I’m officially sick to death of hearing from Donald Trump and the Republican Party that this or that Democrat or liberal or leftist (yes, wow, those are three different things!) “hates America.”
Of course, the requirements for them to unleash the “you hate America” screams are simple: oppose Donald Trump and/or talk about how America can do better in terms of social or economic justice.
But you know who really hates America?
Donald Trump hates America.
Donald Trump — who all of a sudden is Mr. Love It Or Leave It — literally ran on the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”: a direct statement that America (in his opinion) was not, at the time he was running for president, great.
Now, Trump goes around saying he loves America. It’s great now, apparently! But words are wind, and actions speak louder. If Donald Trump truly loves America, then why is it that everything he says and does serves to diminish everything that makes America great?
If you love America, Donald, why are you poisoning its waterways? It’s the American people who drink the water that you’re allowing irresponsible companies to dump literal actual poisons into.
If you love America, Donald, why are you letting its citizens get ripped off by scam artists with no repercussions?
If you love America, Donald, why are you destroying our national forests?
If you love America, Donald, why are you gutting the USDA, which protects the American people from eating bad food that can make us sick or even kill us?
If you love America, why did you stand there in Helsinki and make treasonous statements beside the man who attacked our democracy? If you love America, why did you accept and encourage the Russian government’s meddling in our election? If you love America, why do you deny that this happened when the people whose jobs it is to protect America are telling you that it did?
And perhaps most salient of all, if you love America so much, why do you hate so many of its people, including many of its most inspiring success stories?
You hate America, Donald. You hate everything that makes America what it is. You hate our diversity. You hate our freedom of the press. You hate our freedom of speech. If they cost businesses a single dollar, you hate the regulations that keep us alive and healthy. You love nothing but yourself… and perhaps Ivanka.
Mitch McConnell hates America.
Of all the people who hate America, I’m convinced that Mitch McConnell hates it the most.
If Mitch McConnell loved America, he wouldn’t have sided with our enemies for the sake of partisan politics when he was told that our election — the very foundation of our democracy — was under attack.
If Mitch McConnell loved America, he wouldn’t have abused the rules of the Senate to prevent the government from working normally under President Obama.
If Mitch McConnell loved America, he wouldn’t have violated his duty to the Constitution by refusing to even allow the Senate to consider the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court… and then openly admitting that he did it because of partisan politics.
If Mitch McConnell loved America, he wouldn’t welcome Donald Trump’s attacks on four duly elected American women who want nothing but to help our nation succeed now and in the future. And he wouldn’t irresponsibly throw the word “socialism” around when discussing their proposals to save America — and humanity — from catastrophe.
You hate America, Mitch. You have intentionally been derelict in your constitutional duties, directly assaulting the very core of America, for no reason but to gain more power.
The Republican Party hates America.
When Trump was on the campaign trail in 2016, where were the Republicans telling Trump, “If you don’t like it, leave”? Oh, right, that statement only applies to Democrats and people of color.
At every opportunity, the Republican Party has, as a coordinated and unified force, supported the dismantling of our institutions, the evisceration of our democracy, and the destruction of our very future.
It’s the Republican Party that has gotten in bed with fossil fuel interests to cast doubt on the facts of the climate crisis even though those fossil fuel companies themselves knew this crisis was in the works more than 40 years ago. They could have stopped it, but they didn’t. For money. And the Republicans have been only too happy to take their money, leaving the American people exposed to more and more dangerous fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes… the list goes on.
It’s the Republican Party that has made gerrymandering — that is, the corruption of democracy and the systematic disenfranchisement of voters for the purposes of partisan gain — a cornerstone of its electoral strategy. It’s the Republican Party that intentionally purges minorities from the voter rolls to win elections. It’s the Republican Party that manipulated the elections and recounts in Florida and Ohio to deliver wins for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.
Donald Trump hates America. Mitch McConnell hates America. The Republican Party hates America. It’s time for them to start hearing it.