Note—while bashing Trump, Rather has helped bring more attention to the deadly plight of Puerto Ricans. According to a new Harvard study,the death toll is now over 4,500 due to the effects of Hurricane Maria—and more so by the lack of concern and adequate aid by the Trump administration post-hurricane. Too many Americans are apathetic/unaware of what is happening there and that Puerto Ricans are United States citizens. One twee, Trump could educate Americans, but instead Trump uses his own platform to create more hatred, confusion, fear, doubt and division. Dan Rather uses his massive and growing platform to alert the country of what is actually happening.Trump disinvites Eagles from White House - while millions of Americans hurt. Puerto Rico suffers. Allies fret. The planet warms. He uses our National Anthem to sow disunity in what's supposed to be the UNITED States of America. I think history will mark it as akin to McCarthyism.
On Sunday night, Rather is equally harsh in lambasting Trump and the GOP. Though his Facebook post is a somewhat longer than his tweet, Rather makes every word count
“We are a nation of laws and not of kings. Our stated creed is that we are equal before the law, all of us. Of course we fall far short of that ideal in many ways. It's usually the poor, the marginalized, and dispossessed who suffer the greatest injustices. But even the most cynical of plutocrats in our nation's history have at least largely paid lip service to this idea.
That is what makes the release of Donald Trump's legal rationalizations so chilling. To be blunt, they are un-American. They betray a complete disconnect from our constitutional government, and thus are themselves an act of betrayal.
I know that there is much being written about the silence from most members of the GOP to this latest outrage. Indeed, it is an outrage in some ways that encompasses all the others - for there, in black and white, is an outline of a monarchy and not a republic. But my inner compass suggests that while we have not seen a backlash from many Trump voters and Republican officials, yet, this is going too far, far too far, for most Americans. And that pressure cannot be checked forever, at the ballot box or in the streets.
Trump is benefiting from a roaring economy (thanks in no small part to what was bestowed by his predecessor). It is summer and families are busy planning trips and taking in ballgames or a day at the beach. It is easy to be distracted or preoccupied with the necessities of everyday life. But in the end, I think that the recklessness of a man who seeks only personal power and self aggrandizement - whose personal and professional failings have already spurred the largest resistance movement I have seen in decades - will wear thin even with many who may have voted for him.
Frankly, this is not what Trump promised on the campaign trail. Amidst the racist dog whistles and the crude rhetoric was a promise that he would be a pragmatic politician looking out for the little guy. What we have now is a man who would be king. And the institutions of our government, our courts, our system of states, our free press, and our voters, are not going to abide by it. Our Founding Fathers feared such a man. They knew the tyranny of kings, and chose to rebel. So they set out to establish a republic built to make sure it would never happen on our shores.
Dan Rather brings stark awareness to many issues that America faces today, full knowing that awareness—is the first step to creating change.These are the stakes. And I sense there is a lot of fight out there amongst a populace intent on making sure that we remain a nation of laws.”
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