[guest post by Dana]

He just couldn’t help himself:

Ugh. If you are going to tweet crap, at least be accurate in your crap-tweeting. Obviously Trump is referring to AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Talib, and Ilhan Omar when he says “Progressive Democrat Congresswomen”. But here’s the thing: AOC is from New York, Ayanna Pressley is from Chicago, and Rashida Talib is from Michigan. Only Ilhan Omar was born outside of the United States.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case with President Trump, his lack of discretion and clumsiness has given the Democrats a perfect opening on several fronts. While some may view his tweets as part of a clever strategy to outfox the Democrats, what he has really done instead is to open himself up to ridiculous accusations by Democrats that he wants to banish congressional women of color because they are not sufficiently pro-America, and has reminded Democrats that he is their enemy, not each another. With both of these things, he has not only given Democrats ammunition to use to their advantage but he has also given them a big reason to come together in a renewed sense of unity, just as Nancy Pelosi hoped would happen. Better to have sat back, and quietly let the Democrats eat their own. I’ll give him this though: He may have been clever in seeing this an opportunity to throw his base of ardent, die-hard MAGA loyalists something to rally around because this sort of red meat is right up their alley. And we know they will support and defend him at every turn, no matter how much they have to lie about it, whether directly or by omission:

(Read the sentence before his highlighted one.)

This is from today’s Fox and Friends, cheering on the President’s tweets and ignoring the inaccuracies of his claims and the white-nationalistic tones:

Fox and Friends hosts laugh about Trump’s tweets this am telling Reps. AOC, Omar, Pressley, and Tlaib to “go back” to the "crime infested places from which they came"
pic.twitter.com/WxWn7rEGNN

— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) July 14, 2019

What Trump missed though was that along with his base rallying around his distorted cries of “America,” so too is Nancy Pelosi. But for different reasons: She is using his tweets to effectively shift the focus off of her team’s infighting to Trump’s white America:

And if you’re inclined to give President Trump the benefit of the doubt that there was a bigger strategy in play with his tweets, you can chew this over (but you’ll have to ignore the sheer offensiveness of his words to do buy into it.)

These Trump tweets are sneaky (and thus probably not written by Trump).

To his base, they simply represent the white-nationalism they want to hear.

But they also dare the House Dem leadership to offer full-throated support for AOC/Omar/Tlaib, with whom they’ve been feuding…

If the leadership leaps to the defense of AOC et al, they look weak. Dems will say “Why didn’t you support these Congresswomen a few days ago?”

Plus, this commits Dems to support Congresswomen whom Trump and his people believe are extremist enough to alienate lots of voters.

But if the leadership stays silent and refuses to jump to the defense of AOC et al, they look like they’re collaborating with open white-nationalism for the sake of a petty intra-party feud!

In other words, these tweets are aimed at putting the Dem leadership in a bind.

You can really see both an ideology and a strategy being built around Trumpism – a combination of trolling, white-nationalism, and attempts to exploit divisions on the left.

I predict this approach will outlast Trump…

It is possible to both strongly disagree with the politics and viewpoints of these four Democratic Congresswomen as well as strongly disapprove of the President’s trash talk.

UPDATE: President Trump doubles down on his earlier tweets:

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

It is the fifth Sunday after Pentecost. Today’s Bach cantata is “Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet” (You, who call yourselves of Christ).

Today’s Gospel reading is Luke 10:25-37:

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words, which call to mind the story of the Samaritan:

You, who call yourselves of Christ,
where is your mercy,
by which one recognizes Christ’s members?
It is, alas, all too far from you.
Your hearts should be rich with love,
yet they are harder than a stone.

We hear, indeed, what Love itself says:
Whoever embraces his neighbor with mercy,
shall receive mercy
as his judgment.
However, we heed this not at all!
Still our neighbor’s sighs can be heard!
He knocks at our heart; it is not opened!
We observe him, indeed, wringing his hands,
his eyes, flowing with tears;
yet our heart resists the urge to love.
The priest and Levite,
that walk to one side,
are truly a picture of loveless Christians;
they behave as if they knew nothing of another’s
misery,
they pour neither oil nor wine
upon their neighbors wounds.

Only through love and through mercy
will we become like God himself.
Hearts like the Samaritan’s
are moved to pain by another’s suffering
and are rich in compassion.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]