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Rotherham for US News, “American Greatness Is Lost on Trump”

  • August 31, 2017
  • Andrew J. Rotherham

The president almost never celebrates the U.S., instead griping about perceived ills.

Here’s something curious and hidden in plain sight: For all his talk about “making America great again,” President Donald Trump spends precious little time actually talking about American greatness. From the campaign to his dark nomination acceptance, a dystopian inaugural address, right up to the present, when is the last time you heard the president talking about the strengths and beauty of America with the frequency or fervor he talks about perceived ills or his critics? A city upon a hill this is not.

Trump tosses rhetorical bouquets at soldiers and first responders, and his scripted Warsaw speech underlined the importance of Western values – but then he came home and continued his off-the-cuff attacks on the media. We get “fire and fury,” but a lot less about our ideals and values. When is the last time you heard the president thank America for the opportunities he and his family enjoyed and enjoy here in this great land today? His wife is an immigrant, yet we hear little of the celebration of how immigrants made and continue to make this land great. He rarely celebrates the rich American story of progress and possibility. Instead, despite all the advantages he’s enjoyed, the president is the man from nope.

Continue reading at U.S. News. 

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