The Existential Fight for America's Soul

The Trump Family's Actions on Memorial Day Reflect a Deeper Crisis in Our Nation

I hate to start an article this way, but I really am trying to be less bothered by the day-to-day of politics for my own mental health. However, after this weekend, it’s become undeniable: we must call it out. The Trump family is human scum. I hate to paint them in such a light, and I know there's a lot of trauma and damage among them, starting with Donald Trump’s father and passing down. From a human perspective, I have some sympathy for that, and it would be a different story if they weren’t leaving a path of damage in his wake.

This weekend, on arguably the most solemn weekend we observe, Donald Trump continued his tradition of taking an important holiday and opening his Truth Social post with “Happy ‘X’ Day…” followed by a diatribe of his current grievances, of which he ALWAYS has MANY. How such a “strong” man could have so many grievances is beyond me, but I have discussed at length his absolute weakness.

Regardless, this holiday's tweet was especially awful and gross:

Classy

Now, the garbage has extended even further to his son Eric, who responded to a picture of the Trump family that said “The family that gave up everything to save America” with “And we will do it again!” That’s right, on the weekend focusing on the many that have died for America, the Trumps compared themselves to them.

I’m having a hard time articulating my disgust without descending into an anger-filled rant, which will do little but make me feel slightly better. However, I will say that the difference this weekend is that the outrage seemed a little less prevalent. We are becoming numb, or worse, losing our perspective. Outrage can only be maintained for so long before we can't do it anymore.

Although I aimed to avoid political tweets this weekend, I had to make a few exceptions. One tweet simply asked if this is what we want to be as a nation. Is this what we are aspiring to? While most responses were good, many essentially said “yep” just to “own the libs.” Their approach is “LOL NOTHING MATTERS,” and sadly, it really doesn’t to them.

The lack of understanding of service and sacrifice has brought us to this moment. More sinisterly, when a leader spews darkness and calls those who have sacrificed “suckers and losers,” we are approaching a point where selflessness is not seen as a virtue, but as a weakness. No society can survive that.

The truth is, the so-called “America First” crowd is the opposite of America First. They are destroying this nation, the values we strive for, and the goodness of our guiding principles. My hope is for a major awakening in their hearts and that, miraculously, we right the ship.

Until then, there is only one way to fight back: raw political victory. Donald Trump won’t be disqualified by the courts or his words. He must be crushed in November. This fight is existential.