As I sip my freshly brewed coffee this morning, I was dismayed to read Cheeto's 'speech' last nigh night at Mt. Rushmore.
On the celebration of July 4th, he could have taken many different paths to address the nation. Most of which could have struck a positive and uniting tone of leadership, but of course, he was not 'addressing the nation,' but using the opportunity for another reckless campaign rally to appeal to an increasingly narrow segment of the population - generally referred to as his base.
His rhetoric was vintage Trump full of 'we's and they's' designed to use the strategy of divisiveness to carve out a divide and conquer approach to reelection. Instead of acknowledging the challenges the country faces, of which there are many, and how he will address them, he chose the event to talk about how the "left' is engaged in a "merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children." Not exactly a message designed to unite us under these stressful times.
He further went on, "we will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation's children, end this radical assault and preserve our beloved American way of life." I find it ironic that at the site of one of this country's most egregious acts, the treatment of the indigenous people, aka Native Americans, that he fails to grasp or acknowledge that the "beloved American way of life,' is in need of major reexamination if we are true to our values of a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people - ALL the people, not just the privileged and well-off. I'm sure he thought long and hard about his speech as he played golf on Friday before flying to South Dakota to spread the gospel of love and brotherhood.
Sadly as I watched the reaction of his loyalists and read many of their comments on social media this morning, I fervently hope that this truly represents a shrinking minority of this country. For those who seek a better tomorrow and are willing to address the problems and confront our history, good and bad, this was not the message we needed to hear. This is a great country, but to remain great, we must not be willing to merely perpetuate the status quo.
Enough of my soapbox this morning. I need another injection of caffeine.