In an event at Mount Rushmore that was purportedly designed to celebrate Independence Day, Donald Trump accused liberals of trying to tear down America and erase its history. For him and many of his followers, the left is trying to rewrite history and destroy the greatest nation on the face of the earth. For Donald Trump, the history of the United States is a story of continuous success and goodness and should be a source of pride for every patriotic, red-blooded American.
He continued: "Make no mistake. This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. In so doing they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence, and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery, and progress. To make this possible, they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol, and memory of our national heritage." (see citation at the end of this post for transcript source)
Unfortunately, Trump's statements reflect a fundamentally flawed understanding of American history and the folks who are protesting. As with all things human, America is a mix of good and bad. The truth is that there is much to be proud of in America's story, but there is also much to regret about America's past.
Yes, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were great and brilliant men, but they also owned large numbers of their fellow humans and forced them to toil on their plantations. Yes, our founding fathers were influenced by Judeo-Christian principles, but they were also children of the Enlightenment. Yes, the story of westward expansion is one of hard work and heroism, but it is also one of exploitation, murder and theft. Yes, the United States has been an economic success story, but that success was built in part on the use of slave labor and the destruction of our natural environment. Yes, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were great generals, but they were also traitors to the United States of America. Yes, the emancipation of the slaves is a glorious chapter in our history, but Jim Crow and lynching are also a part of that story. Yes, the 1950's were a golden age for many white Americans, but they weren't so great for many people of color.
The vast majority of the protesters do not want to destroy our values, history and culture. Most of them simply want to extend the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans. They simply want to ensure that everyone is treated equally before the law. They want to make sure that the telling of our history includes the unpleasant truths that have so often been ignored in times past. They want Trump and his followers to understand that they too are an integral part of American culture - that tacos and pizza are just as American as hamburgers and apple pie!
Transcript Source: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-transcript-at-mount-rushmore-4th-of-july-event
The problem is that pizza is only part of the American narrative after great sacrifice after the Anzio landings. The GI met pizza there in Napels.
ReplyDeleteMy point.
The collapse of society will follow the collapse of the shared/common narrative.
History is a mix of stories that the victors or most influential gets to write or rearrange.
Today new or other stories should be etched into an existing shared narrative. Unfortunately the revolutionaries are re writing history in another travesty that never was.
Personally I find the METHOD of checkered narratives like "black" or Irish - american history as, separate, an appaling dividing travesty.
I feel all knowledge on those topics should have been integrated in one shared American history.
I find the wording "african, irish, japsnese" American extremely divisive.
They should have all been Americans.
Nck
I do agree that Trump looks foolish by hearking back to kindergarten mythology whilst new and advanced knowledge on the past is available.
ReplyDeleteBut it doesnt matter. For many the manner, speed and way of change is not perceived as a national transformation but a grave existential threat.
Historians are no psychologists. Just assemblers and arrangers of narratives.
Nck
I agree with you that all of these stories should be woven into ONE American Story. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson are just as much apart of an African American's story as they are of mine. Likewise, Stephen Douglas, G Washington Carver, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X are part of every American's story. That's the way it should be.
DeleteUnfortunately, the failure of the white/European victors to include the role that minorities have played in America's story has forced many of these folks to generate a separate history of their own - that's why we have things like African American studies/history. My point is that the old narrative leaves out some very important parts of the story.
The resistance to including these other narratives arises from fear. The victors don't want to include the unpleasant parts and besmirch the fairytale that they have created. Nevertheless, it is my hope that these folks will eventually come to see that including everyone who lives here (whatever color or ethnicity) in our original narrative (that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain rights) will preserve the very best parts of our traditions/stories and serve to bind us all together as one people.
Oh man. It seems we agree a 100 percent. We are preaching to the choir.
DeleteYour use of the word "folk" brought back memories of the Ross Perot campaign and his use of the word causing quite a stir.
One of the first times I became aware of the sensitivities surrounding "common" or "regional" phrasing.
