I've been debating back and forth since last Wednesday whether to comment on these issues and have started to write a response several times, only to change my mind and delete it. I am feeling motivation once again to type.
I have been a Trump supporter since day one, but I have also been critical of him when I thought it was warranted.
This is one of those times. But my criticism is limited to the manner in which he reacted to the violence of last Wednesday in not immediately and harshly condemning it. He has since made different statements as has press secretary Kayleigh McEnany which were more appropriate to the situation.
I have to be critical of Trump here if I want to be 100% honest, objective, and fair - something that many of my Democrat countrymen still refuse to be themselves. On Wednesday, I lost a bit of respect for Trump due to the way that he first responded to the Capitol mob; I gained a
huge amount of respect for the bulk of the Republican politicians who unconditionally condemned the Capitol mob; and I lost
HUGE HUGE respect for Schumer, Pelosi, and they rest of those undeniable hypocrite D's for the way that they conditionally condemned some rioters and domestic terrorists while excusing others. (And just by the way, I did not realize prior to last Wednesday that I would be able to add more to my Republican respect jar, nor that it was possible to extract any more respect from my Democrat respect jar).
What happened on Wednesday was wrong and anyone who broke any laws should be put into prison. I don't even have a problem with some of those assholes getting a life sentence. What they did was 100% wrong and unwarranted. Is Donald Trump to blame for their wrong actions? I personally don't believe so. He certainly got them riled up, but he did not command/control them. They had free will. If Donald Trump is held responsible for their actions, then Bernie Sanders should be held responsible for the lunatic who shot up the Republican baseball practice nearly killing Steve Scalise. But I won't go there or open that can of worms...
No. Donald Trump's mistake in this series of events for which he absolutely deserves criticism and I am here to dish it out, is for not coming out more strongly against the anarchy.
But the
exact same criticism should be leveled out against Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and all of the other lying self-righteous hypocrites who excused the Antifa and BLM rioters/anarchists/domestic terrorists in the Pacific Northwest (and throughout the country actually). There is no difference between the illegal acts of either mob. (Some will even argue that it was Antifa plants in the Capitol mob who actually initiated the breach with the mob mentality taking over others in the crowd. I am not going to address that conspiracy theory because it would not excuse the culpability of those who followed through with the anarchy).
In July, BLM and Antifa rioters/domestic terrorists, attacked and
attempted to take over a Federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. There were also violent riots and lootings throughout the country which resulted in death, destruction, and other mayhem. Take you pick of any Democratic political leader or mainstream media outlet and those rioters/anarchists/domestic terrorists were referred to as peaceful protestors (as media footage shows the arson), their violence was excused, and many celebrities donated millions of dollars for bail money of those who were arrested.
I respect Republican leaders who called out and condemned
both groups as rioters/anarchists/domestic terrorists regardless of their political point of view or motivations. I have zero respect for Democratic leaders and mainstream media who excuse the violent acts of those who have the same political persuasion while vilifying the
SAME violent acts committed by those who have an opposing viewpoint.
And - again - to be true to myself and to God and to my fellow countrymen,
I do call out Donald Trump for failing to more harshly and immediately condemn those actions that the Capitol mob took on Wednesday. But I most certainly and definitely
do not take back or negate any of my acknowledgement or praise of the
MANY positive and good things that Donald Trump has accomplished over the past four years for the country that many people wrongfully refuse to give him any credit for.
ALL protests which cross over the line to the point of domestic terrorism/rioting/anarchy should be punished. The motivation or
perceived political persuasion of the guilty parties or to whom they give their allegiance should have no bearing on how they are portrayed by the media or by [friend or foe] politicians.
In summary: Republicans (excluding Trump) acted highly honorably (as usual);
Democrats in general (and Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden in particular) acted despicably (as usual);
Trump (unfortunately, but admittedly) did not handle this situation well at all.