An Independence Day fireworks display at Mount Rushmore National Memorial could expose spectators to Covid-19 as well as toxic fumes from the explosions/Kurt Repanshek file
While Big Bend National Park closed Thursday due to a confirmed case of Covid-19 within the park, other parks are moving carefully in granting visitors access, and at least one concessionaire is requiring customers to wear facemasks, an Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore National Memorial will not require face masks or social distancing.
The event prompted by the Trump administration and which will feature President Trump in attendance also comes two days after a study stated that spectators could be exposed to toxic emissions from the metals used to give fireworks their brilliant colors.
Upwards of 7,500 spectators are expected for the spectacle, which will be held Friday night, July 3. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has said face masks will be available for those who want them, but social distancing won't be enforced.
On Wednesday, Xanterra Travel Collection, which operates lodges and other concessions in and around Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Rocky Mountain, and Zion national parks, as well as at Mount Rushmore, announced that it would require "all visitors to wear face coverings while in the indoor public areas of our facilities and in outdoor areas where proper distancing is not possible. These areas include, but are not limited to lobbies, hallways, gift shops, restaurants, offices, indoor/outdoor queueing lines, and sightseeing vehicles and boats."
The National Park Service has not taken a hard stance on the wearing of face masks, though many parks have encouraged visitors to wear them if they can't practice social distancing. At Golden Gate National Recreation Area, officials said "federal, state and local health authorities are were discourging any activities that would draw large crowds" beause of the coronavirus pandemic.
The fireworks display over the carved faces of Presidents George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson comes 11 years after they were halted because of concerns they might spark wildfires in the surrounding Black Hills National Forest and the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve.
Fire danger in those areas surrounding Mount Rushmore currently is judged to be "moderate."
The environmental assessment prepared on the question of whether the fireworks display could safely return to the memorial noted a number of adverse effects it would create, but dismissed them as short-term.
Air Quality IssuesAir quality may be affected by emissions from the vehicles of visitors, fireworks contractors, and NPS and event partners before, during, and after the event. These impacts would be no greater than, and possibly less than, normal memorial operations because of the limited number of visitors on that day compared to other summer days. There may be air quality impacts from the potential use of helicopters for event staging and teardown, and by military aircraft from a potential flyover. These impacts would be a negligible addition to regular aircraft traffic in the region. Air quality could also be affected by smoke from the fireworks display; however, these effects are expected to be short-term and negligible and smoke would be expected to dissipate soon after the event.
Impacts to threatened or endangered species
The northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) is listed as threatened under the ESA and is present at the memorial. The bat could be subject to fireworks and aircraft noise, and could occur in areas subject to fire risk. ...However, wildfire effects are temporary, of low probability, and do not constitute incidental or purposeful take, as defined in the 2016 USFWS Programmatic Biological Opinion for the northern long-eared bat (USFWS 2016). The bats are sensitive to acoustics, but are likely to be in roosts and remain sheltered during the event.
Impacts to wilderness quality
There is no designated Wilderness within the boundaries of the memorial, but the designated USFS Black Elk Wilderness lies to the west of the memorial. No planned activities would occur in designated Wilderness under the preferred alternative (see Section 2.1, Alternative 1); however, the fireworks event may affect Wilderness qualities. The five qualities of Wilderness character, as defined in the Wilderness Act of 1964, are: (1) untrammeled; (2) undeveloped; (3) natural; (4) offers outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined recreation; and (5) other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. Of these, the preferred alternative may result in temporary impacts on opportunities for solitude from the fireworks event. Visitors camping or recreating in the Black Elk Wilderness may experience visual and acoustic disturbances from the event; however, these disturbances would last for 15 to 30 minutes. The NPS would minimize potential adverse impacts on the Wilderness experience for visitors by posting the event in advance.
While a 2016 study by the U.S. Geological Survey concluded that surface and groundwater at Mount Rushmore were probably polluted with a chemical common to rocket fuels and explosives by past fireworks display, the EA prepared for this year's event played down the threat of additional perchlorate contamination by noting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been considering a move to bump up the allowable amount of the chemical in drinking water by more than three times, from 15 microgrms per liter to 56 micrograms per liter.
Perchlorate has been found to interfere with the function of the human thyroid gland.
