Never Live and Don't Let Live

I'm old enough to remember what used to be an American value, a virtue even - the concept of 'Live and Let Live,' otherwise known as tolerance. Under the mean-spirited guidance of Donald Trump - who is more than happy to parrot whatever grievance his miscreant supporters demand of him at any given moment - the concept of tolerance has met a formidable adversary.

I can't imagine how hard it must be for my Christian friends to have to hear Trump harping on and demanding that we should all say 'Merry Christmas. Those who have joyously wished others a Merry Christmas throughout their lives might experience pause this holiday season. It is one thing to sincerely wish love, blessings and peace upon friends and family. It is another to have those wishes unceremoniously pried from their lips by an unctuous charlatan occupying the highest office of this country.

Telling people to say 'Merry Christmas' and making such a pompous show of it is, of course, akin to insisting that protesting players must stand for the National Anthem. How abhorrent for this smug, holier-than-thou hypocrite to be sanctimoniously wrapping himself in the twin mantles of religion and patriotism, while simultaneously defiling everything they truly stand for. The quaint concept of 'Separation of Church and State,' instituted to discourage exactly the kinds of mock shows of self-righteous indignation Trump glories in, finds absolutely no refuge in this misbegotten government.

When disputes arise in the areas of free speech or the constitutionality of various forms of protest, we once had a court system to resolve them, remember? The Executive Branch of this government has no business weighing in on these culture wars except to direct controversy to the judiciary where they belong. Not so in this surreal new America which bears little resemblance to the one so many of us grew up believing in.

We no longer live and let live in this country. A turbulent, blustering narcissist now exploits his vast platform, encouraging us to hurl Merry Christmas at one another like it was some sort of preachy, rebellious invective. To do so, somehow, in Donald Trumps seething cauldron of a mind, represents the penultimate symbol of patriotism. In fact, the exact opposite is what America used to be about: the freedom to say it or not to say it, the freedom to choose where and when we wish to express our religious views, and the right to go into a courtroom when we have an issue with those freedoms.

This all-out assault on what used to be the bedrock of American values, a citizen's absolute right to worship or not worship, stand or not stand, obey or protest, say something or not say something, this thing called tolerance comes under daily, if not hourly, assault by a ludicrous excuse for a president and his flaccid, silent enablers in Congress.

A quintessentially American concept, the thing this whole ball of wax was founded on - lies stilled and dormant, waiting...either for resurrection or for final burial.

I will give him this. Trump has proven himself to be an effective lightning rod for all manner of cultural bellyaching and resentment. Inflaming passions. Arousing dissent. Instigating strife. Taking a cattle prod to some of our most emotionally-charged issues and making them 100 times worse than they already are. If he has any talent at all, it lies in his uncanny ability to agitate, enrage, and infuriate not exactly a skill we used to look for in a president. What remains?

He cannot govern, but he can provoke.

He cannot reason, but he can foment.

He cannot unite, but he can trigger.

The times have effectively changed and with them, a charming ideal which once formed a cornerstone of The American Experiment - tolerance lies in suspended animation.

Perhaps waiting for cooler heads to prevail.

Perhaps now only a winsome memory, serving as just more convenient supply of grist for the bottomless mill of fury that is Donald Trump.