Trump's Independence Day Speech: My Impressions: Pt. 1

I could only listen to the first half of it, because I find him almost physically painful to listen to when he gives a speech.

   Was his speech "dark and divisive," racist, etc., as the PMSM claimed?

   Not according to me.

   It was a more-or-less standard kind of 4th of July speech, IMO--well, the first half, anyway.

   I do have to obliquely agree with the TDS crowd in a way, though.

   I kinda think that somebody exceptional--maybe Obama...maybe The Big Dog...I dunno...maybe it'd have to be somebody truly exceptional...like Lincoln... Anyway: they could have at least had a go at rising above the current troubles, and maybe held out a hand to the...well...the crazies on the other side...

   It would be possible to say something roughly like: we're in danger of being torn apart. A lot of our countrymen on the other side have legitimate fears and valid sentiments. They are mistaken--unwarranted police killings of unarmed black men are exceedingly rare. They've been led to believe--by the media and extreme radical intellectuals and activists--that black men are being indiscriminately mowed down. But it simply isn't true. If it were true, then their violent reaction might be warranted. But it isn't. We've got to keep in mind that they're mostly not bad people, but good people who have been mislead. Our nation has done terrible things, and we don't deny that. But also great things. And we've made great progress. And, contrary to the prevailing view on the leftward fringe, we aren't a racist nation permeated by racism. We've got more to do, but much more has already been done. And our only hope--and the only hope of the world--is for America to focus on its many accomplishments, and to keep getting incrementally better. Descending into irrational hatred of America is foolishness based on falsehood, and a blueprint for disaster.

   But...that wouldn't work. 

   There are "dark and divisive" forces in contemporary American politics. But they're on the left. You can identify them by looking for the Blackshirts with masks rampaging through cities, killing people and burning buildings. Don't try to complicate something that's actually fairly straightforward. 

   Trump's extremely suboptimal. I'd rather we had someone else at the helm. But we basically only have two options, of which he's the least-bad, so far as I can tell.

   For the record, several on the right think the speech was a home run. I guess I'm not seeing that so far.