At first I thought this post’s questioning of why Trump’s dismantling feels different could just be condensed down to “intent matters”. Then the soaring rhetoric kicked in, and as an American I’m just as much a sucker for reading it as you are for writing it.
I think you need to go back in time a little further, though, as many have in this time of soul-searching, as to what promises got broken by America: “It’s a free country” meant you could speak your mind without fear of retribution save for a very few things. That list of items grew exponentially over the last 15 years, and technology allowed purges for things said at that era’s beginning, before people understood that those who wanted this to be the new American Promise were playing for keeps.
That’s just one example, and I’m sure you’ve read others. The larger point is that we, who believe in Americans keeping our promises, have to reckon with the promises that we broke that had been downgraded to “systemic isms” or just downright bad or evil (one more: due process for the accused when they’re males at universities that receive federal funds. Even the promise of federal funds themselves was weaponized by Democrats; doesn’t look so good now!)
But your framing is vital: The Trump Administration is breaking countless promises, to Americans and to the world. I currently despair at how we regain anyone’s trust even if we can save America as we know it, but I guess we will have to start somewhere and continue the work across generations, as others have done before us.
Literary onanism.
At first I thought this post’s questioning of why Trump’s dismantling feels different could just be condensed down to “intent matters”. Then the soaring rhetoric kicked in, and as an American I’m just as much a sucker for reading it as you are for writing it.
I think you need to go back in time a little further, though, as many have in this time of soul-searching, as to what promises got broken by America: “It’s a free country” meant you could speak your mind without fear of retribution save for a very few things. That list of items grew exponentially over the last 15 years, and technology allowed purges for things said at that era’s beginning, before people understood that those who wanted this to be the new American Promise were playing for keeps.
That’s just one example, and I’m sure you’ve read others. The larger point is that we, who believe in Americans keeping our promises, have to reckon with the promises that we broke that had been downgraded to “systemic isms” or just downright bad or evil (one more: due process for the accused when they’re males at universities that receive federal funds. Even the promise of federal funds themselves was weaponized by Democrats; doesn’t look so good now!)
But your framing is vital: The Trump Administration is breaking countless promises, to Americans and to the world. I currently despair at how we regain anyone’s trust even if we can save America as we know it, but I guess we will have to start somewhere and continue the work across generations, as others have done before us.