It is quite telling how our president has chosen to use his power in these days of unrest. President Trump has signed an executive order to protect monuments and impose prison sentences for acts of vandalism done to these inanimate objects.
So, rather than display empathy and concern for protecting the rights of citizens of flesh and bone, he has acted to defend the rights of men of metal and stone.
It is not that surprising. The best con men always find great value in symbols. They use symbols the way a ventriloquist uses a dummy. They wrap themselves in the symbol like a cloak and speak for it.
The con artist will tell you what the symbol represents and the beauty is the symbol can’t speak, so it can’t contradict the words that are put in its mouth. It is so much more expedient to use symbols to fool and distract us rather than put in the hard work to live up to ideals.
I imagine our president loves these monuments because he would love to see himself commemorated in metal. The sculptor can always take artistic license with his/her subject, creating a work of art that amplifies the nobility in the subject while at the same time diminishing the ugliness they possess in real life.
Trump also shares much in common with the men represented in these monuments. Like our president they are often men that are not deserving of veneration and in some cases are actual traitors to the republic. They stand, seemingly solid, with a patina of authenticity and reverence, but if you inspect them closer for evidence of some deeper meaning, it becomes obvious that they are completely empty inside.
David Vala, Taylorsville
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