Patriotism is not blind submission to authority

Posted 2/28/17

To the Editor: Two East Greenwich residents - Richard Walsh and Allan Bucklin - submitted defenses of the Trump administration. According to Mr. Walsh, we have a civic duty" to unite behind our newly chosen leader. That sounds reasonable but is it?"

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Patriotism is not blind submission to authority

Posted

To the Editor:

Two East Greenwich residents – Richard Walsh and Allan Bucklin – submitted defenses of the Trump administration. According to Mr. Walsh, we have "a civic duty" to unite behind our newly chosen leader. That sounds reasonable but is it? Walsh wants us to give unquestioning obeisance to a

barely-elected authority figure whose ideas (what there are of them) and actions don't comport with established standards of presidential behavior. Walsh entreats us to forgo eight years of progress in civil rights, gender rights, and women's rights as well as peaceful co-existence with our friends in other nations and agree to trade these hard-won gains for a needless regression; to snatch health care away from the needy; to deprive LGBT citizens of equal rights; and allow elimination of these things without protest.

Walsh thinks we should ignore Republican self-serving disregard for elementary science; should idly stand by while they bury climate change information, dismiss environmental needs, and sponsor drilling and game hunting in national parks. He considers it our duty to close our eyes to their profound

contempt for women's rights manifested by their imposing unnecessary impediments to safeguarding and maintaining women's health; instituting religious bans and tests for immigrants; and demonstrating a woeful complacency about gun control by allowing mentally ill people to purchase guns (ironic

since Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell once said, "Guns don't kill people; mentally ill people kill people"). And, as the captain of the Titanic opined, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The present administration has demonstrated in a few short weeks that their primary concern is self-aggrandizement, self-enrichment, and alienating our friends while appeasing our enemies. Trump trumpets his election result endlessly, lying unabashedly about official totals and inflating his win to

grandiose levels. Additionally, he profits from the presidency by raising membership fees at his golf club (consequently providing the rich with unfettered presidential access), sought business favors from China (which were constantly refused until he assumed office), and keeps control of his many businesses through his family connections. Trump rails against "illegal

immigrants" even though he married an immigrant and his forebears were also immigrants, uses them in his hotels and have his son Eric has apply to receive more visas for additional foreigners to work for his corporations -- over and above those currently in the family's employ. Trump insults friends, mocks the handicapped, berates veterans and Gold Star mothers, while

ignoring hacking by enemies who may be subverting our elections.

Walsh warns that "dark forces" are striving to destroy us. At first he appears to refer to Muslim extremists but in a subsequent paragraph he mentions "our nation is in great danger now, not as much from outside sources, as from our very own people, who through their own anger and hatred, their

disillusionment with the results of our elections." This contradicts Walsh's passionate pleas for unification since he is in essence accusing those who oppose Trump of being unpatriotic at best or traitorous at worst.

Then, like so many other Republicans, Walsh claims higher ground by invoking God as an ally. He says we must "support our new leaders who we discern are doing God's work and [should] pray powerfully for their direction and guidance." I don't know how Walsh discerned that the Almighty favors the

GOP; God definitely told me Trump was an agent of the dark side (see, two can play at that game). So let's leave religion out of the political realm since the Constitution requires it but, more importantly, because everyone thinks God is on their side, and thus no one can claim priority. We have enough problems without waging a Christian jihad on behalf of a narcissistic blowhard.

Allan Bucklin preached a similar theme, saying (among other inanities) that Trump's Cabinet was grade A. This all-white assemblage (except for token Negro Ben Carson) is composed of billionaires and millionaires - many of whom actually have pledged to either abolish the very department they now head or work(ed) for organization complicit in the last recession. Doesn't sound too patriotic to me.

Patriotism means not blindly submitting to authority, especially when that authority acts at variance with our ideals. If we knuckled under to power, the Revolutionary War wouldn't have happened and we'd bow or curtsey to the current queen. No one would have composed and signed the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Paine wouldn't have written "Common Sense." We'd salute the Union Jack while singing something other than the National Anthem.

Those who stand against forces that threaten what we've built over two hundred years are the true patriots.

Barry Nordin

Warwick

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  • JohnStark

    Mr. Nordin, You would have saved us a lot of time by simply stating the following: "Trump is icky. He has nominated people to cabinet positions who have actually accomplished something in their lives, and he wishes to keep us safe. Shockingly, he seeks to reduce tax rates and, worst of all, he's rich!!!" Now a few questions: What, exactly, is an "LGBT citizen" and which "rights" is Trump seeking to deprive? How does he wish to "...forgo eight years of progress in civil rights", given that race relations are worse than they've been in 25 years? How has he demonstrated "contempt for womens' rights"? I could go on and on, but why not simply conclude your remarks as follows: "We need more and bigger government. We need more people dependent upon government. We need more Producers to pay for more government, and we need more career hacks to oversee more government regulations that will strangle more businesses and result in more people becoming...,more dependent upon government." See, wasn't that easy? It's called the Rhode Island Model.

    Thursday, March 2, 2017 Report this