I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The vision of America reflected in the pledge of allegiance seems wistfully ironic today.
It was doubly ironic when First Lady Melania Trump (photo) tweeted sentiments from it in a Martin Luther King Day message. She suggested the U.S. is currently striving for “equality and justice for all.”
Her tweet provoked a firestorm of disbelief. Does she not know what her husband is doing to America?
Even more frightening, does her husband know what he is doing? Does he realize his racist pronouncements and policies are fracturing the nation, setting Americans against one another?
When a reporter asked recently if his description of Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as “sh**holes” reflected racism, Trump replied:
No, no, I’m not a racist. I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed, that I can tell you.
It was not the first time he has made this claim. Could he possibly believe it?
You and I know, of course, that Trump has a lifelong history of apparent racism. We know his father was a racist who reportedly marched with the KKK. Instances of their discriminatory rental practices are well documented.
Still, Trump might not be a racist at heart. He might just think it’s smart to fire up his political base by stoking the flames of racism .
I suspect he doesn’t really believe in anything, and all of his professed views are just posturing.That would explain his frequently contradictory positions.
Obviously, his allegiance is only to himself, not to any country or any race or any deity or any principles.
And that makes him all the more dangerous.