A study released Wednesday in the journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology pointed out that the lead, copper, titanium, strontium, and other "toxins" that give fireworks their vibrant colors "also damage human cells and animal lungs."
"While many are careful to protect themselves from injury from explosions, our results suggest that inhaling firework smoke may cause longer-term damage, a risk that has been largely ignored," said Terry Gordon, PhD, a professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at NYU Langone Health who was the study's senior author.
"Although people are only exposed to these substances for a short time each year, they are much more toxic than the pollutants we breathe every day," added Gordon.
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Comments
What about the fireworks in DC, and New york? Are they hazardous also, or just those in S Dakota?
Fireworks contribute to fires and pollution everywhere. https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2019/12/31/festive-fireworks-...'
NPS is officially an arm of the Trump re-election campaign and it is so embarrassing to be associated with this once proud agency.
Our goverment is suppose to lead us not divide us. Nothing good will come from these actions. Very disappointed our administration to use (once again) the NPS as a platform for it's personal political policies. United (not divided) States of America...
John Perreault, as some of our fellow commenters like to remind us, we need to avoid falling into “Trump Derangement Syndrome” over these current events. It's really not the fault of "our government" in any broad sense. It's really not Trump or even all of "this administration" either. The problem truly is the GOP, the republican party; it's been the GOP for over a hundred years; and it would be a tragic mistake to think that just getting rid of Trump, while leaving the rest of the GOP standing, will solve anything.
If you look back to the beginning of the 20th century, the GOP had come to cater exclusively to the corpulent rich; the voters knew it; and the GOP was in political trouble. So, they lured a smart, robust, active, well meaning, young politician to run as their candidate for vice president, fully intending to keep him powerless in that vice president role, and that strategy enabled them to win again. However, when President McKinley turned out to be so distasteful that he was almost immediately assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt became president, the only genuinely progressive GOP president in over a century. But, as soon as Roosevelt left office, the GOP went right back to their old ways and used every dirty trick in the book to keep Roosevelt from coming back in to put things right again, America's loss.
When, after staggering through the First World War, Woodrow Wilson tried to reduce the risk of future wars by organizing the League of Nations, pretty much his only truly progressive move, the GOP blocked his efforts and brought in three stooges to orchestrate a draconian orgy of profiteering off reparations, which ultimately led to the next world war. Their first stooge was Harding, the 20th century's most corrupt president; their second was Coolidge, dumb enough, inarticulate enough, and incompetent enough to be a 20th century version of Mike Pence; and the third was Hoover, whose proclivity for pretentious narcissism almost matched Trump's and led us into the Great Depression.
After FDR and Truman got us through the Second World War and the Korean Conflict, fighting off GOP backbiting every step of the way, the GOP had to pull another Theodore Roosevelt trick in order to return to power. But, while Eisenhower focused on continuing his role as allied military commander and ably presided over a necessary boosting of America's strategic capability to confront the Soviets, the GOP was busy bringing forth their next three stooges. Those stooges, Richard Nixon, Joe McCarthy, and their constantly scheming mentor, the freakishly twisted Roy Cohn, were responsible for orchestrating the most damaging display of political perversion since Andrew Jackson, all on the GOP's watch.
Make no mistake. Long after Tailgunner Joe was gone, it was the GOP that continued to nurture the evils of McCarthyism, as Cohn's perverse influence went on to shape Goldwater, Quayle, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Barr, Trump, Stone, and so many others. That perverse influence ultimately brought Nixon into power and we know how that story ended. But, it wasn’t just a Nixon thing. We need to remember Agnew, “Bebe” Rebozo, the burglars, and the rest of the GOP tag team from that era, all the villainy money could buy.
Ronald Reagan, an actor adept at posing on screen as something between John Wayne and Roy Rodgers, was recruited and trained by the GOP to “act” as our president while the GOP used national security as a ruse to hurriedly raid the treasury one last time before the Soviets collapsed on their own. When the Iran-Contra scandal and the associated cocaine shipments out of Central America surfaced, it was the GOP that got Reagan off on a senility plea to buy his silence and another up and coming GOP hack, Barr, who was there to, once the heat died down, get the rest of the GOP mob pardoned.
And, it's not just ancient history. Trump wasn’t even there for the election in Florida in November of 2000; if he was, he was only there to party with Epstein. No, that fraudulent election was all on the GOP and the Bush family and their minions. And, so many of those people are still with us.
