On Many Sides - Donald Trump Refuses To Condemn Neo-Nazis/White Supremecists

Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.

Only yesterday:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides.

On many sides.

That's what he said. That is what Donald J. Trump said.

He said it a few hours after this happened in Charlottesville, Virginia:

Video recorded at the scene of the car crash shows a 2010 gray Dodge Challenger accelerating into crowds on a pedestrian mall, sending bodies flying — and then reversing at high speed, hitting yet more people. Witnesses said the street was filled with people opposed to the white nationalists who had come to town bearing Confederate flags and anti-Semitic epithets.

So far one person dead and 19 injured. The dead and injured were among those opposing the Neo-Nazis and white supremacists protesting the removal of this statue from Emancipation Park. Formerly known as Lee Park, it was named after the Confederate General who committed treason by levying war against the United States of America in order to protect the institution of slavery.

As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

At the tiki-torched prelude-protest the night before, this is what happened:

Hundreds of white nationalists marched and rallied at the University of Virginia Friday night. They carried torches and chanted, "You will not replace us and "Jews will not replace us."

The day of the protest Joe Heim, staff writer for the Washington Post tweeted this:

Now chanting "go the fuck back to Africa"and "nigger" at black woman across the street pic.twitter.com/zOxUlYIpOQ

— Joe Heim (@JoeHeim) August 12, 2017

This is who invaded Charlottesville this weekend. Racists and bigots of various seasonings and at least one white domestic terrorist - the guy driving the gray Dodge Challenger.

And yet Trump took it upon himself to condemn the "egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides."

As if both sides, the racists and those opposing them, held something even remotely resembling equal responsibility for the violence brought to Charlottesville by the racists protesting the removal of the Confederate statue of the guy defending the institution of slavery.

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we will save our country.

And then:

The president ignored several questions, shouted by reporters after his remarks, about white nationalists who support his presidency and whether he has denounced them in strong enough terms. While leading politicians from both parties specifically denounced the white-nationalist cause of the protesters, Trump seemed careful to avoid doing the same.

Gee, I wonder why.

Could this be the answer? From Think Progress:

The popular white supremacist site Daily Stormer called Trump’s remarks “really good,” noting that he “didn’t attack us.” They were also pleased he ignored a question about white supremacists after making his statement.

And:

Some commentators on the white nationalist message board Stormfront also praised Trump, with one noting that the president’s comments could just as easily be read as a criticism of Black Lives Matter.

Which I think is entirely the point.

This is the world we now inhabit.

My fellow citizens. We can not escape history. - That is what he said. That is what Abraham Lincoln said.