Trump divides rather than unites

Editor:

The words of President Trump declaring himself as “your president of law and order’ and “an ally of all peaceful protestors” rang hollow when he was simultaneously ordering police to use rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse several hundred people conducting a peaceful protest in front of the White House. In the same speech he said police should “dominate the streets” and threatened to “deploy the United States Military and quickly solve the problem.”

It would be charitable to suggest the president simply has not read, or does not understand the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It reads, in part, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

President Trump apparently does not believe in this basic principle of democracy. His past glorification of dictators, his current threats to deploy “thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers,” and his future plans for a massive 4th of July military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, is a concern to all who believe in our constitution.

Trump emphasizes division and debasement, when the nation needs a plan to move forward with empathy and compassion. As he refers to protestors as terrorists, suggests Friday was a “good day” for recently murdered George Floyd, and draws on words from racist tirades of the past, one truth has become painfully clear: President Trump continues to divide rather than unite and is failing in his duties as president of this great nation.

Pete Hellios

Granton