Trump's dangerous thirst for a clash of civilizations - By Eugene Robinson
A little learning is a dangerous thing, wrote the poet Alexander Pope. Three centuries later, Popes aphorism perfectly and dangerously describes President Trumps understanding of history as a zero-sum clash of civilizations in which the West can triumph by imposing its will.
The speech Trump delivered Thursday in Warsaws Krasinski Square might have been appropriate when Britannia ruled the waves and Europes great powers held dominion over lesser peoples around the globe. It had nothing useful to say about todays interconnected world in which goods, people and ideas have contempt for borders.
The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive, the president said. Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders? Do we have the desire and the courage to preserve our civilization in the face of those who would subvert and destroy it?
Trump added what he probably thought of as a Churchillian flourish: I declare today for the world to hear that the West will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilization will triumph.
Triumph over whom? Trump mentioned radical Islamic terrorism as one of the enemies posing dire threats to our security and to our way of life, but he didnt stop there. He went on to add Russia and weirdly the steady creep of government bureaucracy to the list. It is appalling that the president would describe patriotic public servants as a kind of fifth column that drains the vitality and wealth of the people, and I guess some precious bodily fluids as well.
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-dangerous-thirst-for-a-clash-of-civilizations/2017/07/06/fb5398ea-6282-11e7-a4f7-af34fc1d9d39_story.html
Girard442
(6,066 posts)Snappy idea. Wonder if anyone has used it before.
COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)slowly descending through the clouds to a cheering throng of MAGA wife-beaters in Ratfuck, Alabama. They could even think of making it an annual event.
Aristus
(66,294 posts)Well done, Mr. Robinson.