I am on vacation in Hawaii but I made the mistake of checking Twitter periodically and now I am writing this blog. I am so disgusted and appalled by Trump’s latest tweets about Congresswomen Omar, Pressley, Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez. But it got so much worse since the initial tweets a few days ago. First, Trump double downed in various interviews despite widespread outrage.
Then I watched Kellyann Conway perform her black magic bullshit deflections. She first asked a Jewish reporter about his heritage and then talked about how she was sick and tired of hearing about the criticisms of ICE and border patrol. Never mind that there have been countless reports of sexual abuse, lack of basic hygiene, and stories of children who are put into adoption programs and never reunited with their parents. And I dare you to look up collateral deportations. What kind of shit hole country is this where we so disregard our fellow American’s basic inalienable rights by mistakenly deporting them under the belief that they are here illegally? Of course, this is only happening to Latinos as far as I have seen. Latino Americans by the way.
Which brings me to my broader point. What the hell is this nonsense that Congresswoman Omar and the rest of “The Squad” hate America? These four women are on the far left of the political spectrum and so most in Congress (and probably the American electorate) will no doubt disagree with many of their positions. But that’s supposed to be ok in this country. These women don’t hate America. They want to change it so that America is more fair to others. You can disagree with their version of change, but there’s no place for the disrespect and outright contempt for these women. It goes beyond Trump too, but this blog is really about the President.
You see, Trump complained for EIGHT straight years about the country while Obama was President. His entire campaign was centered around his contempt for the state of the country throughout the entire Obama presidency. Trump wanted change too, just like The Squad. So why wasn’t he told to go back to where he came from?
Trumpism is a cult now. There’s no other way to describe it. The mental gymnastics that folks go through to defend his worst behavior is incredibly defeating. Watching what appear to be well-off Texas women repeat Trump’s talking points on CNN leaves me shaking my head. I am pretty sure my body is just going to give out and I will die if Trump is elected in 2020 and we have to endure another four years of hell with him as Grand Wizard in Chief.
I know I live in a bubble, but I don’t understand why that bubble exists. Yes I live in California, but in San Diego. We have a Republican mayor and we even have a district here that reelected Duncan Hunter Jr. even after it was revealed that he used campaign funds to cheat on his wife. But San Diego overwhelmingly rejects Trump. I have literally seen one MAGA hat ever and it was in the back window of a car that drove past me one day while I was getting gas.
But I grew up in rural Minnesota and I was still there when the first Somalian refugees moved to St. Cloud. At the time, St. Cloud was a growing city, large by Minnesota’s standards and located about an hour from the Twin Cities. To say that the Somalian refugees were not welcomed generally would be putting it mildly. The great recession hit St. Cloud particularly hard like most mid sized Midwestern cities and it never recovered. My mom lives there. My mom is a Slovenian immigrant and like Congresswoman Omar, is an American citizen. My mom couldn’t tell you anything about the Great Recession and what caused it or how it impacted St. Cloud. But she’ll be quick to blame Somalians for the city’s decline. Heck, I’ve heard her complain about the Somalians on my vacation (she’s with me). My mom can barely read or write and she’s been in this country for forty years. Can you guess who she voted for in 2016?
So even though I live in a bubble, I at least have roots that extend beyond my current bubble and into the heart of MAGA country (Michelle Bachmann was St. Cloud’s congresswoman at one time). I cannot understand how so-called conservatives could ever support the notion that basic descent would be met for calls of deportation or a renunciation of citizenship.
Think about it. Congresswomen Omar takes a political position that the President disagrees with. The President’s response to Congresswoman Omar’s political positions was to not only tweet that she should go back to where she came from, but also to whip his cultists into a rabid frenzy with chants of “send her back” – First Amendment be damned.
Congresswoman Omar might be a lousy politician. I honestly don’t even know. But her ascent to her position within the House of Representatives is supposed to be celebrated as a fantastic example of the American success story that has defined our country’s brief history. It’s the amazing story that has been told since America’s founding. This story that has been written over and over by the Chinese, the Irish, the Italians, the Latinos, the Indians (from India) and now perhaps the Somalians is exactly what has defined America. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.
To punctuate my point, we have collectively lost sight of a Freshman member of the House’s actual influence, power and control. Congresswoman Omar and the rest of her squad each have one vote in Congress among 535. None of them have committee chair positions. She is not a threat to our democracy. To our way of life. I am going to assume that there are many Somalians in her District that probably believe she’s doing a great job. Congresswoman Omar doesn’t represent my District and until she builds a coalition of more than four people, I think it’s safe to respectfully disagree with her and move on with our daily lives.
No one is saying you should agree with her policy proposals either. Simply show her some respect. But more importantly, show our country’s values some damn respect. We don’t treat people the way that Trump has treated her and the other three members. And we certainly don’t assume that their minority status suggests that they are all from other countries. But most importantly, we don’t rally the truly ignorant to call for their ouster from our country because of routine disagreement over politics. There couldn’t be anything more unAmerican than that. The rest of us non-deplorable Americans should demand that President Trump go back to wherever the hell he came from.
The Reasonable Man Standard 