To Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution of the United States

I speak often in this space of the importance of words and even more often about the truth being somewhere in the middle. The words we use convey what we value, or don’t. This week’s events – from the Super Bowl to the Olympics to actions in Congress – prove the point.

You didn’t have to be Nostradamus to know what the headlines were going to be after this particular Super Bowl. CNN’s read, “Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance redefined what it means to be an American patriot.” Fox News’ was, “Bad Bunny’s halftime show ripped for language barrier, suspected political message,” with the words ‘An Abomination’ written over the photo. Worse yet, it seems our politics won’t even allow us all to share the same experiences. I am referring of course to the alternate halftime show put on by Turning Point USA.

Why must everything be about everything these days?

Why can’t the halftime show simply be about enjoying it if it’s an artist you like or taking a bathroom break if it’s an artist you don’t? Why can’t it simply be about hearing a few catchy tunes in the background while heating up more wings or queso? It seems we live in a world now where everything must have a political point and everything must be commented upon.

I am not here to defend Bad Bunny. If the translations I am seeing are accurate for some of his lyrics, including to songs played during this halftime show, they would make for pretty great examples of the word vulgar. But nor am I here to critique him. Some of the visuals in the show were indeed poignant and parts of his message were important.

Those on the far left seem to contort themselves to ignore the offense that some take to the song lyrics and suggestive dancing, instead sticking to talking points of the show’s “unifying and uplifting” message. Those on the far right equally contort themselves to take exception to the lyrics and dancing, seemingly forgetting their own dismissal of Donald Trump’s TMZ recordings as “locker room talk,” all the while ignoring any legitimacy of the show’s message.

The truth is that artists push boundaries and with each passing generation that boundary seems farther afield, but perhaps over public airways for an event one in three Americans watch, it may be okay to reign it in a bit. The truth is that the NFL is a business with international ambitions and hype is good for business. The truth is that the United States’ history in Puerto Rico is imperfect to say the very least and pointing that out is very American.

The Bill of Rights are merely words on a page. They are only as alive as our actions so demonstrate. In every country on the planet, speech that agrees with the head of state is protected. In every last one. What makes The United States so impressive is that our head of state defends the right to speech with which he disagrees, or at least he is supposed to if he does the only job to which the founders asked him to swear an oath – “to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Instead President Trump, our Commentator-in-Chief, needing to opine on all, never choosing to rise above the noise of the day with gravitas, posted the following about Bad Bunny’s halftime show. “…absolutely terrible, one of the worst, Ever! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World.” He then went on to brag about record stock markets and assault the NFL kickoff rule.

Put aside the fact that 60 million people in this country speak Spanish, so presumably someone understood what Bad Bunny was saying. Put aside the notion that many would consider selling over 100 million albums and winning six Grammy awards to be some measure of success. Put aside that this president, whose lips often drip hatred, is now concerned with what children hear. Put aside that this president, whose overzealous implementation of what could have been good policy contributed to citizens being killed in the streets, is now concerned about what children see. Put all that aside; he gets the larger point wrong.

President Trump also gets the larger point wrong on American Olympic skier, Hunter Hess. Hess was asked this week by a reporter what it was like to represent America with everything that is going on back home. He answered, “It’s a little hard. There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t…Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

The President posted, “U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that is the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this.” Put aside the fact Hess never said he doesn’t represent his country. Put aside every awful thing this president said about this country while he tried out to become our president. Put aside the fact that this goes to one of my biggest pet peeves about President Trump (or anyone), that he bemoans a circumstance while ignoring how he may have contributed to that circumstance. Put all that aside; he gets the larger point wrong.

Saying these things about a skier or a performer is beneath the Office of the President. The Office is meant to elevate. It is meant to emulate the core values of our founding documents. It is meant to say that while I disagree with the skier or the performer, it is a testament to all that is great about America that they are free to speak their minds. In many nations on this planet, that performer and that skier would have been disappeared. Not in this country. The Office is supposed to recognize that the performer and the skier are its constituents, and ask itself, is there any merit to the concerns of that performer and that skier, and can we do something better as a result to represent all Americans.

