The president of the United States just
passionately equated “both sides” as being responsible for the Charlottesville violence and murder over the
weekend. He actually sees Nazis and
anti-Nazis as morally equivalent. He astonishingly
sees white supremacists and anti-white supremacists as morally equivalent. Mr. Trump clearly came out in defense of his
white supremacist base.
I find this disgusting.
I am sure some of my conservative friends might
feel obligated to agree with the president.
And I also condemn left wing violence as well as right wing. But Charlottesville is not ambiguous. This is not a confusing moment. One side was very, very wrong. One side is responsible for the violence.
Some headlines:
·
USA Today:
“Former KKK leader David Duke praises Trump for his 'courage.'”
·
Los Angeles Times: “Trump provokes new furor
by giving foes of white supremacists equal blame.”
·
Wall Street Journal:
“With New Remarks on Charlottesville, Trump Leaves Himself Isolated.”
Here are some pertinent tweets:
A
congressman from Michigan: "Very fine people" do not
participate in rallies with groups chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans and
displaying vile symbols of hate.
— Justin
Amash (@justinamash) August 15, 2017
Arizona's
senior senator, battling brain cancer: There's no moral equivalency between
racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of
the United States should say so
— John
McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) August 16, 2017
A
Northern Virginia congresswoman facing a tough reelection fight next year: Mr. President, there were not "very
fine people" on the NeoNazi, white supremacist side; only haters. Grateful
DOJ understands this. https://t.co/MDmYPcUP5h
—
Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) August 15, 2017
The GOP
nominee for governor of Virginia and a former RNC chair:The white supremacists and neoNazis who
invaded cville espouse reprehensible views that have no redeeming value
whatsoever. Simple as that.
— Ed
Gillespie (@EdWGillespie) August 15, 2017
From
the commandant of the Marine Corps: No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage,
and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act.
—
Robert B. Neller (@GenRobertNeller) August 15, 2017
The
former spokesman for the Obama Justice Department: Quite possibly the worst thing he has ever
said. The white supremacists who were there heard him loud and clear. And so
did the rest of us. https://t.co/QsuC7UWnWS
—
Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) August 15, 2017
A
senior adviser to Obama: Republican Party: This is on you, you did
this, and only you can do something about this
— Dan
Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) August 15, 2017
Some Democrats:
.@realDonaldTrump, you are
embarrassing our country and the millions of Americans who fought and died to
defeat Nazism.
— Bernie Sanders
(@SenSanders) August 15, 2017
Mr. President - Heather Heyer was not
murdered by "both sides."
— Sen. Patrick Leahy
(@SenatorLeahy) August 15, 2017
If @realDonaldTrump wants
to fight white supremacy, he should do three simple things:
1) #FireBannon
2) #FireGorka
3) #FireMiller
1) #FireBannon
2) #FireGorka
3) #FireMiller
— David Cicilline
(@davidcicilline) August 15, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump:
"Both sides" did not wield torches, swastikas, and drive a car into a
crowd, killing a woman. https://t.co/gqeTLpzfBY
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal
(@RepJayapal) August 15, 2017
Dear @realDonaldTrump: Yes
there were both sides in #Charlottesville.
The Nazi side & the side opposing the Nazis. You're on the wrong side. https://t.co/jtaZnoLqLl
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 15, 2017
From a
Brookings fellow:
When determining whether or not the
president is a racist, I'll defer to the professional racists, who very much
seem to think he is.
— Jamie
Kirchick 🌹 (@jkirchick) August 15, 2017
From
the editor of Wired Magazine:
The weird thing about "both
sides" isn't just that one side is Nazis---but also that they killed
someone.
—
Nicholas Thompson (@nxthompson) August 15, 2017
Hollywood
celebrities piled on:
Trump just said there were "very fine
people on both sides" in #Charlottesville.
I don't know any "very fine" white supremacists, sir. None.
— George
Takei (@GeorgeTakei) August 15, 2017
I fought Nazis in World War II. They aren’t
“very fine people,” @realDonaldTrump. #Charlottesville https://t.co/IS5J5x0oI9
— Norman Lear
(@TheNormanLear) August 15, 2017
Only the Republicans can get rid of
this disgrace of a president. The
Democrats don’t have the votes to impeach him.
When do the Republicans flip the switch?
He can be impeached on a number of grounds, starting with his violation
of the emoluments clause in the constitution, plus the bribery clause. Plus, eventually I expect we will see
evidence of conspiracy with a hostile foreign power to influence the election
in his favor. Plus, of course, his
blatant obstruction of justice in firing the head of the FBI who had been in
charge of investigating Russian election interference.
Do the Republicans wait until they see
their own careers jeopardized? Or can
they react out of their own sense of honor and dignity to turn on this most
dishonorable and undignified person?
