As mentioned previously this was about a campaign commercial. There was no noble effort about to be undertaken here. Donald Trump was not about to make a call for unity, or a pledge for justice or even spit in somebody’s eye. There was no attempt to actually address any of the obvious issues at hand. It was a staged power-walk across Lafayette Square to Saint John’s Episcopal Church for the purpose of creating a photo opportunity and a campaign video flanked by militarized extras, paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
For the sake of a campaign commercial, Donald Trump willfully trampled upon the U.S. Constitution when he violated the 1st amendment rights of peacefully assembled American citizens. Trump called upon a secretive military unit to scatter the legally assembled protesters. The president’s army descended upon the peaceful and legally assembled crowd. They pushed their way their way through with shields and batons and they rode in on horseback. They pushed the crowd of legally assembled protestors back using flash bombs, rubber bullets and tear gas.
OK, some people say they actually didn’t use tear gas, just some irritating smoke bombs. In terms of what they did to the first amendment I don’t think the smoke bomb defense is as exculpatory as those pushing the tale seem to believe. The bottom line is we are talking about a police action attacking people for exercising their constitutional rights; there’s no need to quibble about whether or not smoke or tear gas was used along with the rubber bullets, flash bombs, shields and batons.
Once Trump arrived he triumphantly held up his Bible. Well, he tried, Having never seen an actual Bible up close before he wasn’t sure which end was up. In the end he decide that up was down and front was back and, after all, it’s only a book. Who would know?
Trump had no inspired quote to share; not about forgiveness nor, keeping more in character, about vengeance. His only purpose was trying enough poses to insure that the cameras would get the best possible picture for his campaign video. Melania taught him well.
In the end, Trump’s walk from the Rose Garden displayed his usual lack of empathy, a middle finger to the constitution, and a display of religious hypocrisy that would have made the Pharisees blush. The topper for the evening was sending in the helicopters at low altitudes to, apparently, bother the protestors. As as being intentionally threatening, this was a needlessly dangerous stunt.
But Trump is a Tin-Pot-Dictator wannabe. You expect this from him. It’s his entourage of sycophants and enablers that are more troubling.
Former governor Scott Walker thinks the president displayed “guts”. Mario Rubio was OK with 1st amendment violations, because wherever there are people there may be violence, or some such logic.
Trump’s behavior shouldn’t be a conservative or liberal issue, but it should be an American issue. Yet the voices from the GOP continue to remain submissively silent. Is their hold on power that intoxicating? Far too many Evangelical leaders don’t seem to mind when religion is reduced to a campaign trope, just as long as it gets them a seat at the big table.
It’s dangerous times. Trump may willingly become the tin-pot-dictator with a love of props, but by himself he is powerless. It is his enablers, his cabinet, and the complicit GOP that appear to have sold their country for 30 pieces of silver.
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