HOW LOW & PETTY CAN THIS MAN BE?

JOHN LEWIS IS LYING IN STATE ON  CAPITOL HILL. SOMEONE EXPLAIN  TO ME WHY DONALD TRUMP ISN’T GOING TO PAY HIS RESPECTS? HOW LOW AND PETTY CAN THIS MAN BE?

Actually I get it. John Lewis is the first elected African-American official to lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, he was known as the Conscience of the Congress, and lived a life dedicated to the principles of equality and fairness. Donald Trump doesn’t deserve to be in the same room with John Lewis, dead or alive, and he knows it.

I remember getting into a discussion, years ago when Obama was the president, about whether or not I would go to the White House if I was on a championship team and I did not like the president who currently occupied the Oval Office. We were discussing it because a couple of people skipped going to the White House after winning to protest Obama. And I said that the president asking a team to come to the White House is a non-partisan gesture. No matter what party is in power, the teams are invited. The Super Bowl winner, the World Series winner, the Women’s World Cup winning National Soccer team, Olympic medalists, etc. They are all always asked to come to the White House regardless of ruling party’s affiliation. So I said that I would go out of respect to the office and not necessarily the person. But now with this Trump, I'm starting to rethink that position. I don't think Trump respects the office that he holds. I'm certain the same cannot be said about Obama or any of the Presidents that preceded him in my lifetime. As I’ve said before, I was no fan of George W. Bush, but I never believed he didn’t respect the norms or founding principles that make this democratic experiment, flaws and all, the greatest country in the world. I truly don’t believe that Trump believes that though. But John Lewis expected that of him, that’s a bar 45 will never be able to get over, and so that’s why Donald J. Trump won’t pay his respects. It would be like going back to your high school knowing you were going to have to look in the eye of a teacher who believed in you, but you still cheated in their class. Better to skip that reunion.

I used to have the naïve assumption that a President, once elected, wanted to be the leader of the whole country, not just the portion of the nation that voted for them. That the office would be transformative and the weight of the position that person now holds would overtake the individual’s darkest impulses. Is there anybody out there that truly believes Trump is trying to expand his base, or is trying to govern as if he has the whole country’s interest at heart? Of course he's not. That’s the antithesis of what DJT believes. He has an “If you're not with me, you're against me!” mentality and you must be destroyed. It’s a mentality that may work when you’re paying off people in the New York real estate world, but we’re seeing the disastrous results when it is applied as a public servant who is more powerful than anyone else in the world. He’s making self-centered decisions that are killing Americans at the rate of 1,000 a day. And is willing to have more die as he hustles people back to work because he believes as the economy goes, so the election goes. He's not trying to win over people in Blue States, he’s trying to punish people in Blue States. That's why the only cities you're going to see him send these marauder troops “to keep the peace” are Blue State cities. He’s said as much. What a petty piece of shit.

So I completely understand now why this little man couldn’t bear the thought of standing there and being compared to John Lewis. A man who stood tall, even when he knew State Troopers with barbed-wire wrapped batons were coming to knock him down. Can you imagine? For him not to go and pay respect to John Lewis, I don't ever want to hear anybody even try to say that he cares about African-Americans or people of color. Unless you think that him saying they’ll bring down property values in the burbs is a term of endearment. Don't even try it! We all know who Trump is. And the fact that he didn't go and pay his respects is yet another petty move by a small and petty man. So if I were asked now, today, as a member of a team to go visit Donald Trump’s White House, the answer would be a resounding “YES”. I still respect the office, even if Trump doesn't. But you better believe I’d be wearing a sweet suit with John Lewis’ face stenciled across the back with “Black Lives Matter” lining. I think I know just the tailor.