Political Irony

On Wednesday, trying to justify his sending federal agents into multiple cities, Donald Trump said the following:

No mother should ever have to cradle her dead child in her arms simply because politicians refused to do what is necessary to secure their neighborhood and to secure their city.

Trump seems unaware that the whole point of the BLM protests is because black people — like George Floyd, and including a 12-year-old boy holding a toy gun — are actually dying. And Trump (who, is a politician, or at least is trying to play one) is unwilling to do anything about it. In fact, he seems hell-bent to make the situation worse. But I guess when Trump envisions a mother and her dead child, he sees only white people.

Speaking of Trump playing a politician, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge had a great quote on Wednesday, where he made fun of Trump’s “reality TV approach”.

I’m not even sure they have a plan. Have they talked to the mayor? Have they talked to the chief of police? Have they talked to the US attorney? They’ll leave in a couple of weeks and the lawlessness will reemerge, and they still haven’t dealt with the social and economic conditions that underpin the lawlessness. It’s a very disappointing response to a serious problem, but it’s typical of somebody who thinks reality TV is real.

Ridge also had some choice words on Tuesday, saying that the Department of Homeland Security “was established to protect America from the ever-present threat of global terrorism. It was not established to be the President’s personal militia.” He also said “It would be a cold day in hell before I would give consent to a unilateral, uninvited intervention into one of my cities.”