In late afternoon protesters were in Lafayette Square, which is across from the north side of the White House. About 6:15 federal police and national guardsmen began to clear the area. It wasn’t a cordial action, saying curfew is about to begin, please leave. No, it featured flash bangs, tear gas, and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters. People were pushed to get our of the area.
Shortly after that the nasty guy held a press conference in the Rose Garden. Lafayette Square is north of the WH and I think the Rose Garden is on the south side. So the cameras on the nasty guy didn’t see what was going on in the square (though cameras in the square certainly could). However, they might have heard the flash bangs and the shots – nicely dramatic sounds for the press.
And perhaps appropriate for a rambling speech in which the nasty guy declared he is mobilizing the military – “thousands and thousands” (not sure if that actually happened). He warned governors they need to “dominate” the protests. If they don’t he will.
Yes, “dominate” is a supremacist word.
The speech rambled and at times didn’t make sense. There were tidbits that did, such as an invocation of 2nd Amendment rights, that extreme right militias could take as his blessing for them to attack protesters. It was also enough that CNN host Don Lemon said, “We are teetering on the edge of a dictatorship.”
Once the nasty guy was done with his speech we learned why the square had been cleared. He walked across Lafayette Square and stood in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, which is just across from the north side of the square. The church says it is visited by presidents because it is so close to the White House. Now with the background he wanted he raised a Bible in his hand and posed for pictures.
Yup, his reason for standing in front of the church – his reason for violently clearing the square – was for a photo op.
The church did not invite him and considers he was trespassing. Accounts came out today saying that in addition to clearing the square the National Guard cleared the outdoor patio of the church and the building as well. They used the same violent tactics. The patio was being used as a respite for protesters under the care of the church’s priests. One priest wrote about being driven off.
For a photo op.
That drew sharp condemnation from Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Espiscopal Diocese of Washington. She had a discussion about it with host Steve Inskeep on NPR’s Morning Edition today. She said:
[This] I think expresses the dissonance and the tremendous disconnect between what churches are and what our sacred texts represent and the president's actions. He used violent means to be escorted across the park into the courtyard of the church. He held up his Bible after speaking a inflammatory, militarized approach to the wounds of our nation. He did not pray. He did not offer a word of balm or condolence to those who are grieving. He did not seek to unify the country, but rather, he used our symbols and our sacred space as a way to reinforce a message that is antithetical to everything that the person of Jesus, whom we follow, and the Gospel texts that we strive to emulate our lives...
But he seemed to use the Bible as an extension of his previous message in the Rose Garden. He - I mean, what preceded it is also contextually significant. He, with use of force, cleared the area so that he could walk across and hold that Bible up. It almost looked like a symbol of American military power. And I - that's a misuse of what the Bible represents. So that is deeply offensive to anyone who adheres to sacred Scripture.
Inskeep wonders whether the church was chosen as a backdrop because there had been a fire in the building a few days before, perhaps started because of the protests. It was quickly put out and there was little damage. Budde says if so chosen it was a misuse by the nasty guy. Loss of property should in no way be equated with loss of life.
Mark Sumner of Daily Kos summarized the events and concluded:
In a day and a situation when “unprecedented” seems far from adequate, Trump’s march to St. John’s stands out as a signal moment in American history—an image of total disregard for the rights of citizens, for the symbolism of the church, and for the genuine religious concerns of those who worked and worshiped there. The protesters were peaceful; Trump brought violence. The priests sought unity; Trump brought division. The church was a sanctuary; Trump made it a battleground.
On the basis of this single event alone, Trump should be removed from office. November is far too long to wait.
I’m sure a lot of you are scratching your heads. Why did the nasty guy go to so much trouble to stage a photo of him standing in front of a church sign holding a Bible? He isn’t religious. He gives no indication he knows anything about the Bible. Yeah, white Evangelicals already think he’s wonderful, so how does this help?
Jared Yates Sexton offers an explanation. He tweeted:
Trump's stunt with the Bible was a message to the Cult of the Shining City and the white supremacist Christianity that has taken over the American Right and how it endangers all of us in ways you can't even imagine.
I wrote about the Cult of the Shining City back in early April. With Sexton as a source I described it as a racist Christianity from the Confederacy now merged with capitalism and the GOP.
Back to Sexton’s current thread:
Since [the 1980s], Cult of the Shining City members have been taught that America, as God's chosen nation and champion, can only be harmed by Satan and people manipulated by Satan, including minorities and liberal traitors. They believe this, wholeheartedly.
When politicians talks about evil liberals, they're referencing the idea that liberals are in league with Satan in the New World Order conspiracy. They truly believe people like Obama and the Clintons are satanically evil and have to be stopped lest Satan will prevail.
The Deep State is just the New World Order with a new paint job. They're framing America as if it is the battleground for war between God and Satan, and believe they have to destroy Democrats and liberals to prepare for the End Times.
The Cult of the Shining City worships power and wealth as symbol's of both white supremacy and God's favor. Trump is their messiah and he talks to them through his surface-level religious utterances and phrases like "enemy of the people."
Trump standing in front of a burnt church among a riot with a bible was a message that he is their warrior and that they are entering a Holy War.
It's hinting at an End Times battle, and it'll doubtlessly escalate tensions and possibly lead to violence.
Please tell people.
This all sounds like madness unless you were raised in the community. It's their reality. They see this stunt with Trump and the Bible and these riots as the beginning of the end and the start of a Second Coming.
They'll support WHATEVER he wants.
Walter Einenkel of Kos says the nasty guy’s speech (at least) had the desired effect:
White vigilante groups around the country began the process of colluding with local law enforcement like an amateur brown shirt brigade. In Philadelphia, social media posts showed a group of white folks, armed with all kinds of blunt objects, all itching for a fight, all completely supported by the police around them.
Hunter of Kos describes the connection and timing of the effort to clear the square with the nasty guy’s speech. The link is clear when the nasty guy ends his speech by saying he would walk to the church. Hunter reports the Park Police are now lying about the connection.
Senate Republicans, who recently acquitted the nasty guy so he stays in office, seem to not have anything to say about the battle in the square.
Sumner reports that the nasty guy also drove people away from a Catholic shrine, though provides no details of the incident. Sumner does write:
It’s unclear what Trump means to do by driving people away from places of worship, claiming that space for himself and waving a Bible. It’s certainly not a Christian act, though it does appear to be Christianist: the appropriation of the trappings of Christianity for the purposes of holding power and justifying unjust actions by giving them a religious whitewash. William Barr has been a notable practitioner of Christianism, waving a Bible and religious justification over policies that are profoundly unjust, undemocratic, and absolutely antithetical to Christian beliefs and traditions.
Though Lafayette Square had been cleared protests continued elsewhere in Washington in spite of the curfew. It seems police started herding protesters to Swann Street. The police set up barricades to trap the protesters so they could be arrested. When police started with the pepper spray, Rahul Dubey, a resident in the area, invited 100 people to shelter in his house. He handed out business cards in case the protesters were accused of breaking in. The guests stayed overnight until the curfew was lifted the next morning. All made it home safely.
A wonderfully gutsy move in a pandemic.
I’m pretty sure the nasty guy didn’t read this part of the Bible he held up (I’m sure he read very little of the Bible): Matthew 25:35 – I was a stranger and you invited me in.
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