Afrasianet - President Donald Trump has promised to "restore law and order to our cities." But Washington, D.C., is clearly not one of those cities. – Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek.
Trump set a record for the number of executive orders he signed on his first day in office. Among those orders are the repeal of former President Barack Obama's changes to health care and enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, which could affect up to 24 million Americans, many of whom certainly voted for Trump.
However, there were two campaign promises that Trump immediately began to keep, the most revealing of his priorities, and would determine his administration's approach in the coming period. He pardoned some of the individuals involved in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, who assaulted police officers. On the same day, he imposed immigration restrictions targeting some Afghan refugees, including, as Newsweek reported, "about 200 family members of U.S. active duty duty members of U.S. descent born in the United States or Afghans who came to the U.S. and joined the military, and 200 unaccompanied Afghan refugee children or Afghan parents whose children were brought alone to the United States."
In one way or another, Trump sees the Afghans who helped us during our protracted war in their country, who trusted us and now need our protection, and who have all come under focused scrutiny, are more dangerous to us than the people who attacked the Capitol and tried to overthrow the government.
In his inaugural address, Trump painted a bleak picture of America as he resumed office, claiming that we are a nation in decline that has witnessed a "horrible betrayal" and that God has survived in order to "truly restore the faith, wealth, democracy and freedom of the American people."
When he pardoned some of those involved in the events of January 6, he referred to them as "hostages" and treated them as heroes, while treating Afghan heroes as criminals. Among those Trump portrayed as victims and pardoned were Jacob Chansley, known as "Shaman Q-Annon," who has now promised to go and buy weapons for himself, and Enrico Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys group who helped orchestrate the attack and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Trump also reduced the sentence of the founder of Oath Kippers. Stuart Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison, which also led to his release.
If you wonder why Trump is so tolerant of the Jan. 6 attackers who brutally assaulted police officers, and why he's so cruel to the Afghan people whose lives are at risk, the answer is that in many cases criminals are on Trump's side, as in the Jan. 6 attack, while the other group is useless because they're just desperate people who need our help.
Joe Biden has helped resettle more than 90,000 Afghans here in the United States, none of whom have committed any acts of terrorism. Now Trump will turn his back on the people who need us most, claiming it's about keeping us safe, while at the same time allowing the violent criminals who support him out of jail.
This is the America we can expect to live in with Trump back at the helm — services to the American middle and working class are being curtailed, while billionaires seeking to destroy democracy continue to receive special treatment.
As for the freedom Trump promised, including his pledge to "restore free speech," he immediately revoked the security clearance of some former intelligence officials who dared to write a letter he didn't like. He appeared very angry when the Rev. Marianne Edgar Boddy gave a sermon at the National Cathedral, where she pleaded with the president to show his basic sympathy. When asked by a reporter about it later, Trump, still looking annoyed, said, "I didn't think it was a good service."
In the end, it's clear that telling Trump about the harshness of his policies only annoys him. So, let's keep bothering him, maybe then he will have to behave appropriately at times.