Weekly Opinion Editorial
PRESIDENT IS NOT
CONSOLER
IN CHIEF!
by Steve Fair
Is it the job of the president to sooth the
nation during difficult times? Is he the
consoler in chief? Most liberals and
some conservatives believe that is the case.
After the protest in Charlottesville, VA by a white supremacy group
protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee erupted
into a riot between the protesters and the anti-protesters, President Trump
addressed the nation and said that ‘many sides’ were to blame for the violence
that left one woman killed and 19 injured.
Because Trump didn’t specifically single out the white supremacy groups
and condemn them, the mainstream media and politically correct went crazy.
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said the white supremacy
groups were not patriots and got out of bed every morning to ‘hate people and divide
our country.” "Let's be
honest, they need to leave America, because they are not Americans," he said. There is just one problem with that- in America, everyone has the guaranteed right
of free speech. It’s in the first
amendment to the constitution. Should we
deport everyone who disagrees with us?
We have reached a point in America where
no one tolerates anyone who disagrees with them. Republicans and Democrats fight among
themselves and no one is willing to compromise on anything. The infighting in the Republican caucus is why
nothing is moving through Congress. Civil debate is dead. Ideological purity is not just desired, it is
demanded. Anger and bitterness reign the day, fueled by intolerance. Both sides blame the other. The tolerant will not tolerant anyone who disagrees
with them. A college professor commenting
on one of my recent columns says he believes America is on the brink of civil
war. I doubt that because the will to
fight long term is probably not in either group’s DNA, but who knows.
So should President Trump have named the
so-called right wing groups who organized the protests and condemned them as ‘hate
groups?’ Probably, but you may recall President
Obama made a similar mistake when he refused to call out ‘radical Islam’ as the
perpetrator after the Paris attacks. The
firestorm over Trump not naming names is a hundred times worse than when Obama
failed to do it. A president has the ‘bully’
pulpit and can use it to console, but according to the constitution, his
primary job is twofold: to be the CEO of the federal government and the
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
So how do we fix this divide in America? First, we recognize that we are dust of the
earth and humbly acknowledge that only the Creator is omniscient. Second,
we recognize that in America every citizen has the right to express their
opinion, even those who disagree with us.
Third, we stop the name calling, the lying, and the retaliation and
strive for honest civil debate. Fourth,
we pray because until God moves on the heart of the unregenerate, none of the
first three will happen
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