http://billmoyers.com/story/a-date-that-will-live-in-infamy/
Retired professor of theology Charles Bayer writes on “Moyers & Company:”
“What shall we do now? I doubt we can pass this off as simply an intellectual or academic problem that can be solved by further conferences, documents, symposia or formal papers.
Perhaps we should rather look at what has produced serious positive change in the recent past. I think of a woman who just sat in the front seats of a bus, and the Freedom Riders who traveled throughout the American South at the risk of their lives. And I remember the tens of thousands of both young and older people who hit the streets and finally whose acts were critical in ending the disastrous Vietnam War. To the extent that these actions were nonviolent, they gained the respect of the American people. Violence just sets things back. New generations of in-the-street activists, not journalists or academics, might blunt the destructive nationalistic thrust of the new administration, and prepare the rest of us to play an important role in making America good again.”
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PWS
01/22/17
Much of the piece was devoted to comparing Trump to Hitler. This type of rhetoric solves nothing nor does it enlighten, only serving to rile both the Left and the Right. And what is the “intellectual or academic problem” of which he speaks? Why is a nationalistic thrust intrinsically “destructive?” What are these “very bad things?” Anyway, God bless the marchers and protesters, we’re told. Except this time, they’re marching against the results of democracy, before a single bill is advanced, before a single executive order is signed. You had better start packing, Mr. Moyers. The 60s are calling you home.
Thanks, Mink! I was wondering when you were finally going to weigh in again. Welcome back!
In my view, the “bad things that happen” when a leader falsely claims to embody the “will of the people” rather than representing them is that many of “the people” get left behind. As I have pointed out before, the historical results of this type of “knee jerk” appeal to nationalism are uniformly bad.
And, it wasn’t the writer of the piece I posted who brought the dark shadow of Nazism into the discussion — it was President Trump by presenting an unnecessarily dark — and highly inaccurate — picture of America on the occasion of his inauguration, which should have been a celebration rather than an occasion for the use of bogus terms like “national carnage.” When you can’t act like a leader of all the people, and a gracious winner (beyond acknowledging Hillary, which was nice, and appropriate) even for a day, folks are going to take notice and be critical. Obviously, the audience on Inauguration Day isn’t limited to a President’s supporters. It isn’t the time for a “campaign rally” type speech like President Trump gave. He missed an important initial opportunity to “reach out” and reassure the “other America” — the majority who didn’t vote for him.
While President Trump was democratically elected, the majority of the voters did not support him. In a republican democracy, that ought give the President at least a little pause and humility. What could he do to reach out and appeal to those in the majority who might not welcome his Presidency so that we could have a more realistic, rather than an exclusive, sense of national unity? Didn’t hear much of that in the inaugural speech, which I found not very uplifting — just like my “new bro” George Will.
Also, as a republican democracy, there are three branches of Government, not just the Presidency. President Trump’s speech gave no acknowledgement to, and in fact heaped abuse upon, the very elected officials of both parties whom he will have to rely upon to get things done in Washington. Unless, of course, he wants to rule solely by Executive Order, something that, whether the criticism is fair or not, he and his party regularly accused President Obama as having done.
Then, there are the courts. (The independent Article III Courts, not the “captive” U.S. Immigration Courts where I spent the last two decades of my career.) Even if Congress and the Executive get together and act, laws still have to be constitutional. As I’ve pointed out before, it is by no means only Democratic appointees in the Article III Judiciary who have stood up against violations of due process and other Executive overreaching. So, even though by the time the Trump Administration is finished the substantial majority of Federal Judges should be Republican appointees, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the Executive has a free hand to carry out the supposed “will of the people.” And, while resort to the courts is often necessary, the system probably works most efficiently for everyone’s interests when all three branches can get on the same page. In our system, the majority has power, but does not always get its way — something that Democrats who experienced both Bush-Gore and Trump-Clinton can tell you from hard experience.
As mentioned elsewhere, I’m always ready to look for good in almost everything. I am mildly encouraged by COS Reince Preibus’s suggestion that President Trump is thinking about a better approach to the Dreamers than just revoking DACA and throwing 750,000 young Americans into limbo. I’ve also been favorably impressed by DHS Secretary Kelly’s initial fairly nuanced statements about how he intends to approach immigration and border enforcement. And, while I generally liked, respected, and appreciated President Obama, I found plenty to criticize about his Administration’s approach to immigration and particularly to its mis-handling of the U.S. Immigration Court System.
But, as you accurately point out, actions speak louder than words. So, we’ll see what happens as the Trump Administration proceeds with its programs. I’d be more than happy if a year from now I could congratulate President Trump on overcoming his negative campaign rhetoric and developing a fair and realistic approach to immigration that would, in fact, advance our national interests along with the interests of humanity. Now, that, in fact, would be an achievement that we all could celebrate.
Finally, I wouldn’t be so hard on the marchers, Mink. A number of our mutual friends felt strongly enough to travel hundreds of miles to join them on Saturday. While you might well think that the country is about to head off on the “right track,” they obviously don’t. And, since we’re all smart folks who care about the future of our country, how to create some common ground should be of concern to all of us — including President Trump.
Again, welcome back, Mink, and I’m sorry about the Pack (something that we clearly do have in common). They didn’t show up and the game was effectively over shortly after the coin flip. But, I’m happy for Matt Ryan, whom I watched “torch” the Virginia Tech Hokies on a number of occasions during his great college career. And, if his Falcons play at the same high level that they did yesterday against the Pack, they should have a great chance against the amazing Tom Brady and his Patriots in the SB. The bright side, however, is that with the Pack’s season over, I can now turn my full attention to Badger Basketball! 🏀
Best, always,
Wick 😎