The criticism that the President, Trump, you have disregarded many of our country’s, with norms and democratic values is not new. We’ve written about it several times before — in particular, about how the violation of the this is is a bigger deal than the breaking of the with norms. But law enforcement officials using the “tear gas on protesters outside the White House to clear the path, it is Trump to visit the church nearby — it is what it seemed to amount to a photo op of him holding the Bible — was, arguably, one of the most significant moments of his walking with such as this during his presidency.
It was essentially a three-part an access violation. In being generally unsupportive of the protests against the killing of George Tour by Minneapolis police officers, the Trump is in tension with the core democratic value to the American taking additional steps to ensure people are treated equally, no matter their race. Trump”s decision to break up the protest then is subverted, one of America’s core democratic values, and the right to protest peacefully. Finally, the by williams, the National Guard and the senior military officials in the action against the protesters, Trump also disregarded the democratic value, in that the the military and the police are not to be used for political purposes.
We’re going to unpack what it means that, Trump disregarded these democratic values-in this article, but let’s first briefly explain what we mean when we say “democratic values.” Much of the commentary around the Trump suggests that he is violating “with norms” — or, put another way, Trump is not doing things the “normal” way, like his predecessors (think former Presidents George H. W. Bush, George h. W. Bush, and Barack Obama). But, in reality, what often concerns about the people, Trump and his allies is that they are attacking the core democratic values, and not with norms. To put this bluntly, basically every American president before Abraham Lincoln took action to help perpetuate slavery in some way — being pro-slavery was the the image. But slavery was against the democratic this is of freedom and equality.
So, let’s look at Trump”s move on Monday in terms of the core democratic values that he may have violated:
Expanding racial equality
The protesters contend that the police in Minneapolis, who killed Floyd, and the police departments across the country have a history of treating black people unfairly compared with white people.
So Trump”s reluctance to embrace these protesters suggests he is not particularly interested in policies that seek to address past or current discrimation against black Americans.
That’s nothing new for Trump — as we have written before, he seems to practice a kind of white identity politics where he does not, it’s the t-to-reach-out-to-black, or Latin-Acts. Of course, this behavior is not exactly for the new American president, either — both The Democratic and Republican commanders-in-chief have adopted policies that have made life harder for black Americans. But it is surprising in the context of America in the year 2020, when the the clear majority of Americans think the police are unfair to black people and to think, the killing of a Career that was unjust, that Trump is doing little to suggest he is aligned with, that the cause amid the protests.
The right to protest peacefully
The right to assemble protest and peacefully is protected in the First Amendment to the Constitution. And normally, both and Democrats Republicans to support this democratic value at least in the abstract. After all, American history is full of protests, from the the civil rights movement to the creation of the the tea partyand these movements are usually celebrated looking back, even if they were unpopular at the time.
“There is a fundamental in a Constitutional — right to protest, and I’m against the clearing out of the peaceful protest for the photo op, that treats the Word of God as a political prop,” said Sen., Ben Sassein a rare rebuke of Trump’s from an elected official in his own party.
The fact that Trump was trying to end the protests at all, that was problematic. But the way he and his team chose to do so — by having a law enforcement officials fire tear gas at protesters made the situation even worse. It was one of the most aggressive ways possible to end the protests, and it potentially established a way to limit them in the future, if the people are they will be scared injured or if they killed protest.
It is important to emphasize that the Trump’s administration is not alone in using tear gas, amid these protests of Floyd”s death. Cities across the country, including one run by the Democratic bulk, and are using “tear gas on protesters too, arguing that they are violating curfew or that some want to harm the police officers.
But two things distinguish Trump”s action from those ‘attacked’. First, the people in d.c. were not in violation of the city’s 7 p’s. m. curfew on the tear gas was used about 20 minutes before the curfew went into effectand it’s seems to have been used for other purpose than to clear the out-of-protesters Trump”s ” walking the path. Second, the president of the U. s. allowing the use of tear gas on civilians protesting peacefully is simply a bigger deal than the major or governor’s doing it. The fact that the Trump’s have you used tear gas on protesters could lead to its use by more officials, too.
This is another instance, though, that, where, with norms and democratic values have not always aligned. While the First Amendment protects the right of people to freely assemble, and the petition the government for redress of grievances, government interference with this right is not uncommon. But the escalation that we saw from the White House on Monday, is.
The Police and the military not being aligned with one political side
It’s not just that the president’s actions violated the right of people to protest, either. How he did this by using law enforcement officials — members too. Thanks to scholars in the united states that the police and the military must avoid being tied to any one political party or leader, and must view themselves, those defending the broader public, the following regulations and rules, it does not matter which party is in charge. Being apolitical has been the a long-standing tradition one of the U. s. military in particular.
But from the Trump”s presidency, the idea that we will be the police and the military are separate from politics, partisan you have gone increasingly understood strained. For instance, the national Fraternal Order of Police and other law enforcement groups were strongly behind the Trump during his 2016 campaign. The Minneapolis police force recently faced pushback over its policy of preventing officers from attending the Trump rally in the. The president, you have even gone as far as to refer to the military officers of the “for my generals.” And on Monday, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, was on-site at the White House before the tear gas was fired at the protesters.
It’s tricky balance, along with individual police and military personnel have the right to support candidates for, and to hold political views. But on the hand, it’s critical that they don’t work for any one politician or any one political side. However, by the this reflects the police and the military to take on the protesters across the country, the Trump, you cross to the crucial and dangerous line.
This could have significant ramifications as the act of policing has become a more partisan issue. The Pew Research Center, polls conducted in the 2016 olympics found that about 70 percent of the the police officers thought that the deaths of black Americans from the encounter with the police, were isolated incidents. But while there is not much recent poll of police officers, through 2019 District survey found that an overwhelming majority of Democrats thought these killings were part of a broader pattern.
The president is concerned about this dynamic and its implications might try to ease those tensions. But Trump, in both his words and his actions on Monday, is doing the opposite.
To conclude, in a democracy that is running smoothly, for the most citizens may not think very much about that or shared that with norms and democratic values, but America is not running smoothly right now. That means that we are forced to grapple with what these with norms and mean values — and why they matter.
