D-Day and MAGA: Two Different Americas

The substitution of statesmanship with social media posts – the digital equivalent of grunting. What would have been one of the best and most honorable jobs in the world – White House speechwriter – is now one of the worst. Indeed, near-interns gleefully re-sending memes of Trump as the Pontiff seemingly have more influence over the course of events.

In all of this, including its post-truth parameters, we are at risk of losing a shared sense of right and wrong. We are at risk of losing the inherently conservative civic center that our polity has previously self-regulated towards and on which our prosperity and security was built. That is tragic, as moral vacuums are where tyrants are most comfortable and ordinary citizens most vulnerable.

I have shared dark thoughts, but I pray they are not paralyzing. One of the greatest temptations of the current era is to be resigned to the latest mess that we wake up to in our media feeds. We should resist that temptation at all costs; one way to do so is to remember a time when the American project was indeed a beacon for the poor and the oppressed of the entire world, the land of human rights, freedom and opportunity, and the home of robust democratic institutions designed for checking and balancing power in the Republic. It’s by holding on to this history, including the extraordinary events of D-Day and its ethos, that we hold in our hearts the hope of a better America.

Source: Pete Shmigel