I have Jeffersons words framed on my wall. I acquired it at Monticello. I learned about his black family later. One of a million examples that taught me history is grey and not black or white.
Many of my relatives served as worse than slaves. I never asked church members who worked with them as slaves how they felt when they saw their church trumpeting the high distinction heaped upon hwa, by the very slavemaster they bowed to in reverence every morning, under the heat of sun and the threat of whipping.
But I cried when I saw the American sailor and former Japanese airman embrace at Pearl Harbor in true understanding of the prize mankind pays each and everytime we fail to understand what you wrote in your reply.
I guess I knew the answer all along to the question I never asked to the "elders" around me. They had suffered the narrative of mankind, of Jesus, of Buddha.
Like a river, all the drops and streams of stories had blended into one stream of consciousness or narrative superseding the ego or the particulars of personal histories.
I'm not sure if I am rambling. I'm trying to memorialize some I never heard complain whilst having witnessed and experienced atrocities, only to continue to practice harmony between all starting at home and locally, sowing seeds for the same on global scale.
So different from "the art of the deal" or quid pro quo, that I admit am able to apply in business rather handsomly. But is a straregy that does serve communities only in a very limited scale and is not a strategy for healing or harmonizing the binding narrative of a population.
Nck
Did you actually listen to the speech yourself? Love him or hate him, but you got to admit that was the best speech ever delivered by Donald J. Trump.
ReplyDelete"Unfortunately, Trump's statements reflect a fundamentally flawed understanding of American history..."
That's a statement without context. Give me one clear example of Trump's misunderstanding from that speech. One that is free from projection of prejudice.
"...and the folks who are protesting."
Trump was NOT talking about "peaceful protesters" but the lawbreakers. Looting, rioting, vandalism, arson, etc.
"As with all things human, America is a mix of good and bad. The truth is that there is much to be proud of in America's story, but there is also much to regret about America's past."
And from the speech, "Our founders launched not only a revolution in government, but a revolution in the pursuit of justice, equality, liberty, and prosperity. No nation has done more to advance the human condition than the United States of America and no people have done more to promote human progress than the citizens of our great nation. It was all made possible by the courage of 56 patriots who gathered in Philadelphia 244 years ago and signed the Declaration of Independence. They enshrined a divine truth that changed the world forever when they said, “All men are created equal.” These immortal words set in motion the unstoppable march of freedom. Our founders boldly declared that we are all endowed with the same divine rights, given us by our Creator in Heaven, and that which God has given us, we will allow no one ever to take away ever."
ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL! Amen.
....more, "1776 represented the culmination of thousands of years of Western civilization and the triumph of not only spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy, and reason. And yet, as we meet here tonight, there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for, struggled, they bled to secure. Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children. Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. Many of these people have no idea why they’re doing this, but some know what they are doing."
DeleteYet, you came away with the following, "The vast majority of the protesters do not want to destroy our values, history and culture."
The vast majority of the protesters I've seen are nothing more than useful idiots. They couldn't pass a United States Civics course if their life depended on it. Do you see what happens when we remove courses like Civics and History from the classrooms?
"Most of them simply want to extend the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans. They simply want to ensure that everyone is treated equally before the law."
Name me one law that Trump has passed or any suggested legislation that does the opposite.
"Yes, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were great and brilliant men, but they also owned large numbers of their fellow humans and forced them to toil on their plantations."
Read, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_and_slavery , George Washington wanted to do away with slavery and that is coming from wikipedia!
"Yes, the emancipation of the slaves is a glorious chapter in our history,..."
And that was brought forth by what political party?
"... but Jim Crow and lynching are also a part of that story."
Again, which political party is responsible for that crap?
https://www.socialjusticesurvivalguide.com/2018/01/08/the-democratic-partys-history-slavery-jim-crow-kkk/
https://ammo.com/articles/jim-crow-laws-democrat-party-century-of-racist-history
"Yes, the 1950's were a golden age for many white Americans, but they weren't so great for many people of color."
And who was it that fought against Civil Rights? Not Republicans. The US military had to be brought in to fight segregation in the South.
