Can You Be Both Pro-Trump and American?

And here’s a quote from Trump’s speech to Congress:

It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon.

Here’s the full quote on the Statue of Liberty, arguably America’s front door for immigration:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Emma Lazarus (November 2, 1883)

<sigh> So, no. Trump completely missed the American ideal. Again.

Republicans support Trump, even though he isn’t a Republican, supporting few of the their ideas beyond fear and racism (core Republican talking points for decades).

Evangelicals support Trump, even though he’s the least godly man I’ve seen in public office. And that’s saying something.

But how can Americans support Trump?  He’s terrible at being an American! One of the worst! It’s not just the Statue of Liberty thing, noxious as that is. Trump doesn’t believe in the Constitution, he’s unaware of how our three-part system of government works, he hates checks-and-balances, he’s indifferent to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble, hostile to freedom of religion, and rants in all-caps apoplectic fits against freedom of the press.

Sure, being an American is hard work. You have to support people you don’t like, and make sure that people you disagree with get their place, right next to you.  There has to be room in your town, your neighborhood, and your life, for people who aren’t like you. It doesn’t come naturally. It’s something most people have to work at.

Unless you just don’t care. Probably makes so much else in his life easier.