BY GARY EDMONDSON
To facilitate the writing process, I save news stories under a general “Ammo” folder. I ensile pertinent info under such topics as Environment, Health, Education, Economy, Agriculture, Freedoms, etc., with sub-folders along the way. Thus, when I choose a topic, I have my “ammo” at hand without conducting time-consuming searches.
At full screen, my computer can list about 35 items before I need to scroll down to find the newest. This long intro is to point out that the Bigotry folder has overflowed to three full screens, even with several sub-folders.
Our white nationalist president spews so much hatred that it’s impossible to document it all.
If I developed the ideas in full, I could write on the subject for the next three months – and experts prefer “bread and butter” issues. So, let’s just stick to some of the headlines:
“Trump chuckles and jokes over supporter’s suggestion to shoot migrant families at the border.” – The Daily Kos
“Trump slams congresswomen; crowd roars, ‘Send her back!’” – KBTX-TV
“Member of Senate GOP leadership says Trump tweets are racist.” – The Hill
“President Trump has spent years weaponizing racial stereotypes to inflame cultural divisions while denying racist motives.” – CBS
“Houston police chief torches Donald Trump over ICE raids: chase crooks, not cooks.” – HuffPost
“World leaders tear Trump to shreds for spewing ‘1950s racism.’” – Politicus
“Lawyers for Trump ‘super fan’ Cesar Sayoc say Trump’s rhetoric inspired terrorist plot on Democrats.” – HuffPost [Sayoc was sentenced to 20 years in prison for mailing pipe bombs to Trump critics.]
“National Cathedral on Trump’s racist comments: ‘Have we no decency?’” – HuffPost
“Trump responds to reports of Cummings’s Baltimore home being robbed: ‘Too bad!’” – The Hill
“Trump swipes at Warren: ‘I have more Indian blood than she does, and I have none.’” – The Hill. [I offer the reminder that Sen. Warren’s DNA test did show some Native American ancestry.]
“The El Paso terrorist’s manifesto is basically a ‘cut and paste’ of Trump’s Twitter feed. – Politicus
“John Oliver rolls footage of Trump laughing at a call to shoot immigrants.” – HuffPost
“Trump picks extremist who compared immigrants to rats to lead immigration agency.” – The Daily Kos
“Trump again promotes far-right commentator who once called migrants ‘cockroaches.’” – HuffPost. [Aug. 3, the day of the El Paso massacre]
“In absence of presidential leadership, Rep. Escobar becomes a comforter in chief for El Paso.” – The Daily Kos
“Trump echoes infamous ‘both sides’ quote by comparing white supremacy to antifa.” – HuffPost [The “fine folks on both sides” comment came after a white supremacist murdered a woman with his car in Charlottesville.]
Let’s not forget the enablers:
“Republican congressman gives Trump’s racism a pass because he hasn’t shot anyone.” – Think Progress
“Republican congressman silent as constituent urges assassination. – Think Progress
“It’s not just David Duke and the KKK anymore: It’s Tucker Carlson and Fox News Network who sell hate.” – Salon
But such disclaimers no longer fly:
“Harris on El Paso shooting: Trump didn’t ‘pull the trigger’ but has been ‘tweeting out the ammunition.’” – The Hill
“Trump’s words encourage white supremacist violence, says Michael Bloomberg.” – HuffPost
“Authorities investigate threats across the country after mass shootings.” – NBC News
And that only touched the surface of the hatred spewed by the president and endorsed by his racist followers – the silent ones sitting in their pews as well as the loudmouthed louts.
Heck, I couldn’t even get this sent to the editor before “Trump does racist Japanese and Korean accents for guests at fundraiser.” – Politicus
Trump enunciates Republican values until Republicans disavow them en masse.