The irony is, that if the job is done correctly, the person who exercises the least amount of free speech in our nation should be our president.

He is our ceremonial head of state. He represents all Americans, unlike other elected officials who have just a small constituency often with well-aligned regional or economic interests. He represents our founding values and current interests, not his own. His words can mobilize armies and move markets. Those possible repercussions should prescribe deliberate restraint.

Also this week, President Trump’s official social media account shared a video on voter fraud that ended with a clip depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. Per usual his staff tried to label the outrage over this video as fake outrage, miscalculating just how severe and bipartisan the backlash would be.

The President has refused to apologize for the video, instead claiming he made no mistake because he only saw the first part of the video and that a staffer should have watched the whole thing before posting. So much for the buck stops here. The only appropriate response would have been immediate apology including a call to the Obamas, and, if it truly was a staffer that posted this at 11:44 PM, to fire that staffer for one of three terminable offenses – either being too lazy to watch the video until the end, too stupid to realize its inherent racism, or for actually being a racist.

Buried in this news is the fact that the leader of the free world continues to undermine our election integrity by spreading unproven theories of election fraud for which even Republican Secretaries of State and Republican appointed judges have found no proof.  

I’m not naive to the fact that racism and racist-inspired violence still exist in our country. The arc continues to bend and someday it won’t exist at all. We’ve all noticed that the NFL mandates words such as “End Racism” or “Choose Love” be stenciled in end zones and may voluntarily be displayed on helmets. These words convey what they value, which I respect. Though I can’t help but feel they preach to those of us in the choir and alienate those who they will never convince. For me, this is one of those times I feel words aren’t needed. Sport, after all, has an amazing capacity to teach, often without words. What better teacher than seeing a white lineman from rural Alabama shoulder to shoulder with his black teammate from Detroit, bringing their skills to bear toward a shared goal and then giving each other a giant bear hug after they win?

This week the Guthrie family continues to endure the heartbreaking agony of trying to find their mother, Nancy. And a nation, captivated by this story, continues to pray she is found and returned safely. Every tool should be brought to bear to ensure that. But those of us in the middle also admit that this is a tragedy too many American families endure, but most don’t get the resources that have been given to this case. The names of most missing people will never cross the lips of a news anchor, an FBI Director, an Attorney General, or a President. Of the over 1,000 other people missing in Arizona today and the tens of thousands missing across the country, a disproportionate amount are people of color. Why is that and how can we fix it?

This week we saw the SAVE Act continue its journey in Congress. This is a voter ID bill to ensure that only American citizens can vote in federal elections. The vast majority of Americans believe it is reasonable we prove citizenship to register and show a photo ID to the eagle-eyed retiree at the polling station in order to vote. Figuring out how we execute this is the issue, because I am sure if we asked all 435 Representatives in Congress to find their original birth certificate tomorrow, we would be stunned by how many could not.

First let’s cast aside the extreme talking points. The far right would have you believe the left opened the borders specifically to allow illegals to vote Democratic in federal elections and the far left would have you believe Republicans are trying to use this issue as a smoke screen to disenfranchise poor Americans who tend to vote Democratic. Enough.

It’s time for the middle to say showing proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote is not disenfranchisement, so long as the ID being requested is available and affordable to all.

And when not available, the onus should be on the state to timely help that citizen cure the fault. It’s also okay for the middle to admit that if citizens truly value their franchise, they won’t wait until 5 PM on election day to try to register using their gym memberships. We can’t value a person’s right to vote more than he does!

I’ve gotten long-winded and want to wrap up. As is often the case, my reflections this week on national issues swirled in my head along with things said by wiser people than I. This week I thought of the quote often attributed to Lao Tzu.

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words.

Watch your words, they become your actions.

Watch your actions, they become your habits.

Watch your habits, they become your character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

The words of our leaders become our national destiny. We should be careful which of theirs we tolerate or celebrate. And right on cue, on television in the background I hear Congressmen and the Attorney General all behaving badly, with the Attorney General calling the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee “a washed-up loser lawyer.” Everyone to your respective corners to fundraise!