Alternet: ‘Proudly ignorant’ Trump blasted for rewriting a history he doesn’t understand

From universities to museums, President Donald Trump is making a concerted effort to purge institutions of what MAGA Republicans call a “woke” version of U.S. history.

But historians and Trump opponents are pushing back, stressing that discussing the darker side of U.S. history is not bashing the United States but rather, is an effort to learn from mistakes of the past and avoid repeating them. Presidential historian Jon Meacham, a frequent guest on MSNBC, often describes frank discussions as part of the journey toward a “more perfect union.”

In an opinion column published by The Guardian on September 4, Sidney Blumenthal — a former adviser to ex-President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — argues that Trump is trying to whitewash U.S. history even though he has a painfully limited knowledge of it.

“Of all the presidents, Donald Trump — the man who would remake the Smithsonian and alter its presentation of ‘how bad slavery was,’ as he put it — is surely the most ignorant of American history itself,” Blumenthal laments. “What Trump doesn’t know fills the Library of Congress, whose chief librarian he has fired, along with driving out the heads of the National Archives and the National Portrait Gallery, as well as dissolving programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities and defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which as a result, has paused the acclaimed ‘American Experience’ documentary series.”

The former Clintons adviser adds, “Trump claims he is tearing down the entire federal support for history in order to reveal the true story.”

A Trump White House aide, Blumenthal notes, bragged that one of Trump’s goals is to “get the woke out of the Smithsonian.”

“But this gospel of positive-thinking twaddle aside, Trump, proudly ignorant though he is, has for years articulated a vision of American history,” Blumenthal warns. “That vision does not emphasize the strides the nation has made through tumultuous struggle since the abolition of slavery. Instead, it honors those who defended slavery, committed treason to preserve it and claim it to be a worthy American ‘heritage.’ Trump has repeatedly sought to shield the Confederate statues and symbols erected as tribute to the ‘lost cause’ myth.”

Blumenthal continues, “He has expressed and unqualified admiration for Robert E. Lee as a quintessential American hero almost always coupled with belittling remarks about (President Abraham) Lincoln. His view of history squarely aligns him with neo-Confederates, not least those who carried the Confederate flag at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection on 6 January 2021 and whom he subsequently pardoned. Trump’s version of history is not, however, simply reactionary nostalgia, or treacly kitsch for the restoration of ‘Uncle Herschel,’ the ‘Old-Timer’ to the Cracker Barrel logo. His use of the culture war is a key element to advance his policy agenda.”

https://www.alternet.org/trump-sidney-blumenthal-smithsonian

Associated Press: Trump signs bill to cancel $9 billion in foreign aid, public broadcasting funding

President Donald Trump signed a bill Thursday canceling about $9 billion that had been approved for public broadcasting and foreign aid as Republicans look to lock in cuts to programs targeted by the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The bulk of the spending being clawed back is for foreign assistance programs. About $1.1 billion was destined for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which finances NPR and PBS, though most of that money is distributed to more than 1,500 local public radio and television stations around the country.

The White House had billed the legislation as a test case for Congress and said more such rescission packages would be on the way.

Some Republicans were uncomfortable with the cuts, yet supported them anyway, wary of crossing Trump or upsetting his agenda. Democrats unanimously rejected the cuts but were powerless to stop them.

The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense. Conservatives particularly directed their ire at NPR and PBS. Lawmakers with large rural constituencies voiced grave concern about what the cuts to public broadcasting could mean for some local public stations in their state. Some stations will have to close, they warned.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the stations are “not just your news — it is your tsunami alert, it is your landslide alert, it is your volcano alert.”

On the foreign aid cuts, the White House argued that they would incentivize other nations to step up and do more to respond to humanitarian crises and that the rescissions best served the American taxpayer.

Democrats argued that the Republican administration’s animus toward foreign aid programs would hurt America’s standing in the world and create a vacuum for China to fill. They also expressed concerns that the cuts would have deadly consequences for many of the world’s most impoverished people.

“With these cuts, we will cause death, spread disease and deepen starvation across the planet,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.

https://apnews.com/article/pbs-npr-budget-cuts-trump-republicans-7d29c97c85d0b450549af657e115f0f8

Trump’s assault on DEI must be stopped. Diversity makes us strong, not weak | Editorial

In the month since President Trump signed an executive order eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the federal level, cancellations and rollbacks of DEI programs continue to mount.

The order has given private sector companies hollow excuses and political cover for pulling back on DEI. Ironically, these were some of the same companies that rushed to create DEI offices after the murder of George Floyd during the first Trump administration.

The intent of DEI programs is to bring fairness and inclusion to the workplace through diverse voices, especially those of women, veterans and people of color. We don’t see that as being a bad thing.

Trump’s assault on DEI must be stopped. Diversity makes us strong, not weak | Editorial – nj.com