It’s Never Been Normal

Donald Trump’s grimly racist Mount Rushmore speech evokes a little curiosity, especially in light of his repeated appeals to Nazi and white nationalist iconography.  We were all taught to admire Mount Rushmore, though some of us also learned to be suspicious. But guess what: the guy who designed Mount Rushmore also did Stone Mountain, the grandest piece of Confederate iconography. And he served on Klan committees. 

So what are the odds Trump’s fascy iconographers chose Mt. Rushmore for a reason?

I mean, consider what our Racist in Chief had to say.

Seventeen seventy-six represented the culmination of thousands of years of Western civilization and the triumph not only of spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy and reason.... Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.

That’s white nationalist discourse, undiluted. Today Trump carried his race war to Twitter, where he attacked Bubba Wallace, NASCAR's only Black driver and defended the display of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events. I’m not sure Wallace has handled every detail of his situation perfectly, but when somebody finds a noose in their garage, I’d extend a little latitude. By the way, Wallace isn’t even the one who reported the noose. None of that matters in Trump’s race war.

But, hey we celebrated Independence Day! Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s first National Security Advisor, who has been on the paychecks of Turkey and Russia, used the Independence Day holiday to make his friends take the QAnon pledge.

What a bizarre thing to do. Especially if you’re a retired general. And especially if you know anything about Qanon. Flynn’s son is notorious for peddling wacky conspiracy theories.

The point with Flynn is, it’s been this way from the beginning. The racism. The disloyalty. The unfounded conspiracy theories. We shouldn’t be surprised at all that yesterday, confronted by Trump’s claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are “totally harmless,” FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn replied, “I’m not going to get into who’s right and who is wrong.”

It’s never been normal. Nothing’s changed. And Americans are still dying.