I need to "live-blog" my reading of Trump's 4th of July speech.

Here's the transcript from what was called the “Salute to America” at the White House yesterday.

As I said in the previous post, I think Trump went big introducing a strong campaign theme this weekend, setting himself up in opposition to the protesters who've been ripping down statues, and I looked at Biden's 4th-of-July speech — speechlet — and judged it to be smack dab in the middle of a continuum that runs from Trump to the statue topplers.

Yesterday, I "live-blogged" my reading of Trump's July 3rd speech — the Mount Rushmore speech, so now I feel that I need to live-blog my reading of Trump's 4th-of-July speech. Blogging is a strange compulsion, where I don't really have to do a damned thing I don't want to do. That's what's so compelling about it, paradoxically.

I'm reading the full text as I write, but I'm not quoting every word of it. Unlike the Mount Rushmore speech, I did watch some of this one.

Thanks to the courage of those patriots on July 4th, 1776, the American Republic stands today as the greatest, most exceptional, and most virtuous nation in the history of the world. Our workers, our factories have revolutionized industries and lifted millions into prosperity. Our artists, architects, and engineers have inspired the globe with transcendent works of beauty. American heroes defeated the Nazis, dethroned the fascists, toppled the communists, saved American values, upheld American principles, and chased down the terrorists to the very ends of the earth.

American exceptionalism. America is great. A fantastic treasure that must be preserved. Noted.

We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing.

Oh, I thought he would say we are now being threatened by the radical left who want to take this all away. But he introduces this cast of characters — America's antagonists — as in the process of getting defeated. And he further minimizes them by saying that a lot of them don't even know what they're doing. They're clueless dummies, following along.

All Americans living today are the heirs of this magnificent legacy. We are the descendants of the most daring and courageous people ever to walk on the face of the Earth. We inherit their towering confidence, unwavering enthusiasm, their unbridled ambition, and their unrelenting optimism....

I suspect that's his opinion of himself too — towering confidence, unwavering enthusiasm... unbridled ambition... unrelenting optimism.

That is why we pay tribute to generations of American heroes whose names have etched on our monuments and memorials and in the pages of history and in the hearts of a very grateful people. We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children, or trample on our freedoms. We will safeguard our values, traditions, customs, and beliefs. We will teach our children to cherish and adore their country so that they can build its future. 

That's the theme, stated positively, but with the nugget of negativity: There's an "angry mob." We have so much good, and we must protect it from those bad people over there.

Together we will fight for the American dream, and we will defend, protect, and preserve American way of life, which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America....

There really was no need to bring up Columbus. He's a divisive figure, and he wasn't an American. We don't really need to feel accountable for what he did. Why throw him in to this discussion as if we should take pride in him? (Did you see that the city of Columbus, Ohio took down its statue of Columbus?)

Never forget, we are one family and one nation.... We are American. We are from the USA.... No matter our race, color, religion, or creed, we are one America, and we put America first. We will not allow anyone to divide our citizens by race or background. 

So he doesn't want to be divisive, but look at those bad people over there — They are divisive.

We will not allow them to foment hate, discord, and distrust. We will hold fast and true to the sacred loyalties that link us all as neighbors, as Americans, and as patriots. In every age, there have always been those who seek to lie about the past in order to gain power in the present. 

There are rival stories of America — America the Beautiful and America the Ugly. Both are propaganda, and the propagandists accuse each other of lying.

Those that are lying about our history, those who want us to be ashamed of who we are are not interested in justice or in healing. Their goal is demolition....

Some of those who are doing the shaming want to fix things, don't they? Look at Joe Biden's speech (in the previous post). He's saying there's "systemic racism" and we have "a chance to rip the roots" of it out. Will Trump say that Biden's goal is demolition? Maybe Trump will portray Biden as one of the followers who have absolutely no clue what they are doing. I don't know that Biden has any goal. He served so long in government, so he must be responsible for nurturing and growing "the roots of systemic racism." I have a hard time believing he has any idea of how to fix anything, but it's equally hard to see him as bent on destruction.

Let me also say a word to those in the media who falsely and consistently label their opponents as racists, who condemn patriotic citizens who offer a clear and truthful defense of American unity. That’s what our people are doing. 

Our people? He's saying "our people" are for unity, but in saying "our people," he's visualizing one side against another. It's a paradox: The Advocates of Unity versus The Advocates of Divisiveness. Ironically, both sides use this paradox and both think they are the The Advocates of Unity and the other side are The Advocates of Divisiveness. I guess they're all ready to be one big happy family as long as their opponents disarm and go home and shut up.

We want a clear and faithful defense of American history, and we want unity. When you level these false charges, you not only slander me....

Ugh! Now, he's talking about his own personal critics?! That doesn't belong in the 4th-of-July speech.

... you not only slander the American people, but you slander generations of heroes who gave their lives for America. You slander people much braver and more principle than you. You’re slandering the young men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima and those who perished fighting for freedom in the Civil War. You slander them. You are dishonoring their great legacy and their memory by insisting that they fought for racism and they fought for oppression.

So he's got all the heroes on his side. Criticize him and you're criticizing all the soldiers who've died fighting for America. You see how this argument is supposed to work? Trump presents himself as the embodiment of the ideal of America, and if you don't like it, because you'd like to focus on what's wrong with America, then you are attacking everyone who ever fought for America.

And if you say America is a system of white supremacy, you're saying the soldiers fought for white supremacy.

They didn’t fight for those things. They fought for the exact opposite. We will not let the legacy of these heroes be tarnished by you. The more you lie, the more you slander, the more you try to demean and divide, the more we will work hard to tell the truth, and we will win. The more you lie and demean and collude, the more credibility you lose. We want to bring the country together, and a free and open media will make this task a very easy one. Our country will be united after all

Has there ever been so much dividing and unifying all mixed up like that?

