A Racist Agenda in the Middle of a Crushing Pandemic

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Our country is witnessing a merciless campaign to erase our history…

One of their political weapons is cancel culture… This is the very definition of totalitarianism…

This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped.”

Donald Trump, July 3^rd, Mt Rushmore

Giving one of his most divisive speeches ever, amongst thousands of shoulder-to-shoulder attendees (few wearing masks and no one social distancing) at a July 3rd mass gathering at Mt Rushmore, Donald Trump reinforced that his Presidency only represents those who totally agree with his autocratic agenda. The venue itself was a tortured symbol, a reality not lost on those who have railed against racial injustice and inequality. 

“Mount Rushmore is painfully complex — much like America itself. The faces of four revered but profoundly flawed presidents were carved into the stone by a talented sculptor who sympathized with the Ku Klux Klan. The majestic monument — a testament to human tenacity — scars land considered sacred by Native Americans.” Washington Post, July 3rd. Donald Trump and his base are digging in their heels… on the wrong side of history. Some of Trump’s followers posted the above photoshopped image of an “improved” version of Mt Rushmore. I am sure that this photograph would look good in his Florida home next to his cherished Nobel Peace Prize. 

Polls tell us that a majority of Americans sympathize with those seeking to end racial injustice in America. “The recent Black Lives Matter protests peaked on June 6, when half a million people turned out in nearly 550 places across the United States. That was a single day in more than a month of protests that still continue to today. 

“Four recent polls — including one released this week by Civis Analytics, a data science firm that works with businesses and Democratic campaigns [with Pew, Kaiser Family Foundation & NORC] — suggest that about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks… These figures would make the recent protests the largest movement in the country’s history, according to interviews with scholars and crowd-counting experts.” New York Times, July 3rd. 

But clearly siding with continuing old-world use-of-force police tactics against protestors and not removing Confederate symbols, venue names, statues and monuments, the President ignited the fiery Mt Rushmore crowd with this vitriolic rhetoric: “‘The radical ideology attacking our country advances under the banner of social justice. But in truth, it would demolish both justice and society,’ Trump said. ‘It would transform justice into an instrument of division and vengeance and turn our free society into a place of repression, domination and exclusion. They want to silence us, but we will not be silenced.’ 

“The president, who recently signed an executive order aimed at punishing those who destroy [Confederate] monuments on federal property [with fierce prosecution and long sentences], referred to ‘violent mayhem’ in the streets, even though many of the mass demonstrations have been largely peaceful. He warned that ‘angry mobs’ were unleashing ‘a wave of violent crime’ and using ‘cancel culture’ as a weapon to intimidate and dominate political opponents — in what he compared to ‘totalitarianism.’... 

“The crowd chanted ‘USA, USA. The crowd demanded ‘four more years.’ The president did not discuss the coronavirus, which has killed more than 126,000 Americans. The crowd did not seem to care.” The Post. Despite the fact that the United States has the greatest number of infections, the greatest number of deaths and the highest current spike of new COVID-19 cases on earth, Trump continues to marginalize the seemingly out-of-control pandemic, now exceeding the capacity of so many hospitals in heavily afflicted communities like Houston and Phoenix. 

In a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity on June17th, as COVID-19 numbers were already rising, while discussing the economy and the impact of the virus, Trump said: "We are starting up and it's going to be very, very strong ... We're very close to a vaccine and we're very close to therapeutics, really good therapeutics. But even without that, I don't like to talk about that because it's fading away. It's going to fade away, but having a vaccine would be really nice and that's going to happen." 

It's still considered intensely disloyal by Republicans for a GOP governor to order wearing of masks. But as Texas zoomed past 8,000 new cases in a single day, as ICU units in several major Texas cities overflowed capacity, the die-hard Trump supporting governor, Greg Abbott who was one of the first or allow massive business reopenings and refused to mandate wearing masks, relented. On July 2nd, he ordered most Texans in counties with 20 or more CV-19 patients to wear masks when out in public (indoors or outdoors where safe distancing is not possible). 

“The order says local officials ‘can and should’ enforce the face covering requirement but prohibits jail time as a penalty for violating it. First-time violators will receive a verbal or written warning, with subsequent violations punishable by a fine of up to $250.” NPR July 2nd. When describing his order, Abbott said, “COVID-19 is not going away. In fact, it’s getting worse. Now, more than ever, action by everyone is needed until treatments are available for COVID-19…. We are now at a point where the virus is spreading so fast there is little margin for error.” 12 Texas counties immediately said that they would ignore the order. Many Texas said that would also ignore the order, which they believe infringes on their individual freedom. Too little too late? 

The President once again passed the baton to an incredibly ineffective Mike Pence to make further COVID-19 statements as Trump was preparing to issue a simple statement that America was just going to have to learn to live with the outbreak? Or die or have a permanent health impairment? The level of Trump-inspired and implemented destructive force to the health and unity of the nation and its most basic institutions is rapidly reaching a point of no return.

            I’m Peter Dekom, and increasingly questions arise as to whether Trump can figure out how to exclude his opponents with voter suppression or, if he does not win in November, how he can disqualify the election results and remain in office.