So, it's not just Trump or "this administration" that's the problem and we shouldn't lose sight of that. If we do and aren't careful and resolute in putting an end to all of it once and for all, Trumpism and the judges that GOP hitman Mitch McConnell has put on the bench will continue the pattern.
Nicely said, I am glad you agree, a little long winded but I see we are on the same page. Thank you!
Thank you Humphrey for an EXCELLENT history of the GOP's "contibutions" to America.
Well now that our President has delivered that speech I hope the powers that be feel good about what he has now done to our national shrines. NPS was used tonight. I wish we had leaders who would speak out because that waste of tax payer dollars that I witnessed tonight is worthy of a few investigations. I hope the Trump Campaign is paying the bill because that is all it was and no one even cares to disguise it as anything more that a pure campaign speech filled with hate.
How was this event not a violation of the Hatch Act?
The Hatch Act establishes general provisions governing participation in political activities by executive branch employees (5 CFR 734.101). The Hatch Act also prohibits political activity “in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties.” Outdoor political activities held at NPS units including, but not limited to, rallies, speeches, press conferences, and photo-ops that use recognizable NPS resources as a backdrop may be permitted if otherwise consistent with NPS regulations. NPS employees may provide logistical support or other services to permitted political events. Employees may actively participate in a permitted event only when off duty and in civilian clothes so to not imply NPS endorsement of the event.
We basically watched an NPS event, funded by our tax payer dollars, turn into a MAGA rally in front of our eyes. This is a disgrace. Horace Albright threatened to resign over the potential use and damage of parks in the name of national defense during WWI. My how the NPS has fallen!
If anyone out there now thinks it isn't important to have a Senate confirmed Director, you are sadly mistaken.
Shower - Hate speech? Could you provide a quote from the speech that reflected "hate"? As to the Hatch Act, if giving a 4th of July speech on Park lands is a violation of the Hatch Act, then Presdients have been violating the Hatch Act for decades. https://qz.com/1020031/elegant-4th-of-july-speeches-by-past-us-president...
EC -- you must have mixed up George Bush reading The Pet Goat story to the 2nd graders on 9/11 instead of the "new far-left FASCISM" speech from Donald yesterday. That's ok, though, we all make mistakes from time to time.
Selected excerpts from the President's speech at Mount Rushmore (full transcript
at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-...)
In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new
far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its
language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments,
then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished.
It’s not going to happen to us.
Make no mistake: this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the
American Revolution. In so doing, they would destroy the very civilization that
rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence, and hunger, and that lifted
humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery, and progress.
Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to
hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were
not heroes, but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a
web of lies — all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive
is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the
history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition.
The radical ideology attacking our country advances under the banner of social
justice. But in truth, it would demolish both justice and society. It would
transform justice into an instrument of division and vengeance, and it would
turn our free and inclusive society into a place of repression, domination, and
exclusion.
Their goal is not a better America, their goal is the end of America.
Hate speech? Certainly hateful, and whether you believe it to actually be
true I guess depends upon one's perspective.
EC--
You're being deliberately obtuse again. Presidents can certainly give speeches in National Parks and other Federal Facilities without the use of the facilities and staff violating the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act violation would be triggered by the partisan and political nature of the event. The divisiveness, attacks on liberals, large GOP VIP list, and especially the speeches by the Republican opening acts, may well have crossed that threshold. The sponsorship by South Dakota tourism office may or may not matter legally.
There are 3 NPS units named after Conquistadors. Those of us trying to get interpretive stories changed from the simplified glorification of 1950s - 1970s K-12 education to fuller pictures of those men, what they did, what it did to indigenous people, the context for it, and the consequences of it that still resonate, are not lying about history. We want fuller, more honest history presented in our parks. CJDillon may disagree, but Cabrillo was not a hero to be admired. He came to the "New World" as a Conquistador under Cortez, stayed to become viceroy/governor of Guatamala, got rich by enslaving indigenous men into gold mines and women as sex slaves. Those are historical facts, much better documented than his voyage of discovery (in slave-built ships) up what is now the west coast of Mexico and the US. He did nothing much in his few days in San Diego, so there aren't site-specific events to base interpretation around. I am appalled by the park's educational programs and Visitor Center movie about Cabrillo.