Did you know that I suffered from TDS too, back in late 2015/early 2016? I would have preferred a candidate like Ron Paul, but you can't always get what you want, sometimes you have to settle for what you currently need.
DBP, Although we bring very different perspectives to the subject of Trump, I appreciate you stopping by to make comments here. And, unlike many Trumpists, you have obviously given some thought to your support for him - I respect that too.
DeleteIt is unfortunate that many folks operate on an emotional level most of the time instead of an intellectual approach. The demonization of the other side is not productive and is not likely to persuade anyone to modify their views. It appears to me that we have at least one important thing in common: we are both independent thinkers.
I am a former Republican who still believes that Reagan was the greatest president of my lifetime. I am now an independent voter who has voted for members of both parties. I believe in America. I have worn the uniform of the United States Army. I am a teacher whose majors in college were history and political science (hence, I also share your concern about educating citizens in history and civics).
For me, the evidence of the last four years suggest that Trump is temperamentally unfit for the office he holds and is a clear and present danger to this republic. He clearly sees himself as the representative of his supporters, not as the president of all of the people of this republic. For me, Trump is only interested in winning - compromise is a dirty word to him. And I believe compromise is the very thing that has made this country great - the complete triumph of either side (right or left) would be disastrous for us.
This video is well worth 20 minutes of your time. Listen closely to how the MSM manipulated coverage, ignored, and erased Ron Paul back in 2012. This is something they couldn't do to Donald J. Trump in 2016. Lies and smears, of course, but they sure couldn't ignore Trump. When he won against the most corrupt person to ever run for the Presidency, I was hoping Trump would be like an American Brutus, meaning he would destroy the corrupt Washington Establishment and end the two-party system. I'm still waiting.
DeleteIt is a great video!
DeleteI've lived in countries with 25 party systems who are considered amongst the best to live, but I understand every nation has a particular history regarding the details of their democracy.
I am not in favor of a system where only billionaires will be able to run. Somehow however Michael Bloomberg doesn't stand a chance despite spending enormous amounts of dough.
I don't know. Perhaps it is time for the Kardashians to run the nation and have Kim rocket man over for dinner.
If Covid is as dangerous as they say, Trump will not stand a chance in the fall with hundreds of thousands of death and every family affected. If not, we'll see.
Political parties don't matter anymore IF Covid wipes out half a million americans.
nck
At first, I thought I was watching a Ron Paul campaign video. Yes, the mainstream media largely ignored Ron Paul. Even so, I think that it's a stretch to say that they have the ability to make or break a particular candidate. As with Bernie Sanders on the left, there were a lot of powerful interests working against Ron Paul. The Republican and Democratic Party establishments were probably the biggest factor in the demise of both candidacies.
DeleteHowever, when we look at the average American voter, we see only a very selective appetite for libertarian views (very issue based). In other words, a majority of Americans (right and left) do not support minimal state intervention in the economy and in the private lives of citizens. Republicans and Democrats both advocate interventionist fiscal and monetary policies, and both seek to regulate the private lives of citizens (e.g. reproductive rights for Republicans and gun rights for Democrats). And Ron Paul demonstrates this point beautifully - he was not an ideologically pure libertarian.
DBP.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is that if YOU and TRUMP would speak the same words, YOU would sound truthful.
You appear to be an old time patriot.
Trump appeals to militant politicized christian radicals.
When he dispersed the Washington crowd with violence, walked to the church and held a bible high, many of the fanatics many found it strange to connect a book of peace and violence.
Astute observers of this deliberate political staging will argue that this deliberate act of violence upon peacefull protestors and make a connection with the bible was part of the staging to cater to the worst of american instincts. Violence and the (burning) cross. Christian Identity.
Nck
"The fact is that if YOU and TRUMP would speak the same words, YOU would sound truthful."
DeleteOf course, Orange Man Bad!
