"Between the riots on Friday and the vulgarity heard and seen during the Saturday march, it was America at her worst. I was embarrassed for all of us."
What a weekend. Frankly, I don't think in my lifetime I have seen one like it before. Starting on Friday, with the swearing in of our 45th President, to the march against everything on Saturday, to the aftermath of the two events on Sunday. If ever anyone was wondering if we did in fact live in two separate Americas, this past weekend was exhibit # 1. It reminded me of what someone said not too long ago - "America is two separate countries living on the same continent."
Issue 1 this weekend - Continuity. When Donald Trump was on the campaign trail, he promised to come in this job with guns blazing (so to speak). To hit the ground running. After all, he is used to running huge complex corporations. However, and most who study government will agree with this - taking the reigns of this country is unlike running any company in the world. As one international expert said this weekend, the "inbox" of our country is already overflowing with problems. And the "inbox" is fuller and more complex than it was eight years ago at this time.
The voters liked the fact that Trump was coming to Washington to drain the swamp. To get rid of a lot of Washington insiders. But right now the White House is basically devoid of anyone who has been there before. Plus, only two of the cabinet picks have been approved and sworn in. Bottom line - the government right now is running with only a fraction of the management needed. Trump needs an inner circle which is complete and can counsel him on a myriad of issues. Right now, much of the management which is in place - are rookies. The rest of the cabinet needs to be sworn in, some staff augmentation needed in the White House, and all that needs to happen early this week - like today.
Issue 2 this weekend - The March. This march on Saturday followed up the violent rioting on Friday night. Between the riots on Friday and the vulgarity heard and seen during the Saturday march, it was America at her worst. I was embarrassed for all of us. None of this happened when we voted in the first mixed race President - twice. None of this happened when we voted in a womanizing philanderer - twice. None of this has happened since the 1960's. And I lived through that time. The coarseness, the invective, the threats on Saturday were much worse than decades past.
Where do we go from here? Are we truly sliding towards Gomorrah, or is this going to be the start of another "morning in America". Those who know me on social media and this blog know I very seldom if ever use coarse language. This weekend I needed to post some vulgar pictures of the march. Why? To shine the light of truth on what much of Saturday was really about. It was like Saul Alinsky himself orchestrated the march and painted up the signs.
One final thing I would like to say about this weekend. During the campaign when Donald Trump would occasionally get wrapped around the axle sparing with someone, he got some sage advice from one of his closest confidants. He told Trump he can either win the argument, or win the Presidency. In other words, don't sweat the small stuff. Don't waste political capital on things like crowd size. Not important.
My advice going forward into this week is we all first hit the "reset" button, and then the "do better" button. We do all of us, owe this country much, much better.
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