Nationalism.
Words matter. Nationalism, Patriotism, Globalism, Isolationism.
Here I go again, trying to give our president the benefit of the doubt. It’s a difficult and tricky thing to do because he doesn’t seem to understand that words do matter. Couple that with his IQ and his “Queens-speak”, his narcissistic personality, and you have a guy who struggles to talk and think at the same time. This is not a criticism of President Trump, it’s an observation. Many people suffer from this same affliction. I am guilty of this myself at times, and I’m from Queens so I know the language. But many people are not president of the United States, nor am I. We bear our own personal responsibility for our gaffs and faux pas. As president, however, Mr. Trump puts us all in the crosshairs when he speaks. The crosshairs of the media, and subsequently, the world and history.
President Trump recently claimed to be a “Nationalist” not a “Globalist”.
Here’s the benefit of the doubt that I am, with reservation, giving him. I don’t think he fully understands the historic and political implications of the term Nationalism. I believe he is confusing the word with Patriotism. In his mind Nationalism is the same as Patriotism. You can see where it could be easy to confuse the two. He means he loves America in a patriotic way, but he’s using the word nationalism to mean patriotism. At least, that’s what I hope he means. It’s like when a kid mindlessly uses the F-word in the schoolyard because he heard it at home from his dad. He doesn’t understand the implications, he doesn’t know better. Or when a celebrity mindlessly uses the P-word on an Access Hollywood bus to impress a sycophant, because he doesn’t know better, or cares.
It’s like using the N-word instead of African American, Kraut instead of German, Wop instead of Italian, etc. I know I’m walking a thin line here between hate and ignorance, but sometimes they go hand in hand.
Trump never said “White” Nationalist. Did he imply that, or did he just not know? Far right folks like Trump advisor Steve Bannon and KKK Grand Wizard David Duke know that “Nationalism” means “White Nationalism”. It means white supremacy. I’m hoping Trump doesn’t, but I may be wrong about that. How can an elected American president lean that way? The media focuses on Trump’s apparent racist leanings, so it’s hard to think differently of him. They’ve branded him, or he’s branded himself by proxy. Although the media tends to push the negative in most cases, I want to believe that Trump is just stupid, a clown figure, not a flagrant racist. I want to believe that he is just unaware. Just crazy, not crazy like a fox.
Either way, he’s getting us, America, in hot water both nationally and globally, and he’s putting himself in the crosshairs. We will survive, but it’s not going to end well for him.
During Trump’s recent trip to Paris to participate in the commemoration of the ending of WW I, he was surrounded by his world leadership peers. It was obvious, even to the naked eye of media television cameras, that he was not well received or liked. French president Macron made a point of commenting about Trump’s “Nationalism” comments. Macron wasn’t as forgiving as I’m trying to be about Trump not understanding the meaning of the N-word. As a mature adult, Macron assumes Trump is also a mature adult and knows well its meaning. Macron said this Trump Nationalism doctrine is wrong, dangerous, and that is is tending toward Isolationism for the U.S. He sited, for example, Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Macron called for Europe to create it’s own economy and not to be dependent on the U.S. He called for Europe to create its own military to protect itself from Russia and China, and even the U.S. These are unprecedented and historic words coming from a European American Ally.
Macron suggested that Europe become self-sufficient in all ways if the U.S. insists on a course of “Nationalism”. France, and Europe, know about Nationalism. They have been victims of the meaning of the N-word which resulted in two world wars. They don’t want a repeat of Hitler’s Nazi Third Reich. Nobody wants a WWIII. Trump is either unwittingly, or God help us, by design, leading America in that direction.
Words matter, Mr. Trump.
Former French president, Charles de Gaulle, made the distinction between Nationalism and Patriotism, he said, “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate of people other than your own comes first.
I hope President Trump reads this, and more clearly defines his meaning of his love for America.
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
http://newsbout.com/a/John+Kushma
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