Nck, do you really understand political staging? The goal was to attempt to burn down the White House and record the horrible result from having attempted to do something like that. The insurgent instigators, ANTIFA, failed to rouse up the useful idiots to that climax of horror. So, they settled for another historical landmark down the street. Trump wanted to project Law and Order without bloodshed. He did that, but of course the media construes that he is Hitler and not the looters, rioters, and arsonists. Now, these brownshirts, who do they belong to?
Hi DBP.
DeleteI am talking about the event the day after the church arson.
Law and order?
Dispersing peaceful people. Nothing happened that day in front of the WH.
Then a staged event for which the joint chiefs of staff apologizes afterward. I mean staging an event combining a peaceful event, violence and a walk with the joint chief of staff??
Law and order and the Army??
Its a police job.
Read what Mark Miley thinks of that.
The only thing that was projected was a bruised ego from the bunker incident the night before.
I dont understand the brown shirt remark. I understand Hitler thought them rivals and killed the topmen to control and discipline them.
But I'm not calling Trump Hitler. I'm saying he appeals to polarizing forces.
Why would he hold a bible up if the staging was about Law and Order. Hokding the act for the protection of city monuments with the local police chief would have achieved that.
Nck
"Why would he hold a bible up if the staging was about Law and Order."
DeleteHe was standing in front of a church. That is what the arsonists burned down, a historical landmark. If someone burned down a gay bar, would you consider that a hate crime? How would you feel if Trump stood outside that burned down gay bar with a rainbow flag? Now, what about a church? Do you see, now? Did you know the police were told to stand down? It was left up to the Secret Service to defend the White House. The Mayor wanted that fence removed from the White House and she kicked out the National Guard from the hotels. A tragedy was planned and then averted. Trump then stands in front of a burned out church with a Bible and receives all the hate. Confusing times for some, I guess.
DBP
ReplyDeleteI read the speech again and I started to vomit.
It is historically so inaccurate that is worse than myth.
He does the same as HWA. He says "there are "mobsters" and there are Americans. This is code speech for Americans are Israel or Americans are White.
Also you need to explain why those who enshrined "All men are equal" (which is not an American concept) still held slaves.
Because EQUAL meant something different to them. It was equal for those who were PERSONS before LAW. So that excluded women, children and those without legal persona i.e. slaves and others who did not pay sufficient taxes.
All other interpretations are later insertions.
Also he speaks about Rushmore not to be defaced.
Who said so?? Who threatened to defacee Rushmore???
It is all one bold lie. For instance the removal of the Roosevelt statue in New York was not meant as an action against Roosevelt. It is about the depiction of the subservient, conquered colored persons ON the statue.
I could go on and on. But one needs sufficient historical and political knowledge to know why Trump is a dangerous demagogue.
I will give you one more hint.
After the violent dispersal of peaceful protestors in Washington, Trump held up a bible in a carefully staged act to pose for his radical followers.
Does anyuone have any doubt that Trump never really studied the bible in depth evaluating his personal and business record over the past 50 years.
If you anyone doubts my statement they are like the Germans before WWII overlooking the evils of their regime because those new roads were so fine and dandy, like the stockmarket based on increasing debt is fine and dandy.
I wouldnt have thought of using the stock market as an example if it wasn't for Trump repeatedly pointing to the artificial pumped up market as a measure of success.
Again if DBP would hold the speech I would carefully accept or consider some of the mythological aspects of the speech about the US bringing prosperity towards "the World" , while in reality bringing 1890 China on its knees by the opium trade of its wealty merchants like the Bush and Roosevelt families.
However spoken by Trump, the same words ring hollow and dangerous.
nck
Btw I agree 100 percent with tbe criticism of tbe Left and the radicals.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that the problems faced by the nation will only be solved by adressing the root causes, instead of by lying about a mythical America through concealed threats, right wing extremist codewords and blatant lies.
It equals PCG's hailing of the fantastical british empire without mentioning Charles Dickens and the appaling conditions snd squalar of the working class in the slums and factories.
(btw as an aside take a look at pictures of Manhattan living conditions in 1890 and you can see why the 1905 1920 communist risings occured in the USA, that HWA detested so much and wrote against organized labor)
Nck
I have another unrelated funfact.
