"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems...they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists."
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
One of these quotes was said by our former president, Barack Obama, and the other by the current, Donald Trump. I'll let you guess. And then I'll leave it at that; there are countless others I could add, but that would be beating a dead horse.
And, now, another--perhaps one of the most famous in the world, and one that is shouted endlessly by countrymen worldwide: "United we stand, divided we fall." That's Aesop.
Naturally, the opposite of a quote calling for unification of a people for the purposes of survival and progress would be "Divide and conquer", as in defeating your enemy by dividing them. I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be applied to your own people or allies.
The purpose of this blog entry is to emphasize differences in speech and leadership. For far too long, I've been seeing people trying to divert attention from Donald Trump's attempts to divide by claiming that other presidents--specifically Barack Obama (I wonder why that could be?)--were also divisive.
This is where I say no.
I am going to present this as unbiased as I can, and it is on record that I wasn't a huge fan of Obama. I sorely disagreed with him on a few things--namely his war-mongering and his stance on abortions--which resulted in me not voting to reelect him in 2012, although I had voted for him in '08. That being said, as much of a crummy statesperson (on some very important issues) he may have been, he was a GOOD leader.
I have always held Obama's professionalism, eloquence, and presidentiality in high regard. He was a flawless orator and--regardless of his perspective--his goal was to unify.
And there lies the discrepancy between him and Trump.
It must be understood that there will be differences in opinion about everything. All the time. Nothing will ever be agreed upon unanimously. Therefore, everything that has ever been and ever will be said will be divisive to some extent. So, yes, in that regard, Obama was divisive.
President Obama, while I may have disagreed with his views and policies, did not use divisive language. President Trump does. A lot.
Whether it's bragging about sexual assault, encouraging physical violence against protesters, calling world leaders and politicians who don't agree with him childish names like some schoolyard bully, advocating for the deliberate mishandling of apprehended suspects, mocking a reporter's physical disability, or repeatedly attacking the media for their "fake news", Donald J. Trump's hateful rhetoric is doing nothing to convince people that he cares about others or wants to make positive gains. As much as he touts "Making America Great Again", he isn't doing much on that front, and--despite his assertion that we are respected again on a global scale--he is alienating the rest of the world. I don't know what his definition of winning is, but this is not winning.
He repeatedly boasts of our military prowess, as if that's the only thing that proves a country's worth. And he taunts others with annihilation and "fire and fury".
At a campaign rally--which he frequently holds in the middle of his term--he relentlessly mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for her accusations that she had been sexually assaulted...instead of, you know, not taking a side and expressing the importance of letting the legal process take its course, and then graciously acknowledging it when it had. Regardless of whether you believe such claims or are skeptical, this wasn't presidential--or decent--in the least.
He called certain African countries "shitholes". The issue at hand is not the use of the word "shit"--many defenders have called Obama to task on calling the situation in Libya a "shit storm"--but that he was using language to disparage people due to the undesirable conditions of their homelands (Obama was referring to the political state of and intervention in Libya, not its people or the country itself).
And his biggest act of divisiveness? He wants to BUILD A WALL, the literal embodiment of division. And has shutdown the federal government--directly affecting the livelihood of nearly a million people and many more indirectly--until he gets his way (of course, expecting a compromise from the other side but not willing to make one himself).
I'm going to wrap this rant up with a simple example. In September of 2017, Trump made his now (in)famous statement about NFL players who knelt during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality, inaccurately conflating it with disrespecting the flag, the country, and the military: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”
Not very subtle.
Whether or not you feel this was a racial attack or if he is just stubborn enough to refuse to open his eyes to the actual reason for the protest, this was an obvious attempt to divide. Not just fans of football or the league itself, but citizens and politicians, as well. There were no attempts to reconcile those at odds over these plights, perceived or actual. He wanted to discipline the "son[s] of bitch[es]"--the bad guys--and let that be it.
While I believe Obama supports players kneeling--I have no reason to think he doesn't--as a method of free speech and protest, if he didn't, he wouldn't lambaste those doing so, but attempt to open a dialogue to see what needs to be done to remedy the problem (in the very least, but not primarily, to ease tensions between the two opposing sides in the protest matter). I also believe he would do the same even while supporting the protests; he would see a cry for progress and want to help facilitate that progress.
For the most part, Obama wanted to build bridges. Donald Trump does not. In conclusion, next time you want to deflect President Trump's divisive nature onto someone else, don't.
