The movable negative light

More on the national parks ruling:

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the National Park Service from removing or revising signs, films and other materials at national parks across the country to comply with a directive from President Trump.

The ruling pauses enforcement of an executive order that called for removing or covering up materials at national parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans” or cast the United States “in a negative light.”

See the problem with that is that the United States has a long and plentiful history of doing things that “cast it” in a negative light. Here’s a simile: look at Trump. He too has a long history of doing things that “cast him” in a negative light. That is, he has a long history of doing bad, often criminal things. Same with the US. Slavery was bad; genocide of the indigenous populations was bad; internment of citizens of Japanese origin was bad; segregation was bad; CIA operations in Iran, Chile, a host of other countries were bad, to name just a few.

For some purposes Trump is very willing, indeed eager, to say how crappy the US was and how much better he has made it. For others, well, it’s wrap yourself in the flag and ignore all the patches.

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