ReplyDeleteToday more black men are in US prisons than there were slaves in 1840.Their wages are 20 - 40 ct per hour.
That is modern slavery and it is too easy and unfair to adress that problem with words like "thugs" or "criminals" laced with lofty words by brilliant people from the past.
Just because it doesnt match the statistics of other civilized countries the US president seems to rank his nation among, judging by the speech.
Nck
nck,
DeleteGreat commentary. Your remarks demonstrate an objective view of history and a good grasp of the current situation. Great point about black incarceration.
Yeah. Thats because over the years I've been learning from folk like DBP and yurself. My brazen cutting style needs iron to sharpen iron.
DeleteDo you think the harsh prophets loved Israel or hated it? Perhaps they just played a part amidst turmoil. I learn most if everyone is just themselves, there are too many others already.
Nck
Your headline says "Trump doesnt understand American history."
DeleteIn reality you don't know if that is true. And a careful read of my postings actually proves differently.
Another example to explain.
In assessing the current covid situation, the reply of administration is, "more testing uncovers more cases"..... then continues in particular self congratulatory manner.
We really are not in the position to know if a specific policy is behind that reply or if they are all completely deluded.
So Trumps vision for America and its history can be deluded (does not know), but rather I suggested the use of extremist "code words", the "accidental" tweeting of "white power" by the president (of the florida old pensioners), the connection made between violence and the bible and hundreds more examples, reveal a more sinister deliberacy then ANY snapshot of former people of importance on conspiracy websites signalling so called illuminati signs, while they were just being fashionable.
My point Trump and his team have an exceptional view of how they see history and the future.
Do we?
Nck
nck,
DeleteWhile I am confident that Trump is deliberately appealing to a racist/nationalist audience, that does not suggest he really understands American history. Indeed, his well-established distaste for reading and the totality of his statements on the subject of American history (not just the ones in this particular speech) indicate that he does not understand it. Trump may see himself as a stable genius or criminal mastermind, but the evidence suggests otherwise. In other words, having an agenda does not equal an exceptional understanding of anything.
Donald Trump is a demagogue. He is not interested in rational thinking or arguments. He has always sought to fashion a reality (perception of reality) that benefits him and his interests. Trump seeks to project strength, steadfastness and competence. Truth and fact are irrelevant to him. "Ignore that man behind the curtain and look at what I'm projecting on the screen before you!"
Agreed!
DeleteOn top of that there are speechwriters and communication directors, but I get your point. Was just aproaching the topic from another angle.
Do something, look at the effect, if it doesn't work deny your involvement or blame others, if it does work claim it as the work of a genius.
nck
The thing that you have to understand is that 97% of the people killed by the police in the United States are male. This proves that the police are institutionally sexist towards males.
DeleteHow horrible! We need more moral panic!
Why can't we all hearken to the greatest historian of all, John Ford!
ReplyDeleteI heard the Supreme Court, in a rape case, upheld the notion that half of the State of Oklahoma is native property.
I'm not sure if this changes the governmental structure of the universe,being....god, xjexsuxsx,christ, the chief of the muskogee, gerald flurry, the sheeple.
Nck
Hey Miller
ReplyDelete3rd latin american head of state catches covid. What happened to the Monroe doctrine?
I know my "N" is probably Nero, dancing while Rome is burning.
Gotto to keep positive.
Nck
Does Roger Stone's release signal Trumps commitment to "law and order", or does it serve his commitment to show that indeed the system is rigged?
ReplyDeleteNck
DBP
ReplyDeleteYour remark regarding male - female incarceration is funny. On a scientific basis I would be curious as to gender biases at airports et all or differences in penalties.
I do know that female spies still work as they did during the Cold War as Marcus Wolf once disclosed.
Of course Imelda Marcos never stole shoes. She didnt have to with those grandiose New York billion dollar real eastate deals. (ah well NY real estate in the eighties) One day I will find a connection between a certain lawyer from White Plains, so far just my personal conspiracy theory)
Nck