Headlines Friday evening read of President Trump’s praise of confederate general Robert E. Lee at a “Make America Great Again” rally. Debate quickly broke out on social media.
“Robert E. Lee was a great general, and Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia," said Trump. "He couldn’t beat Robert E. Lee.”
Media coverage included this and Trump’s assertion that “Lincoln had almost developed a phobia because he was having a hard time with a true great fighter and a great general, Robert E. Lee.”
The majority of coverage seemed to exclude what Trump went on to say.
Trump said, “But Grant figured it out, and Grant is a great general, and Grant came from right here,” speaking to the Ohio crowd.
Enough outcry erupted that the exclusion of this conclusion became a news story in and of itself.
I don't think Trump was genuinely praising Lee, so much as he was attempting to illustrate how great the Union General Ulysses S. Grant was in defeating him, given that he was appealing to a crowd in Ohio, Grant’s birthplace.
The manipulation of a Union general’s memory by a man who has represented regression and racism in the United States is not lost on me. Nor is Trump’s eagerness to characterize Abraham Lincoln, the man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, as weak. But I do not hold myself responsible for the words of the president.
I do hold myself partially responsible for the actions of the left.
Speaking as a proud liberal, I am disappointed by this particular framing of Trump’s words. In excluding the full context, we have lost credibility.
With phrases like “fake news” bouncing around, we cannot give Trump supporters anything to fuel their fire. They remember our mistakes and hold them against us.
There’s no shortage of outrageous sound bites or real stories that sound like clickbait with Trump in office. Journalism like this is not only irresponsible but could not be more unnecessary.
As Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high.”
When we lose the moral high ground in an argument, we have already let them defeat us, in a way.
I am tired of seeing nicknames like “Cheeto Man” and jabs at the size of the President’s hands. In mocking any man’s physical appearance, we go against what we, as a party, stand for. When this man could be held responsible for the separation of families or the banning of immigrants, why is his body what we are most eager to make fun of?
We raise our children to be respectful, to be kind, but we stop holding ourselves to these standards as we grow older. Cheap shots may be easier than admitting we are frustrated, we are angry and we are afraid. But that does not justify their use.
We discredit the left when we make these sort of jokes and manipulate these sort of stories. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard.
I am proud to be a liberal, but I do not feel pride when I see a low blow against this man. It is mean and I want to protect our credibility. Every joke we waste and every story told out of context to generate buzz is a wasted opportunity to discuss a real issue and to point out the threats this man poses.
We must set a good example. We must do better so that we, as nation, can get better.
