Sunday Read: July 4th, 2020 - America is at a transformative moment

OPINION

America is at a transformative moment in its history: towards a more perfect union ... or, Trump's rabbit hole.

I hate that July 4th and the love of country it inspires has to become so political, but this year, it cannot be anything but political.

Instead of uniting us on this most patriotic of holidays, Donald Trump has decided to divide us. His speech at the Mt. Rushmore monument Friday was horrifying in its outright call for the return to the values of the Confederacy and the returned to the time when white supremacy was unquestioned and an accepted part of living in this country.

With the famed landmark depicting four US presidents looming over him, Trump warned that recent demonstrations over racial inequality threatened the foundations of the country's political system.

“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,” Trump said July 3 to some 3000 supporters at the Mt. Rushmore National Park. “They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive.”

"Make no mistake, this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American revolution. And in so doing, they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, hunger and lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery and progress."

He clearly believes the values of the Confederacy are American values. Most of the statues that have been coming down are the statues of Confederate generals, men who fought against the United States. In other words -- they're monuments to traitors. Other targeted statues include Christopher Columbus and Fr. Junipero Serra, men who mistreated  and enslaved indigenous peoples.

"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," he continued. "The radical view of American history is a web of lies. All perspective is removed, every virtue is skewed, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history urged in the record is disfigured beyond all recognition."

With him lagging badly in the polls for his poor leadership in fighting the coronavirus and the economy souring and unemployment at record highs amid accusations of a beneficial relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump has returned to his "Trump card" of egging on racists and stirring up white resentment.

After citing American triumphs versus foreign enemies, he has declared war on the American people.

"American heroes defeated the Nazis, dethroned the fascists, toppled the communists, saved American values, upheld American principles and chased down the terrorists to the very ends of the earth," Trump says.. 

He is tries to delegitimize the grievances of the recent demonstrations demanding justice, racial equity and police reform are just out to dethrone him.

"We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing," he says.

I didn't write this post immediately after Trump delivered it. I had to step back, breathe deeply to fully digest what No. 45 was saying.

He didn't address the pandemic, the anti-racism demonstrations and the faltering economy. I didn't speak to those issue because he couldn't. It he did talk about them, he would be talking about his failure in leadership and that is something he for which he won't take responsibility. 

But Trump was good at scaring the bejeebus out of the 3,700-or-so who gathered at the national monument. 

His dark vision of America is meant to instill fear and appeal to the supporters who may be wavering on Trump's credibility. There is nothing like fear to get his true believers to the polls.

Final scene: A small contingent of Native Americans were on hand to protest the event that was taking place on land they consider sacred. The US Supreme Court in 1980 ruled that the United States had illegally taken the land from the Sioux tribe. Several of Trump's zealots actually yelled at them, "Go home."

DITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.