Silver Linings

[I] The Parties of Truth and Falsehood

   I promised myself and anybody listening to keep down comments about Trump, so don’t consider these remarks to be about the president.
   Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, was reported to have said that the media should keep their mouths shut, that they are the “opposition party.” Well, I think Bannon was right about the media—in what he said, though not in what he meant.

   I have been very pleased—an emotion not much felt these days—about how frankly, how in a very clear way the press have stated that Mr. Trump is lying—using that word. In more than one article the Times has been utterly explicit in stating that Trump is saying what is false while knowing that it is false. In my press reading it is unusual that a publication would be so blunt, so explicit, not to mention about the president of the United States. Hint, yes, suggest, but seldom actually accusing the president of being a liar.
   As I said, Mr. Bannon was correct with his opposition party accusation. That makes the media the party of truth, while Donald Trump and his hangers-on constitute the party of falsehood. I hope the press in its various guises will keep it up.

There are no expectations that the “establishment” will change as it is in power. Some people might be able to get used to that; I don’t think that I can.

[II] Healthy Reactions

      Everyone who pays some attention to the news knows by now that our president has taken a major step to act on the 1940s meaning of America First when that stood for isolationism and keeping the United States out of the coming war agains Hitler’s Germany. Now “America First” has tacitly taken on the meaning that America is essentially a Christian country: Muslims stay out.

   At least those who are not here already. Trump’s ill thought out order has created an untold amount of hardship and downright chaos, as the lives of a huge number of people have been affected—from merely inconvenienced to—much more frequently—stopped in their tracks, literally and suddenly, and forced into impossible situations. I’m not very good at succinctly summarizing the havoc that Trump’s action has caused, but the press and the internet are full of detailed accounts and descriptions—for the rare reader of these comments who is not already informed.

   The present remarks, however, want to draw your attention, if that is needed at all, to a silver lining. The reaction to Trump’s move has been fabulous. Not from the Republicans; most of them have to be hit over the head a few more times before they wake up. But many organizations, with  predictable examples and unexpected ones. These groups and individuals are not only making statements to the effect that immigrants have made and are making untold contributions to American society, but they are asserting in loud and clear voices that keeping out would-be Americans for their religion or for the places from where they comes Is Not What America Is, Is Not Who We Are.

   There are instances where there are grounds for being suspicious of patriotism. But these protestors are not shouting, my country right or wrong. They are demanding what is right.