A conversation around the events from Charlottesville, Va., to President Donald Trump's rally in Arizona is worthy as long as it does not start from a place of hate. But do yourself a favor. As you think about all you have seen, read and heard since Aug. 11 and the debate to come, ask yourself: "In my lifetime, can I truthfully say I have met and talked with a white supremacist or neo-Nazi?" If you can, welcome to the 1 percent club for the first time in your life.
There is little sign that a reasoned national debate over any of the issues raised after Virginia is likely to take place. Here in Chattanooga, we somehow think a cemetery in the heart of the city for 150 years is a sure sign a white supremacist is going to show up at Mayor Andy Berke's favorite coffee shop.
That is where the frenzy since Charlottesville has bought us. A place passed by millions through the years in Chattanooga is now linked to neo-Nazis and white supremacists and become a plaything for Berke and sidekick Wade Hinton. The City Council is all but silent; sane residents of Hamilton County are speaking out.
Just as troubled people are trying to wipe away American history, the same people whose sole passion is hatred of Trump have wiped away history from June 2015 (when Trump announced his candidacy) to the present. It's been 26 months, but the anti-Trumpers have yet to score.
Davis LundyNo matter the issue, Trump continues to demonstrate an intuitive communications ability that confounds anyone playing by public opinion and political rules pre-2016. It happened again Tuesday night in Phoenix, where he completed a 36-hour communications push that reversed the news content we had been hearing.
Trump's intuitive gift is the ability to pivot at the right time in order to shut down the barrage of negative media on any given issue. After 10 days of turmoil and chaos from Charlottesville, the news of Trump's impending Afghanistan speech was reported all day Monday. The speech Monday night received good reviews. Trump was surrounded by generals, and most Americans like generals.
As Monday turned into Tuesday, the Afghanistan plan remained at the forefront until focus started to shift to his rally in Phoenix. It stayed that way all day until, as in the past, Trump made it pay off with nearly 90 minutes of vintage Trump. It would be hard to remember a better 36 hours for Trump on CNN. And, there was hardly a mention of anything involving Russia.
Trump will certainly get criticized for his intentional edit about the "two sides" in Charlottesville, and he will deservedly get criticized for going too far in criticizing Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. He will be hammered for his signal to Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Still, he will take that criticism over the 10 days of blistering he took Aug. 11-20.
Trump also will be chastised for reverting to the messages of the 2016 campaign. Yet, in that criticism is great irony. With the national media and anti-Trumpers stuck in November 2016, Trump knows the campaign message - immigration, the wall, lower taxes, Obamacare, public safety, jobs, America First - is 100 percent relevant today.
So even with women's issues, the Access Hollywood tape, the campaign shakeups, his taxes, his Muslim ban and his myriad contradictory statements, Trump today believes most Americans listening know he is not the bad guy of the CNN Charlottesville narrative. The Art of the Deal? Maybe. But Art of the Pivot for sure.
The fires lit because of Trump's presidency need ongoing discussion, and the issues surrounding Charlottesville are without question the most significant yet to emerge because of him.
This brings us back to whether you are a 1 percenter when it comes to actually meeting a white supremacist. Next time you are talking about Berke's nonsense with the Confederate Cemetery, make that answer your context for the conversation.
Davis Lundy, a former small business owner, lives in Ooltewah.