The Blinding of White America

by Eric Weed

The President of the United States is deceiving white America. He has and will continue to do so until white America decides to look away. The siren song is mesmerizing and we are losing our soul to its sweet melodies. The first week of the new administration is no different than the campaign trail. The song of “Make America Great Again” presents an alternative view of the United States. During the campaign, his message was about America’s demise, and after taking the Oath of Office, America is the greatest nation on the earth once again. This week is no different than previous weeks. On Sunday January 22^nd, the President’s messenger claimed to present “alternative facts” on the size of the inauguration crowd. This statement is nothing more than the latest siren song and it has laid a blanket over the eyes of white America.

For the last six days, the U.S. Congress, the media, and social media have focused on the turn of phrase that turns falsehoods into “alternative facts.” The truth is that Chuck Todd’s interview provided the perfect place to grab white America’s imagination and divert it from the true message of the President. After the pomp of the inauguration weekend, the President went to work on Monday shaping what it means to MAGA. The President famously signed an executive order relieving the burdens of the Obamacare to the delight of his followers.

Yet, Monday was when the real work of a new administration begins. Since Monday, the President has signed eight executive orders: imposing a hiring freeze on all non-security based federal agencies, removing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, reinstating the “Mexico City Policy,” two orders restarting work on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines, and three additional orders that would expedite and streamline the process for building new pipelines. In addition to these executive orders, the U.S. Senate confirmed nominees for the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense, Homeland Security, United Nations Ambassador, and soon to be Secretary of State. This is a lot of work for an administration to accomplish while the country is blinded by “alternative facts.”

White America’s fascination with the President makes it dangerously susceptible to the siren songs of MAGA. This time, its about alternative facts and the correlation between the size of the inauguration crowd and the President’s power. And yet, we have U.S. Senators using the idea in confirmation hearings as political theater, media pundits on panels debating the merits of alternative facts and whether the President’s ego was sufficiently stroked by the crowd size on Friday, and social media having a frenzy creating memes on alternative facts. All the while, the President is doing the business of reshaping the country in his image and for his benefit. While white America stays mesmerized by alternative facts, the President has attacked the environment, indigenous people, and women around the world through executive action. And yet, white America sleeps like Rip Van Winkle.

While our brothers and sisters of color cannot afford to sleep in the present moment, white America can happily contemplate the beautiful music of the siren. Our lives and very being are likely safe whether we gaze at the siren or not for the next four years. If we choose to do this, whether conservative or liberal, white America will be no better than the President and Congress who seek to enact a new vision of America based on dog eat dog economics and extreme individualism. Will white liberals be happy spending the next four years calling the President stupid as with George W. Bush’s time in the White House or will we realize that the same songs that mesmerize Fox News’ America also attracts us just in different ways? White America has a decision to make. Is it happy sleeping through the next four years by debating alternative facts or will it look away and see the true message of the current administration and its attacks on everything it deems to stand in the way of Making America Great Again?

Eric Weed is a R3 Contributor

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