Well, That Was Weird

The election was chaotic, unnerving, difficult to follow and even frightening at times. Both candidates performed as expected. Trump was dishonest, bullying and erratic. Biden was calmer, but did not communicate as effectively as he might have. For example, he did not explain that the reason Obama left so many judicial positions vacant is because Mitch McConnell would not let the senate confirm many of Obama’s nominees. Call it a draw, but with Biden’s solid lead in the polls, a draw is all he needed. I think I speak for many Americans when I say do we have to do this two more times and can’t we just watch the baseball playoffs instead.

White Supremacists, Swastikas, Confederate Flags and Violent Responses →

It is, of course, unlikely that chattel slavery will return to the US, or that genocide against Jews and wholesale murder of LGBT people will happen in the US, but history has made it clear that there are never any guarantees about questions like these. Given that, a strong argument can be made not just that occasional violence can be excused in response to these symbols, but that violence is the only rational and morally acceptable response. That may sound extreme, but it was not that long ago that young American men were required to violently oppose Nazis, while those who refused were called traitors.

Charlottesville and Emboldened White Supremacists

These are sad days for the United States. A petulant, willfully ignorant, bigoted man-child has encouraged the most bigoted, ugliest, vulgar and intolerant among us to wave their racist flag high, knowing they have support from the White House. It is significant that the violence in Charlottesville originated as citizens gathered to defend a statue celebrating a traitorous regime that sought to destroy the union more than 150 years ago. If the US surveys this current crisis, it is likely that is how historians will view the Trump administration as well.

Lincoln Mitchell