Thank you for opposing the president.

Three days after the events of the Charlottesville Nazi rally and I was numb.  I was not shocked or surprised or confused.  Just numb, which is weird because I knew all of this was quite likely.  It makes everything make sense.  Why Trump would support a country that actively halts the rights of its minority groups and has an authoritarian leader.  Why he could not immediately disavow David Duke on the campaign trail.  Why he was so comfortable attacking a Muslim family of a fallen military veteran.  Why he pushes for a trans ban, Muslim ban, and policies that are constantly regressive in all aspects:  Trump's ideology lines up with that of the white supremacy movement.

Now some might notice I did not call him a Nazi.  I won't because despite everything he has said and done he still gets the benefit of the doubt.  He is still an American and the American president.  He still get's the respect of being elected.  It is at a time when punching Nazis and getting them fired would be the easiest to do that we must resist these urges.  Due process does not hold as an ideology if at our lowest it does not hold.

That being understood, what we can do is assess the event that has already transpired and make sense of what got us here.  From there, we do what our enemy can't and won't do.  We strive to be better. So let us examine the actions of our president when his first major national crisis arose.

On Saturday, August 12th of 2017, when a Nazi rally attended by people with shields, body armor and weapons held under the conservative banner went awry the president did not condemn Nazism by name.  This was so apparent prominent sources of white supremacy media repeatedly said it was good he did not do so.  In fact, after 2 days of continued pressure from politicians and the media, when he finally came around to condemning it he was pressured by CNN reporters to respond as to why the delay and his response was to condemn them right then and there.  This is not a confusing or ambiguous moment.  We are all adults here.  The president was uncomfortable.

And we know we cannot take his word.  This is a man who literally lied about getting a call from the Boy Scouts.  There is a rhythm of poetic justice here.  He lied about the size of his inauguration crowd.  He lied about Mexico paying for the wall.  He still won't show his taxes.  There is an investigation currently dogging him and his entire campaign.  A campaign which was constantly criticized for its dubious morality.  The trail is so obvious I already feel silly for putting these thoughts in this order this late in the game.  But I had to be absolutely certain.  These are not accusations that should be made lightly.  It should be very hard and definite to say a man might side with any kind of supremacy.  We are now at that point because of all these proof line up.  President Donald Trump appears to side with white supremacy.

So before we start the long, difficult and brutal road ahead we must pause like all the wise must.  We must gather our will and courage for the people we will clash with.  The president, unknowingly or knowingly, shot the blatant first volley in the war against American principles.  Presidents are men whose power and past require us to value their omissions just as seriously as their inclusions and admissions and all of his now clearly lean pro-white supremacy.  We know that Fox News will continue to carry his banner with very few criticisms.  We know some conservatives who are not racist will side with him just because they still believe the Democrats would be worst, despite all evidence to the clear contrary.  Some will even know all this to be true but have too much of their pride wrapped up in supporting the wrong side of history, unable to suppress their ego enough to do the right thing.  This is quite normal in historical context.  That is how you get a group of people to intentionally put an entire group of people into gas chambers and ovens and still walk away feeling morally superior.

Before we do this a lot of gratitude is in order.  To Americans that are still peacefully fighting for unity.  To Americans going against their better, selfish interests for the greater ideal of compassion and community.  To conservatives who see the wrong and condemn their own brothers and sisters for this immoral stance.  For people engaging their neighbors and friends in the incredibly important daily conversation to reinforce why we hold American ideals high.  To those that challenge pathos with logos and ethos.  Thank you.  None of this would be possible if not for you holding true and strong in your local community.  We are doing very well.  We still have a long way to go but I have nothing but faith in the system the forefathers implemented.  Even at this low end, we have managed to stave off violence and bloodshed on a grander scale.  Many have done much worst for much less.  But we do not hold ourselves to basic standards.  We hold ourselves to the ideal of freedom, equality, liberty, and justice for all.  As long as we fight for those ideals then we are the best Americans we can be.  Failure is a possibility but never an option.  Oorah.