition to the horrible ordeal Ravaillac suffered was recorded. In June, 2020, the opposition to Trump's misuse of religious symbolism was swift and articulate.
Society has indeed changed; certainly not enough, but it has changed. We have come a long way, but have much farther to go.
The murderer of George Floyd did not inflict the tortures that the good citizens of France witnessed in 1610. Murder, however, is still murder. Even Trump, one assumes, would be horrified over the details of Ravaillac's execution. Yet his misuse of the bible has a definite parallel in the archbishop's misuse of the cross. The former is throwing the book at his opponents, the latter was crucifying them. Both served the same god: Law and Order. (My Law, My order).
During Hitler's rise to power, many laughed. It couldn't happen here, they thought. But it did.
We have a lot to lose. Protecting the Constitution and taking decisive steps on the road to racial as well as economic equality are among the many tasks before us. First things first: voting that incompetent, mean-spirited, would-be tyrant from office has become a paramount civic duty. It's not too late!
We are in difficult times--our nation and the world have been wracked by a plague at the very same time that our nation and the world are in the midst of a political crisis. Will democracy meet current challenges? For the first time in my life, and I'm not young, I have my doubts. This is not a time for despair, (yet?), however; it is a time to fight.
When Trump was campaigning, he tried to solicit black support by saying, "What do you have to lose?" If Goebbels were now the provost of the University of Hell, I'm sure he would have recommended giving Trump an honorary citation, dishonoris causa, for that one.
No matter what our ethnic background is, we do have a lot to lose.
Our nation has been reeling since the murder of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer who showed as much concern for the sanctity of human life as a Nazi thug. The extensive and prolonged demonstrations against the atrocity of racism continue at the time of this writing, over a week since the murder. They have been overwhelmingly peaceful. There is a good possibility that something is going to change this time--for the better. Enough of too much!
Our dear leader has no moral core, no ideology other than genuflecting before the golden idol of himself. Protests have been muted in cities and towns of rural America, Trump's base. With the savvy of a demagogue, Trump knows that the majority of those protesting the death of George Floyd are also protesting against him; they are, therefore, in his narcissistic Manichean worldview, evil--for the sole reason that they are likely to be 'never Trumpers.'
So what did our president do? Give a speech that attempted to bring the country together? Yeah, right.
Prompted by Ivanka and Jared, he decided to have a photo tableau taken of himself as the god of Law and Order. Peaceful protesters were cleared away by force from the vicinity of the church, near the White House, where the photo was to be taken. The use of military force to disperse citizens exercising their First Amendment rights--what are we coming to?
You've all seen the photograph of Trump holding up a bible (upside down, it turned out) in front of an iconic church. He's doing his very best to look Serious and Dominant--the latter being a favorite word of his; instead he looked Pitifully Ridiculous. He looks like a madman who thinks he's General Custer, sanctioned by God, preparing for Man's wackadoodle Last Stand.
2.
The misuse of religious symbols didn't start with Donald Trump. Holding up the Bible as a symbol of Law and Order reminded me of an even more egregious use of such symbolism, as demonstrated by the Archbishop of Paris on May 27, 1610. This was the date of the execution of François Ravaillac for murdering Good King Henri lV of France. While the bishop held a cross before the unfortunate man, who by all accounts was mentally unstable, he was subjected to despicable acts of torture. His flesh was torn by pincers; molten lead, sulfur and boiling oil were poured into the wounds. During all this, the cross was held up before the victim's gaze; I imagine the bishop had an expression on his face similar to Donald Trump's at the church: one that proclaimed domination for all to see; a visage completely lacking in empathy.
The onlookers, a large swath of the public, were on the bishop's side. After the initial tortures were over, Ravaillac was drawn and quartered by horses. When one of the horses at its macabre task faltered, a nobleman volunteered his steed. This torture lasted for about an hour. After Ravaillac died, children made a bonfire to burn the regicide's flesh. When the spectacle was over, nothing was left of the poor man but a piece of his shirt.
3.
Mr. Trump, you are wrong. Everyone, not only blacks, has a lot to lose by voting for someone like you.
The injunction against cruel and unusual punishment is a precious part of the Constitution. When Trump appointed General Mattis as the Secretary of Defense, the president stated outright that he favored torture of terrorists. The Archbishop of Paris would have been proud.
On May 27, 1610, no opposition to the horrible ordeal Ravaillac suffered was recorded. In June, 2020, the opposition to Trump's misuse of religious symbolism was swift and articulate.
Society has indeed changed; certainly not enough, but it has changed. We have come a long way, but have much farther to go.
The murderer of George Floyd did not inflict the tortures that the good citizens of France witnessed in 1610. Murder, however, is still murder. Even Trump, one assumes, would be horrified over the details of Ravaillac's execution. Yet his misuse of the bible has a definite parallel in the archbishop's misuse of the cross. The former is throwing the book at his opponents, the latter was crucifying them. Both served the same god: Law and Order. (My Law, My order).
During Hitler's rise to power, many laughed. It couldn't happen here, they thought. But it did.
We have a lot to lose. Protecting the Constitution and taking decisive steps on the road to racial as well as economic equality are among the many tasks before us. First things first: voting that incompetent, mean-spirited, would-be tyrant from office has become a paramount civic duty. It's not too late!
No comments:
Post a Comment