October 21, 2017
In this past week, the illusion of John Kelly as the “adult in the room,” who could bring some baseline adherence to the norms of public service to this White House, has been shattered. To provide cover for Trump’s thoughtless treatment of a Gold Star family, Kelly ruthlessly attacked a sitting Congresswoman, Frederica Wilson. Kelly told outright lies about Representative Wilson’s speech at the dedication ceremony for a new FBI building, accusing her of braggadocio. Of course, videotape quickly exposed Kelly’s slanderous lies for what they were, revealing Rep. Wilson’s speech to have been gracious, appropriate and bi-partisan. (“Frederica Wilson 2015 video shows John Kelly got it wrong,” by Larry Barszewski, Sun-Sentinel, 10/21/17).
The firestorm served to deflect attention from the more important question of what happened in Niger. Did faulty intelligence lead to the deaths of four servicemen? Was the use of private contractors the reason that Sgt. Johnson’s body was recovered two days after those of his three comrades? Did Chad withdraw troops from fighting Boko Haram in Niger as retaliation for the latest iteration of Trump’s travel ban, as many speculate? (Source: “Chad withdraws troops from fight against Boko Haram in Niger,” by Boureima Balima, Emma Farge, Reuters, 10/13/17; “Chad Removes Hundreds of Troops From Nigerien Region Affected by Boko Haram,” by John Campbell, Foreign Affairs blog, Council on Foreign Relations, 10/17/17).
It stands to reason that national security policies animated by profiteering, racism and Islamophobia would only serve to make us less safe. It is also no surprise, sadly, that when confronted by these difficult questions, Trump and all members of his administration seek to deflect scrutiny by attacking the prominent Black women who ask them. Congresswoman Wilson is the latest in a long line of targets that includes Jemele Hill, Maxine Waters and April Ryan. In each instance, Trump or his surrogates trot out the same tired tropes, attacking the intelligence, appropriateness and appearance of Black women. On cue, Kelly called Frederica Wilson an empty barrel,” (intellect) and disparaged her speech as “grandstanding” (decorum) . Clownish, self-hating martinet, “Sheriff” David Clarke, weighed in on Twitter, calling her a “buffoon” (appearance). Trump and his enablers know that the lethal combination of racism and sexism prevents their base from closely examining a policy agenda that will cause them grievous harm.
This past week, though, has shown encouraging signs that prominent voices are joining the chorus of Black women in calling out the stark danger to democracy posed by this president. President Obama re-emerged on the campaign trail to rally Americans to put the “politics of division” in the “19th Century,” where they belong. Both Senator John McCain and former President George W. Bush gave powerful speeches that forcefully repudiated Trump’s racist, autocratic vision for America, while not deigning to mention him by name. McCain sarcastically derided the “spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems,” as “unpatriotic,”(McCain Liberty Medal Acceptance Speech, National Constitution Center, 10/16/17). Bush, in his speech at the “Spirit of Liberty: At Home, In the World,” conference in New York, stated that American’s “identity as a nation–unlike many other nations — is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood…. It means that bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed.”
While it is puzzling to find ourselves nodding in vigorous agreement with the words of conservative Republicans like John McCain and George W. Bush, we must acknowledge the import of two prominent Republicans offering a blistering critique of the governing philosophy of a president from their own party. Their full-throated rejection of Trumpism gives no quarter to hacks like Gillespie in Virginia or Guadagno in New Jersey, who seek to drape themselves in the mantle of Trumpism and ride white supremacy into the governor’s mansion. Everyone supporting the Trump/Bannon brand of hate-based populism has been exposed for the callously self-interested, unpatriotic bigots that they are. Now they have nowhere to hide.
#Sgt.LaDavidJohnson