Planting his flag
References to "God" and patriotism during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address last week were divisive, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a potential 2020 Trump opponent, said on MSNBC last week.
The name of God, he said, was "used to divide the nation." He didn't say if it was a particular reference or all of them.
"As long as we have confidence in our values, faith in our citizens, and trust in our God," Trump said at one point, "we will never fail."
"I have this belief," Booker said, "that before you tell me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people."
The New Jersey senator also didn't like Trump's references to patriotism. He didn't elaborate, but he may have been talking about the president's salute of 12-year-old Preston Sharp, who wanted to have flags put at veterans' graves.
"Here's a guy that used patriotism - whenever somebody pulls out patriotism, uses it in a way to condemn people for their patriotic acts, how they choose to show their patriotism, this is a divisive way to go about it," Booker said. "There are so many examples of this that were just painful and not a unifying call."
We're confident these clips and one of Booker yelling for minutes at Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during her televised testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month will be seen again should he decide to run.
White wasn't right
Just when you thought the left-wing news media couldn't get lower, it attempted to create a furor around first lady Melania Trump's outfit during the State of the Union address.
Various media said her "white" pantsuit was worn to show her separation from the president after rumors of an affair he had years ago, to signal a sort of #MeToo reference, to show she was in agreement with women's rights demonstrators, to tweak Democrats (whose women wore black) or to show she was supportive of white power. Yes, really.
The main problem was her pantsuit was not white but was a cream-colored outfit made by Christian Dior.
"[Melania] knows she is representing the United States," her communications director, Stephanie Grisham, said late last year, "and wants to be sure she is appropriate in all that she does. Mrs. Trump will never fit into a mold and is not concerned about the comparisons often made of her. The first lady wishes to make a difference in our country and hopes that regardless of political affiliation, everyone will realize she is her own individual."
Leading our children
A California teacher and Pico Rivera city councilman was placed on administrative leave recently after calling out a student for wearing a U.S. Marines sweatshirt and then dressing him down for his desire to join that branch of military service. He also was removed from his city council subcommittees.
El Rancho High School teacher Gregory Salcido said U.S. troops were a "bunch of dumbs--" and the "lowest of the low" and told student Victor Quinonezas, 17, who had said joining was a family tradition and he had wanted to join since he was a child, "So if it was a family tradition to beat women, would you continue it?" the teacher asked.
After enduring the verbal abuse, the student sat down and secretly recorded the rest of his teacher's rant, which ultimately went viral.
The video eventually reached the Pentagon, where its director of outreach, Amber Smith, bemoaned the teacher's lack of knowledge.
"I have seen maybe a few things that he said that were very uninformed," she said, "and I think that's an excellent example of who we would like to connect with, and inform them with an accurate image of those who are serving and why they serve."
Goodbye, husband and wife
A liberal Catholic university is done with the words "husband" and "wife." In its, place, the University of Dayton is suggesting students use the terms "spouse" and significant other."
Although the Catholic Church does not approve of same-sex marriage and calls homosexual behavior a sin, the school's language guide provides recommendations for gender-neutral alternatives for roughly two dozen words.
The language guide also suggests "mankind" be replaced with "humankind" or "society," that "manpower" be bounced for "workforce" or "labor," and that "representative" or "legislator" be used for "congressman" and "congresswoman."
Perhaps not wanting to offend the Catholic Church it represents and not going as far as other universities that call grammar "racist," the school said its guide was simply an "educational resource."
"It is an educational resource geared to assist those who prefer to use gender inclusive language as well as those who wish to avoid assuming the gender of an individual being discussed," a school spokeshuman told The College Fix.