15 Aug Heather Heyer

This post is dedicated to the memory of Heather Danielle Heyer, a martyr to the cause of standing up to racism, injustice and intolerance in our society. This young woman, a paralegal working and living in Charlottesville, VA, died on Friday, August 12, run down by a deranged racist coward while peacefully protesting in her hometown.

In what has seemed at times like an endless string of shameful spectacles, the 45th President of the United States has managed to distinguish himself once again. I had figured that his address to the Boy Scouts of America on July 24th represented an all-time low but I was very wrong. The President’s mealy-mouthed response to the white supremacist/neo-Nazi/Alt-Right/KKK rally in Charlottesville set a new standard by which to judge infamy. From the very get-go of his presidential campaign Drumpf paid lip service to the far right lunatic fringe that supported him, refusing to denounce the likes of David Duke, encouraging violence against protestors, the press, and against his political opponents. He always did it with a smug nudge-nudge, wink-wink attitude in order to give himself some wiggle room, some degree of slimy plausible deniability when challenged. Well, now those chickens have come home to roost.

Blood has been shed, a promising young life has been cruelly snuffed out, and the responsibility lays firmly at the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and its current occupant. I have mocked and disparaged the 45th president on this site since late 2015 but now a line has been crossed. Donald J. Trump (I’ll relent and actually call him by his name) is a despicable human being. He is a demagogue, a cowardly bully and a spineless fool and if he had any decency whatsoever he would just resign. Today.

I can only hope that Heather Heyer’s legacy will be to hasten the downfall of Donald Trump and the wave of racism and hatred that his tacit endorsement of and prevaricating about has unleashed in this country. Rest in peace, Heather.