Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“Send her back!”

“Send her back!”

Last updated on: July 18, 2019 at 10:53 am by Dan Peterson

“Send her back!” 2019-07-18T10:53:57-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My loyalty is to the Constitution and to our constitutional republic, not to any politician.(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Trump rally in North Carolina yesterday in which, with reference to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and uncorrected by the President, the crowd began to chant “Send her back! Send her back!”

I’ve already expressed my opinion of the presidential tweet that started all of this. (See here and here.)

I haven’t yet called attention to the absolutely astonishing and utterly Orwellian attempt by one of Mr. Trump’s campaign personnel to rebut criticisms of what the President tweeted:

“Trump Campaign Staffer Claims ‘Twitter is Lying,’ Says President Never Tweeted ‘Go Back’ to House Democrats.”

(For further insight, see William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene v, in which Petruchio plays the role of a Trump campaign staffer and Katharina takes the part of the American public.)

From Wikipedia: “A big lie (German: große Lüge) is a propaganda technique and logical trick (fallacy). The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so ‘colossal’ that no one would believe that someone ‘could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously’.”

Let me now quote the reactions of three conservative commentators to that North Carolina chant. They are reactions with which I agree.

“Anyone who follows me,” wrote Ryan Saavedra of the Daily Wire, “knows that I cover the far-left and that includes Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and I’m aggressive in my reporting which comes from a conservative angle. With that said, chanting ‘send her back’ at Omar is not good. Keep in mind, I am one of her harshest critics.”

“‘Send her back’ is an appalling chant,” wrote Guy Benson, the editor of Town Hall. “Omar is a US citizen. My less-catchy chant would be: ‘Condemn her bigotry, combat her radicalism, and investigate her seriously alleged fraud!'”

“Vile,” wrote the conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. “Omar is awful. She is a radical anti-Semite with terrible views. She is also an American citizen and chanting for her deportation based on her exercise of the First Amendment is disgusting.”

That North Carolina crowd was following the President’s lead. Not only as provided in his now notorious tweet, but as illustrated throughout his political career and even before. Consider, for example, just these two recent examples:

“Donald Trump Lashes Out at ‘Stupid Guy’ U.K. Ambassador Who Called Him ‘Insecure’ in Leaked Emails”

“Trump continues to lash out at British ambassador: Diplomat referred to the president as a ‘pompous fool’ in emails”

“Trump calls Ryan a ‘baby’ after the former speaker blasted him in a new book”

“Trump blasts Paul Ryan as ‘weak, ineffective & stupid’ in fresh attack on ex-Speaker”

I agree with the startling assessment of the distinguished conservative writer George Will, made just the other day on CNN:

“I believe that what this president has done to our culture, to our civic discourse . . . you cannot unring these bells and you cannot unsay what he has said, and you cannot change that he has now in a very short time made it seem normal for schoolboy taunts and obvious lies to be spun out in a constant stream. I think this will do more lasting damage than Richard Nixon’s surreptitious burglaries did.”

As I’ve explained before, the American presidency combines the roles of ceremonial/symbolic “head of state” and practical “head of government” that are separated in many other nations (e.g., in the United Kingdom, with its monarch and prime minister, and in, say, both Israel and Germany, which have a president and a prime minister). Each role is quite important. Our president isn’t merely the chief executive; he also lays the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, honors national champion sports teams, speaks at times of national tragedy, and so forth.

Ideally, a president should be good in both of these roles. Donald J. Trump, however, is plainly inadequate and inappropriate as a head of state. He is coarse, divisive, brazenly dishonest, and anything but a moral exemplar.

Which means, alas, that — as things currently stand — I’m probably going to throw my vote away again in the 2020 presidential election.

The fact that I’ve even thought about possibly voting for Joe Biden — Joe Biden! — illustrates how desperate I am. Still, the Democrat lurch to the left that begins to make Mr. Biden seem moderate by comparison also makes it impossible for me to consider that party right now. They are flirting with quasi-socialist ideas that will blight the economic prospects of millions of Americans and diminish American liberty. And likely Democratic appointments to the federal judiciary would damage the United States for generations to come.

I just can’t go there.

But neither can I, in good conscience, cast a ballot for Mr. Donald J. Trump.

I realize that he’s put conservative people in federal judgeships and, most notably, on the Supreme Court. And I’m very happy about that. Moreover, there are several other appointments and policy decisions of the Trump administration that I’ve supported. I haven’t counted them up, but I probably agree with more of the Trump administration’s policies, both foreign and domestic, than I disagree. However, my form of conservatism is about much more than mere politics and policies. It’s a view of life, of community. A particular vision of social grace.

Perhaps if I didn’t live in Utah, I would have a more difficult time with my decision. But we all know that, pending Ragnarök, my adopted home state will go (however unenthusiastically) for Trump in 2020. No matter what I do.

I can’t recall exactly when it was during the 2016 Republican primaries that I decided that I simply could not vote for Donald Trump. I think it was when he was at a rally and was mocking Senator Marco Rubio, a primary opponent who had been sweating profusely under the hot lights at a very recent Republican debate. (Senator Rubio apparently suffers from the sweat disorder called hyperhidrosis, a frustrating problem that also afflicts a beloved member of my family.) Anyway, as Mr. Trump made fun of “Little Marco Rubio” and, to illustrate how sweaty the Senator had been, ostentatiously and cruelly poured a bottle of water onto the stage beside his podium, I suddenly exclaimed “That’s it. I can’t do it. I can’t vote for such a man.” I considered him not only unpresidential but unworthy of the presidency.

And other disclosures, about his business dealings and his treatment of women and so forth and so on, haven’t done anything to change my view.

So that’s where I still am.

I feel disenfranchised. I’m not happy about it.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 17, 2019

On those living stipends for General Authorities

Next Post

July 18, 2019 "In Good Faith"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Psalm opens with "Blessed is the man"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalm 119 Psalm 1 Psalm 23 Psalm 51