What do we all want? We want a strong military, great education, housing, low taxes, law and order. We want safety. We want equal justice. We want religious liberty. We want faith, and family, and living in great communities, and happy communities and safe communities, and we want great jobs, and we want to be respected by the rest of the world, not taken advantage of by the rest of the world, which has gone on for decade after decade. We should all want the same thing. How can it be any different than those things? 

He's got the best things on his list of things everyone should want. How can it be any different than those things?

The more bitter you become, the more we will appeal to love and patriotism, and the more we will rise above your hate to build a better future for every child in our great country.

That's his version of when they go low, we go high. When they hate, we love. Good idea. See if you can do more of that. I'm up for the love. But people who hate Donald Trump are never going to accept his love — or even believe that it's anything like real love.

To celebrate America’s majestic inheritance, yesterday I signed an executive order to create a brand new monument to our most beloved icons, the national Garden of American Heroes will be a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans who have ever lived. 

Oh, no. He's serious about that... at least as a proposal... as a kind of trap to see who'll be against it. Well, I am against it. I heard that live yesterday, and I said out loud, "I don't want my tax money paying for that, and I don't wanted a government propaganda theme park." Can't the government just do government things and leave the artwork to the people? And why would this place be "vast"? Who wants to walk around in a vast sculpture park?

We will honor extraordinary citizens from every community, and from every place and from every part of our nation. Great men and great women, people that we can look up to forever. 

And we can argue forever about who does or doesn't belong in this outdoor hall of fame.

Families will be able to walk among the statues of titans, and we have already selected the first 30 legacies and 30 legends, and why don’t we start with a man who’s been very unfairly treated, who twos years ago, three years ago, especially five or six years ago people would have said “It’s impossible to even attempt to try and disturb his incredible legacy and success?” George Washington.

I think we should learn history and debate about it. Take on these formidable characters and argue about them. The idea that if we made a big statue, it would end the debate... well, that's obviously wrong. But, yeah, maybe there are lots of "families" who'll travel to "walk among the statues of titans." Come on. I don't want to pay for this. It's a ludicrous fantasy. I'm utterly positive the statutes that would be made under these circumstances would be really awful art.

Thomas Jefferson, Betsy Ross, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, James Madison, Dolley Madison, the great Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Clara Barton, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Henry Clay, Susan B. Anthony, Booker T Washington, Orville and Wilbur Wright, who are looking down...

How does he know they're looking down? Maybe some of them are looking up.

... and you’re going to see some planes like you have never seen before, because we build them better than anybody in the world. The greatest air force, the greatest fighters, the greatest everything. You’re going to be seeing something. I just wonder what Orville and Wilbur would have been thinking if they ever got to see that, but they’re looking, they’re checking it out right now along with us. Amelia Earhart. A great, great athlete, no matter where he went he was the best athlete, Jackie Robinson. George S. Patton. General Patton, he didn’t know how to lose. He didn’t know how to lose. General Douglas MacArthur, Audie Murphy, the great Billy Graham. An incredible man, respected by everybody, Martin Luther King. President Ronald Reagan, Christa McAuliffe, and Antonin Scalia.

Are you picturing yourself and your family walking through this vast sculpture park? Having an exalted time worshipping your human idols? Is your God smiling upon you?

So those are just a few of the people we’ll be naming, and things are subject to change, but once we make that decision, those great names are going to be up there and they’re never coming down. 

This is like the Catholic church deciding who the saints are. I'm so opposed — not to the Catholics, they can do their thing — I'm so opposed to the government undertaking this offensive project. Let us all decide which historical figures — if any — we want to idolize. We don't need to agree on whether, say, Antonin Scalia is one of our religion-of-patriotism saints.

They have just been an incredible group, and we are going to do this in a very democratic way, frankly.

Oh, really? We have to participate in picking our idols? Could you please just leave me alone about all these things that are not the business of government? Back off!

We’re going to take names and suggestions....

I'm going to take names.

... we’re going to have committees....

Can we have a vast national sculpture park honoring all the great committees in history? I suggest something in a style about like this:

  

.... and we’re going to pick the greatest people that this country has ever known, the most respected people, the people that helped us the most and the people that we can look up to and that our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren can look up to into the future and they can say “Isn’t America just a tremendous place?” So, thank you. That’ll be very exciting.

Imagine all the children dragged to Trump's sculpture park. They're not all going to be saying "Isn’t America just a tremendous place?" You can't control their reaction. Many of them are going to be saying Isn’t America just a ridiculous place? (and much worse). They're not all going to find it "very exciting." Many of those children and grandchildren are going to be saying I'm tired. Can we sit down? I don't care who these people were! Can we go to Disney World? Where are the rides?

The patriots who built our country were not villains, they were heroes whose courageous deeds improved the earth beyond measure. The beauty and the glory of our constitutional system is that it gives us the tools to fight injustice, to heal division and to continue the work of our founding fathers by expanding and growing the blessings of America....

That, I agree with. Back off on the vast sculpture park, and talk about the proper role of government. It's not foisting bad art on us. I hate the destruction of statues that has been going on, but no way do I want new statues, especially a lot of new statues all at once, slapped together and put up during a big political dispute. Trump is turning me against statues, and I was for them!

Here this evening are a number of heroes who risked their own lives to uphold these values and to keep our communities and our country safe.... We will honor the amazing men and women of the United States military.... Whenever our way of life has been threatened, our ancestors have responded with the same resounding answer as those first patriots who fought for independence. We are Americans, and we never back down.... Next year will be one of the greatest years we’ve ever had....

Next year... as opposed to this year... the famously awful year, 2020. Whether it will be Trump doing the honors of haranguing us on the next 4th, God only knows.