The local Portuguese-ancestry community adopted Cabrillo as their hero about 120 years ago, and pushed for the National Monument (est 1913). Today they fight vehemently against the best current scholarship that Cabrillo was born in Spain as well as sailed under the Spanish flag. There's a great narrative of how & why that community's ancestors came to San Diego via farmers in the Azores, farmers in Central California, to San Diego, then dominating the tuna fishing industry that had been started by Japanese-Americans who intreoduced the technology of stiff bamboo poles, and why they felt the need of a hero to gain respect and acceptance.
Circling back to the Hatch Act, NPS employees have been explicitly warned they cannot express their opinions about the statue even when asked. There is even specific wording on telling visitors they can contact their congressional representatives (NPS can't remove or shield statues without Presidential or Congressional acts), without encouraging them to do so. Under that criterion, the parts of President Trump's speech about statues and monuments would have violated the Hatch Act if given by a Federal Employee.
To extend what CJ wrote about fireworks, yes they are fire hazards over land and sources of water contaminants everywhere. But in fire-prone areas, especially with substantial beetle kill and drought, fireworks are a much higher risk. I'm glad the wind died down and the humidity was higher than it had been the last week at Mount Rushmore, so yesterday the NPS folks didn't have absolute no-go fire conditions with political pressure to go ahead anyway.
I just watched trump's campaign rally at Mt. Rushmore.
The monument has been defiled as surely as if trump had carved his name across Washington's face. The whole hate-filled, fear-mongering obscenity was a nauseating flow of pure sewage.
We MUST remove this sleazy creep from the White House in January and then get to work trying to repair the damage he has done to nation we love.
I have never seen or heard anything any more disgusting in my life. And I've witnessed some awfully rotten things.
And you might notice, Lee, that no one described his speech as "hate" until after Buck defended it from such accusations. Insightful. Partisan and campaign related it was indeed. It also continued his longstanding calous disregard for the feelings of others, not least of was the local tribes, and his totzl disregard for the environment,
We absolutely MUST remove him from office. Then we'll need to get to work to try to undo the damage he has done to the nation we love.
This man is beyond belief. We're living in a nightmare and it's past time to wake up.
Rick ' submitted by Time for a shower and the comment I was responding to - "a pure campaign speech filled with hate." Once again you are wrong with your baseless accusations.
Attitude - speeches by the Republican opening acts,
So having the governor of South Dakota and the Sec of Interior at an event held at a National Park in South Dakota is inappropriate? There was no mention of political parties, no mention of elections, no mention of candidates. It was a celebration of the greatness of America and the people that got us here. It is sad you find that divisive.
Can't wait to see this future NPS Site!
Does our President, or our Secretary have any idea what is already including in the National Park System?
And where do we think the money to prop up this group will come from?
I thought these guys didn't appreciate when Congress was bypassed on tthings like this (Bears Ears??)
I'm sorry, Buck. Shower did use that word. I missed that... since Shower was accurate, I missed it in looking back for an error.
Of course Trump was devisive, as witnessed by national and international media. It's the only thing he is good at.
Ok Rick, shower was accurate? I will put the same question to you. What exactly did he say that was "hate speech". You say he is devisive. What is divisive about celebrating this great nation and the men that made it great? Is that more divisive then tearing down statues, occupying cities, blocking roads, burning down buildings, murdering people, spitting on police or worse yet hitting them with baseball bats or shooting them. Is desecrating the memorials to those that fought to keep us free OK but thanking them not? But hey, why should I complain. Just got another client looking to flee Seattle. I wish it were not the case. Seattle was such a fine city.
Wow. getting close to your tipping point, Buck.He has said nothing for years that isn't hateful and devisive and loyal followers like you can only go so far.
More and more, daily, jump ship in favor of the nation instead of your man.
We are talking about his Mt Rushmore speech. After all we do want to keep this about the Parks and the appropriateness of the event. What did he say in his speech last night that was divisive, much less hateful?
EC, did you really just ask "What did he say in his speech last night that was divisive...?" My goodness, I cannot imagine why CNN's headlines were "Trump doubles down on divisive messaging in speech to honor Independence Day". Or the sub-headline from the NYTimes "Trump used the spotlight of the 4th of July weekend to sow national divide during a national crisis." You really are amazing, EC.
