On Sunday, the editorial board of the Arizona Daily Star published an editorial titled “President Trump, stay home.” Once again this board employs sophist arguments to encourage an action it considers moral, right and virtuous. After reminding the president of our diverse and historical populations, the editorial immediately devolves to sophist arguments.
It describes SB 1070 as an attempt to federalize local police for immigration purposes specifically targeting Latinos and minorities, which is an opinion of the progressive left in Arizona, not fact. Specifically saying, “But the target of the legislation was clear: No one was calling for white people suspected of being undocumented Canadians to ‘go home.’ Only people with brown skin were automatically suspected of being non-American.” This is the first sophist argument stating an opinion as an accomplished fact. Canadians are deported everyday for visa overstays, and in the case of a friend of mine, because he had a previous criminal record for marijuana smuggling. This fact disproves the sophism of the Star on this point.
Neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and all the other minor and major white supremacists organized “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville. Nazis and fascism are not, and have never been, conservative or right in political philosophy or behavior. Ever. The fact that they are attempting to co-opt the terms unites them with the progressive left and Antifa, not the right. Redefining language, muddling the meaning of words and creating “you’re with us or against us” events are far more prevalent with anarchists, the Occupy movement and socialist/communist organizations and movements. They have absolutely no resemblance to the Buckley/Reagan conservatism that many people identify with today.
I think the Star is trying to create a virtue for an organization like Antifa for speaking out against racism and bigotry. There are far more millions who speak against racism and bigotry than a violent and distinctly atheistic group like Antifa. Their virtue is thousands of years old. They are the millions of Christians that every Sunday, as they kneel in prayer or stand in praise and song, express a philosophy that is practiced by far more people than ever show up to a manipulated, organized, bought-and-paid-for riot. Real honest-to-goodness, imperfect, sinning Christians pray to a loving and just God whose very Gospel compels us to love one another as Christ loves us.
The president did not equate people who condemn Nazis with Nazis. Not once in anything he said did he do that. He was speaking to a specific event in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his focus was on the violent language and actions of people who participated in a riot.
Is our president too quick to tweet? Yes. Does he think out loud a little too much for my and others’ tastes? Yes. Is he oafish and inarticulate at times? Yes.
None of that is a reason to tell him to “Go home, don’t come to Arizona.” He is our president, he should be traveling the country, and he should come to Arizona.
We have big issues to discuss and hopefully focus our president’s budgetary and international agenda to create healthy economies and economic alliances that are beneficial to both Arizona and Mexico.
What I would like to suggest to the editorial board and anyone else who doesn’t like our president, is that you don’t have to go to Phoenix to see him. You do not have a moral imperative to be part of what is sure to be hysterically historical. You can stay home, go to work and just look around you right here in Tucson and love a stranger like Christ loves us. That behavior will speak far louder against the forces of evil attempting to divide us than a hundred riots.
