When you hear the term American values, what comes to mind? The pioneering spirit? Hard work and ingenuity? Democracy? Diversity? Bravery? Freedom?
These are all noble qualities of the United States. However, these are not the only valid ways to describe us. We could also use words like contentious, arrogant, short-sighted, hypocritical, materialistic, uncritical, selfish, and oppressive.
We are candidly brazen in our xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, and racism. Our pocketbooks trump the collective good. Millions did not protest on inaugural weekend for nothing. We revel in our moral contradictions and have elected a man who consciously exploits those rifts. This is not good, either at home or abroad.
Our new president is on record as dismissing and minimizing the gravity of another nation interfering with our election. Think about that. What’s worse, he does this while calling into question the legitimacy of our system by claiming voter fraud, which has been roundly rejected by virtually every watchdog organization.
And, he has deemed the news media an enemy of the State, which is a punch in the gut to both the Constitution and journalism. Fake news? Only when it is challenging. Alternative facts? Only when it serves his purposes.
The new mantra is America first, but at what cost? We may have the inclination to see ourselves in the best light, but there is a dark side to what is happening.
The repercussions of the tactics and rhetoric of our new president will most definitely have consequences. I just hope that our most important value – justice --will rise to the top.
I am Joseph Flynn, and that is my perspective.
