The President Who Didn't Fear Us (AlextheKay strikes again)
The other day, Donald Trump wanted to cross the street. So he had peaceful protesters gassed and forced away from the area he wanted to visit. He even had the clergy at the church gassed to get them away from his preferred photo-op space. Then he held a Bible upside-down, reassured everyone that he was still in favor of our right to bear arms (if not our right to peaceably assemble), and then went back to the White House to share some high-fives with his toadies.
After Trump's gassing peaceful protesters, I can't help but reflect on how Richard Nixon wandered over to the Lincoln Memorial, five days after Kent State, and chatted up some anti-war demonstrators who were there for a huge demonstration planned for the next day.
No tear gas. No clearing people away. He just walked over and started talking to them.
It was awkward, and nothing much was achieved. The conversation ended up being about where the kids went to college, the Syracuse football team and surfing in California. But the difference is notable. Nixon wasn't afraid of the people he governed. Even the ones who really, really disliked him.
He just ambled over to the Memorial and talked to people who were there to demonstrate against his administration.

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