Photo through scope by Katherine Cochrun
quieting the disquieting
The President-elect is getting positive response to his interview on CBS's 60 Minutes. Gone was the bombast and shrill and in its place was a subdued and even more pensive man.
He is backing away from several things he preached on the campaign trail. He reflected on the good chemistry he and President Obama established, was emphatic in saying he "did not want to hurt" Hillary Clinton, acknowledged his part of a nasty campaign and said his "life has changed" and is now about something "more important than anything he has done" before.
On hearing reports of incidents inspired by things he said he looked into the camera directly and told his supporters to stop it. But he's drawing severe criticism for appointing his campaign executive Steve Bannon to be an advisor. Bannon is the mogul at Breitbart, the right wing source of white supremacist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic and hate articles. It is a cluster point for the worst of the domestic terror groups.
Teachers and principals in several schools across the country report incidents since last Tuesday. A 10 year old girl was grabbed on the vagina by a boy who said he could do it "because the president did." In Royal Oak Michigan middle school students began chanting "Build a Wall, Build a Wall."
In Woodland Hills California a Muslim girl's head scarf was ripped off by a boy who called her a "towel head" and said she should be deported. White students called black students "cotton pickers." There has been rash of similar reports coast to coast.
An Episcopal Church in Brown County Indiana
vandalized this weekend
a baseball diamond in Wellsville New York
vandalized this week
Horrible things were said in the last year and some of his comments drew alt right extremists out of the shadows. He can't take back the irresponsible and inflammatory rhetoric but in the 60 Minutes interview it seemed he was sincere in telling those responsible for the reprehensible incidents to knock it off. The Bannon appointment is a kind of political payoff, but it was a bad move and seems in defiance to his promise to govern for all.
He told 60 Minutes those thousands who have taken to the streets to protest his election should give him a chance. He said they don't really "know him."
We are about to learn a lot more and so is he.
See you down the trail.
I liked your visit to the Monarchs and also to Pismo Beach.
ReplyDeleteGracias, Merci, Obrigado!
DeleteIn the 80's my oldest daughter and I walked down Big Sur creek to the ocean during the migration; the eucalyptus trees were full of them, fluttering like gold leaves.
ReplyDeleteTrump has a long way to go before I consider him a reasonable human being, let alone President.
Hillary is going to have well over 2 million votes than he did, some estimates are near 4 million.
A long way indeed! The vote split needs to be front and center in the minds of the House and Senate!
DeleteThose monarchs are a miracle of nature and I'd love to see then one day.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to see them in Pismo.
DeleteSo, Mr. Trump gets elected in part because of his nasty comments and threats, then he supposedly backs away from them when he wins. But he claims not to be a politician while acting very politician-like. If the protests continue after he is sworn in and takes his throne and sceptre, and his notoriously short fuse is aburn, WHAT WILL HE DO?
ReplyDeleteAlzo, mein comrades, since when did it become acceptable to refer to the far-right-wing crazies with the innocuous term "alt right"? We might as well refer to wild boars as little piggies.
Point made re: the right wing crazies and domestic terrorists.
DeleteTo your question WHAT WILL HE DO, I wonder, What will we do?
Bannon is a bad choice so time will tell if his team convinces him of that. The examples of what kids do is not good but remember Bill Clinton was not much of a roll model either and people have been mistreating "rag heads" since the first Gulf War. I was always saddened when Indians and Sikhs were abused when they are not even Muslims. Plenty of the happened in the central valley of California including Fresno.
ReplyDeleteWe have a responsibility as Americans to fight against prejudice and discrimination where ever we see it. I hope the more responsible in the Trump inner circle will bring him to see what a corrosive and toxic man Bannon is.
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