“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” a saying I used as a child when verbally assaulted by other children. Looking back, I probably deserved the abuse because I was a bit of a bully myself. Nevertheless, I now renounce the slightest truth in that playground chant. Words do hurt. They are weapons that often leave life-changing wounds. Or worse.
Recently, the Washington National Cathedral issued an admonition of Trump. The letter signed by three faith leaders came after Trump used boilerplate tropes and insults toward people of color. “Words matter,” they wrote. “And Mr. Trump’s words are dangerous.” They added that “the level of insult and abuse in political discourse…violates each person’s sacred identity as a child of God.” Their letter comes at a time of an internecine war of words among Democrats seeking the presidency, and in a larger way, during a political civil conflict that expresses little civility. As the political divide widens, we need voices that call for repair and that will no longer stay silent.
Trump draws an identity as a white nationalist and stirs up filth as he bloviates and flips blame towards people of color and those who come from “shithole countries.” A baleful tone comes from him with almost every daily utterance. In this manner, he is similar to Il Duce, Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist leader who dearly wanted to renew the Roman Empire during the twentieth century (Make Italy Great Again). The slogan arose: “Il Duceha Sempre Ragione” (the leader is always right). And he infamously claimed:“Italian journalism is free because it serves one cause and one purpose... mine!” Conspicuous connections, don’t you think?
Earlier in the day, Trump retweeted a parody account that attributed a famous Mussolini quotation to Trump: "It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep." Not a bad thought, I suppose, but in Trump’s case, it would be more accurate if he said, “It is better to live one day as the ‘stable genius’ ass that I am than 100 years as a decent human being.”