In the letter to the editor “A Real Party Pooper,” by Larry Moore, published July 18, the author characterizes President Donald Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech as “positive, upbeat assessments of our country’s first 250 years.” So, I thought maybe I would look at those remarks.
Perhaps, for Trump, the first 500 words or so were uncharacteristically poignant and presidential, had he ended his July 3 Mount Rushmore speech at this point: “1776 represented the culmination of thousands of years of western civilization and the triumph not only of spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy, and reason.”
However, for the next 600 words, he continued with this hate-filled, fear mongering, deflecting saber-rattling diatribe: “Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive,” he said.
“One of their political weapons is ‘cancel culture’ — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values … This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped, and it will be stopped very quickly. We will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation’s children, end this radical assault, and preserve our beloved American way of life. “
He continued, “In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished.”
“Make no mistake: this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. In so doing, they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery and progress,” he said. “To make this possible, they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol and memory of our national heritage. That is why I am deploying federal law enforcement to protect our monuments, arrest the rioters, and prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law.”
Continuing, he said, “The violent mayhem we have seen in the streets of cities that are run by liberal Democrats, in every case, is the predictable result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education, journalism and other cultural institutions.”
“Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies — all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition.”
Then for the remaining 2,500 words of the speech, he bounces back and forth from sounding presidential to his usual bullying, threating rhetoric. Is it any wonder why this country is so divided?
Yes, for the sake of saving valuable Mighty Signal newsprint space, admittedly I am “cherry-picking” quotes from this speech. I am doing this to shed light on his negativity for those who suffer from the MAGA version of TDS, “Trump Denial Syndrome,” that his goal isn’t to expound positive, motivating messages; it is to instill fear, control and division that serves his ego.
Brian Springer
Canyon Country
