The 'Dark and Divisive' media

Ed Achorn:
Has it become “dark” and “divisive” to celebrate America and such icons of freedom as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln?

According to elements of the American news media it has — at least if a politician they detest is doing the celebrating.

“Trump pushes racial division, flouts virus rules at Rushmore,” the Associated Press headlined its coverage of an ostensibly patriotic speech the president delivered at Mount Rushmore Friday night.

How did he push racial division? According to AP, he did so by celebrating the presidents honored at Mount Rushmore. He also deplored the destruction of monuments around the country in riots that have destroyed billions of dollars’ worth of property.

In the AP’s stacked and disappointingly racist language, that constituted “a direct appeal to disaffected white voters.” Why would it not constitute an appeal to disaffected black voters, as well? Polls show most Americans of all races oppose rioting and looting, and support law and order.

The AP said the president was “accusing protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a ‘merciless campaign to wipe out history.’”

Not really. He was not accusing, in the AP’s Orwellian phrase, “protesters who have pushed for racial justice.” He was accusing rioters who have unlawfully destroyed and defaced monuments. Those would seem to be different things. Indeed, the president spoke of the “cherished” First Amendment, which guarantees the people’s right to assemble peaceably.

“The president dug further into American divisions Friday, offering a discordant tone to an electorate battered by a pandemic and wounded by racial injustice following the high-profile killings of Black people,” the AP reported.

Is it, in truth, “discordant” to celebrate the greatness of America around Independence Day, marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in 1776? That document revolutionized the world — and ultimately destroyed slavery — by asserting that “all men are created equal.”

Must it be an act of “discord” to honor the Declaration? Or could it be exactly the opposite: a celebration of what joins us together as Americans — the ideal of equal opportunity and equal justice? May we no longer celebrate that ideal without being attacked as divisive? Are we no longer permitted to think beyond tribal identifies?

“Our Founders launched not only a revolution in government, but a revolution in the pursuit of justice, equality, liberty, and prosperity. No nation has done more to advance the human condition than the United States of America. And no people have done more to promote human progress than the citizens of our great nation,” the president said.
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There is more in this excellent piece.  Achorn asks If black Americans want their neighborhoods torched and destroyed and their businesses burned out?  Do they not want the police to respond when they call for help.  The mischaracterization of the President's remark by the media tells you more about their own sickness and hatred than it does about what was actually said.

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