Critics of President Donald Trump focus on his tweets and then wonder why he spends so much time responding to them. But why do they pay so much attention to his tweets at all? Maybe they realize that many Americans are elated to finally have a president who stands up for himself.
The left complains about how badly Republicans treated President Bill Clinton. But he himself has compromised himself in the Oval Office. And as America’s highest elected official, he has committed the crime of perjury.
Democrats also complain that conservatives have said terrible things about President Barack Obama. But look at his record.
He nationalized health care—a sixth of the economy—and in the process undermined the world’s largest health care system. He forced America to retreat abroad, with disastrous consequences. He used the IRS to harass his critics. He held no one accountable for the murder of Americans in Benghazi. He added $9 trillion to the national debt. What good things could be said about him?
Finally, the left is outraged by the appalling treatment—the usual litany of “isms”—of Hillary Clinton. Yet her scandals run the gamut from Whitewater and shady cattle deals to Benghazi and hidden emails. The brazen brand of self-aggrandizement evident at the Clinton Foundation first emerged with the firing of the White House travel staff when her husband became president. Yet who, except conservatives, was willing to point out her misconduct?
President Trump has behaved like none of them. His only crime is being unusually truthful for a politician.
Sure, people have a right to criticize the president. And no doubt, if you’re a progressive or a liberal, you don’t like what he’s doing: appointing a solid constitutionalist to the Supreme Court. Restoring U.S. leadership abroad. Restoring justice to the Justice Department. Securing America’s borders. Addressing the damage of Obamacare.
Fixing Barack Obama’s mistakes is strenuous work. And the president is making a difference.
Which probably explains the truly vile behavior of the left. Their ranks are not content with saying that the Trump administration’s policies won’t work. They applaud the idea of violence against America’s president.
Forget the antics of MSNBC’s morning show. The hosts are dishonest and shrill, but that’s par for the course in mainstream media today. What’s astonishing is the vile attacks exaggerated by supposedly establishment journalists.
And think of Hollywood stars who take themselves so seriously that they have to tell everyone what they think.
Last month, actor Johnny Depp asked the crowd, “When was the last time an actor assassinated a president?” He added, “It’s been a while, and maybe it’s time.” Yes, the last time was in 1865, when John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln, a president even contemporary liberals claim to respect. Depp later apologized, saying he was “just trying to make a joke.”
Of course, being an actor doesn’t make someone a comedian. And even professional comedians sometimes can’t make people laugh. When Kathy Griffin’s stunt with President Trump’s bloody, severed head went viral, she admitted to being a victim because people didn’t get the “joke.”
At least those two were one-off “performances.” The New York City Public Theater’s production of Julius Caesar at Shakespeare in the Park features the titular character being stabbed to death with great gusto halfway through the play. This “Roman” is wearing a suit, unruly blond hair, a red tie, and a wife with a Slovenian accent. I wonder who he’s supposed to be?
The real Caesar was a general who used his military successes to destroy the republic and become a dictator. It’s a great story, and in 1937 Orson Welles famously used the play to attack Italy’s Benito Mussolini, who was a fascist dictator and later allied with Adolf Hitler in World War II.
But President Trump, freely elected by the American people and operating within the framework of the U.S. Constitution, portrayed as Caesar? And deserving of assassination? Really?
Of course, no one involved in these incidents has said they support hurting the president. But a few weeks ago, a Nebraska Democratic Party official said he was “glad” that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise had been shot. Not only that, but “I wish he was [expletive] dead.”
Phil Montag made the remarks to Chelsey Gentry-Tipton, chairwoman of the state party’s Black Caucus, who had earlier noted that it was “so funny” to watch GOP lawmakers “crying live on TV” over the horror of the attack. She added, “Yeah, I have a hard time feeling sorry for them.”
And liberals accuse President Trump of demeaning American political discourse?
Americans have always engaged in vigorous debate. They should continue to do so. But vigorous does not mean cruel and mean. It is time for decent liberals to hold their less principled colleagues accountable.
J. Kenneth Blackwell, former mayor of Cincinnati and secretary of state of Ohio, is a member of the Policy Council and senior fellow of the American Civil Rights Union.
