Is This What We Now Become?

By: Mike Kelly
Columnist
USA Today Network

..... Dear Trump Nation:
..... Are you happy now?
..... I posed that question in a column four years ago, On Mauryan 6, 2021, the day President Donald Trump's followers attacked the U.S. Capitol assaulting cops, breaking windows and trashing legislative offices in an effort to overturn a presidential election that Trump lost. As we approach the 50th day of Trump's second presidency - and especially in light of the president;s speech Tuesday [03/04/2025] night to a joint session of Congress - it;s important now to ask another question.
..... What have we become?
..... But let's not limit this to Trump's followers. It's time for Democrats to join in this reflection and ask themselves that same question.
..... Consider this scene less than five minutes into Trump's more than 99-munite address: Trump was in the midst of proclaiming that "American;s momentum is back" and that "the American Dream is surging - bigger and better than ever before." Then, he turned to last November's [2024] presidential election, describing his victory as "a mandate like has not been seen in many decades."
..... To be sure, this statement bordered on exaggeration - and that;s being kind Trump's victory margin over Democrat Kamala Harris was just 1.6%, according to the U.S. Federal Election Commission. But this kind of fact-bending is typical of Trump. He governs the way he ran his casinos years ago in Atlantic City. [NJ] Marketing and especially attention-getting statements are part of the playbook. Truth is a movable feast.
..... Trump had barely uttered the words "American Dream" when Representative Al Green, a 77-year-old Democrat from Houston, was on his feet, waving his cane and shouting at Trump: "You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!"
..... Because of that happed next, it's important to note that Green is Black.
..... Trump paused as Green shouted. And as quickly as you can say. "Let's play-ball," the overwhelmingly white contingent of Republicans on the other side of the House chamber drowned out Green with rhythmic chanting of "USA! USA!" and "sit down." Had the House of Representative been remodeled as a football stadium? Was this a presidential address or a Pepe rally?
..... Good question. House Speaker Mike Johnson banged his gavel and told Green he would be removed if he continued interrupting Trump. But Green did not sit or stop speaking in a tone and manner that bordered on the kind of trash-talking that pases for dialogue in the NBA. A few minutes later, the House sergeant-at-arms escorted Green from the chamber - a Black man being tossed out of a room while hundreds of white people cheered.
..... Dear American: What have we become?
..... Green was wrong in his heckling. Let's not ignore that. There is a time for forceful politician debating. This was not one of them. This was a time to listen. Let Trump have his moment on stage. You can react later.
..... Most Democrats seemed to sense that. Before Trump's speech, party leaders were encouraging Democrats to maintain some semblance of dignity inside the House chamber. The feeling was that Democrats did not want to sink to the kind of verbal insults that House Republican Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado tossed at President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address last year. [2024]
..... But it happened, nonetheless. Al Green took on the persona of Marjorie Taylor Green. And, in urn Republicans jeered.
..... The moment, while brief, is nonetheless significant. It is yet another reminder that far too many of our elected leaders - maybe ordinary Americans, too - have lost their ability to talk to each other.
..... Trump is no angel on this point. Let's be clear about that. He provokes in ways that demand some sort of push-back. In his speech, he dug up his degrading put-down of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who claims to have Native American ancestors, Trump, inn his best 5th-grade schoolyard voice, called her "Pocahontas." On their side of the House chamber, Republicans laughed.
..... These early weeks of his presidency offer plenty of other examples of Trump overstepping what should be basic lines of reasonable politics. How about his outlandish plan to seize the Panama Canal? Or Trump's blatatn, score-setting that includes his reckless order to remove federal bodyguards form critics like former national security adviser John Bolton, who has been targeted by Iran for assassination?
..... Let's also not rule out Trump's penchant for rule -bending, either. Exhibit A here is the still-unexplained effort by Trump's handpicked cronies at the Justice Department to dismiss federal corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in return for Adams' promise to sidestep his city's self-proclaimed sanctuary status and round up undocumented immigrants.
..... And let's not forget Trump's own mandate that allowed Elon Musk and his team of computer geeks to blast into the federal bureaucrat with threats to fire thousands of others write memos explaining their jobs - or face dismissal. Requisition: How do you threaten to fire people without first understanding what they do? (Maybe Musk can put down the chainsaw he waved before a conservative crowd to demonstrate his budget cutting and acutely offer a thoughtful answer. while Musk is doing that, maybe he can lose the black T-shirt, too)

We cannot forget the relentless stream of lies from Trump

..... And finally, there are Trump's falsehoods. Sadly, the list is already long. But the highlights range in recent weeks from the irresponsible to the weird.
..... For example, without evidence, Trump blamed federal diversity programs for a plane crash over the Potomac River that killed 70 people. He claimed the Ukraine started the war with Russia and that U.S. foreign aid included the delivery of 450 million in condoms to the Gaza Strip. To name a few.
..... On Tuesday [03/04/2025] night, trump told several head-spinners. He claimed that "it's been stated by many" that the first month of his presidency [02/2025] "is the most successful in the history of our nation." Many? Now many?
..... Trump added that George Washington's first month as president came in second place. According to? Trump did not say.
..... "I don't know about that list," he noted. "But we'll take it."
..... Keep in mind that this is the president talking.
..... The television, coverage continually showed Republicans smiling, even laughing, as Trump spoke. But let's not be surprised by this. Trump is the epitome of politics-as-entrainment. Even before the speech, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was saying the "joint address will be must see TV."
..... Just like a football game. Or an awards ceremony. Or a trail. Or a reality-TV show like "The Apprentice," which Trump once hosted. In the end, it all blends together for Trump. think of it as the presidency as reality TV.
..... Trump raised the TV theme just days before he spoke to Congress when he and Vice President JD Vance openly argued at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The verbal skirmish was broadcast on live TV - to the world, including those gleeful warmongers in Russia.
..... Actually, it was a deeply painful moment. here was an American president and vice president openly berating the leader of a much smaller nation who is trying to defined his country against brutal Russian aggression. At stake were the lives of millions of people.
..... But Trump had another interpretation at the end.
..... "This is going to be great television,: he said.
..... Which brings us back to that question: What have we become?
..... In the end, answering that question may be the hardest challenge for Republicans and Democrats as they live through Trump's presidency.

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