BrianP Who would be surprised that CNN and the NYT would criticize Trump. Speaking of divisive, they have been out to get Trump from the get go with their false attacks on the President. Rather than letting them speak for you, why don´t YOU tell us what YOU think he said that was divisive.
EC -- my main job during my career was writing computer software; I left the journalism up to people I trusted to tell the truth. Then I could read what they had to say and forumulate my own opinions. My opinion is that Donald's tweeting and talking is getting more and more divisive; this speech was no different.
Sounds like everyone here (or at least most of you) see Trump for the vile racist he is. After all, what President would use Mount Rushmore, a symbol of white supremacy, for a speech celebrating our country’s despicable history? It’s like pouring salt in a wound.
Who’s in favor of chiseling off the racist faces of Mount Rushmore and either eliminating the park altogether or maybe renaming it to something different?
Here’s a thought, lets replace them with the faces of Malcom X, Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton and let’s see…. maybe Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (after all diversity is paramount). Or perhaps Geronimo, Tecumseh, Sitting Bull and maybe Willma Mankiller? Which would be more politically correct?
And while we are erasing our ugly horrible history, when are we going to defund, or better yet eliminate the racist law enforcement arm of the NPS? We all know the financial struggles the NPS is facing. How much money could be saved by getting rid of these racists in the NPS? After all, if we are going to get rid of law enforcement at the state and local levels shouldn’t we also get rid of them at the federal level? Isn’t that just simple logic?
Would the savings be enough to cover a fee structure change so that people only pay based on what they earn? For example, if you are one of those greedy wealthy individuals that goes to work every day we could charge them $1,000 / day as opposed to say someone working at Starbucks 20 hrs a week who would pay maybe a nickel.
Of course if you’re one of the truly enlightened ones who recognizes the evils of capitalism and refuses to participate in the workforce you would justifiably get in free.
We should also let everyone who has suffered from all the systemic, structural, institutional racism in our country in free. You know, as a start to atone for our country’s sins (sorry for the religious reference). I think we should also include non-citizens as atonement for our ugly immigration and citizenship laws. Maybe we should remove the entrance gates altogether just like we need to at our country’s borders. You know, make everyone feel welcome.
Now that I think about it, why are we celebrating the 4th of July at all? Why celebrate a country that once allowed slavery and who stole the land from the natives?
Why does the NPS even exist, being it is a creation of a multitude of racist slave owners and invaders? Why stop at getting rid of the Lincoln Memorial or the renaming of schools with racist names like Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Wilson & Madison?
We should get rid of the NPS altogether!
Why ARE we polluting our water with fireworks of all things? Weren’t fireworks invented by the Chinese? Isn’t that the epitome of “cultural appropriation”?
Let’s get rid of this dreadful oppressive holiday and perhaps rename America itself. Maybe something like West Africa? Maybe something befitting the Native Indians? Oh, wait, that is disrespectful. I forgot for a minute it is insulting to use Native American names for anything. I do apologize. Or was it the Asians that were here first? Does that mean we need to evict the American Indians but can keep our fireworks?
But wait, what if the Native Americans don’t want ANY outsiders, you know like the Mexicans, Europeans, African Americans, etc? What if they don’t value diversity and inclusion? Damn this gets complicated.
I know, lets pack up everything the evil invaders created or brought with them and ship both them and their evil hateful racist inventions back to Europe or wherever it is they came from.
We can return the land that was stolen, bulldoze the parks, houses, roads, airports, monuments, churches, hospitals, corporations, etc. Fill in the mines, cap the evil oil wells, dispose of the medicines created and let the real Natives start fresh.
I know it’s not perfect but it’s a start and we have to start somewhere.
Once this is done we can start on correcting Europe’s sins and get that back to the way it was say during the Roman Empire? After all, wouldn’t it be fun to watch a few Christians being fed to the lions again?
Of course none of this will happen with Trump or the GOP in the way which is why it is so important to vote.
Our fake president has escalated from demonizing immigrants and foreigners to his outrageous claim that his opponent's "goal is not a better America; their goal is the end of America.”
Sounds pretty divisive to me, but here's what former Republican speechwriter Peter Wehner had to say after the Rushmore campaign stop:
"Trump faces an obvious difficulty as he seeks to fan public fears over renewed “American carnage” given that he has been responsible for the stewardship of the country for more than three years.
“It’s an insight into him: He doesn’t view his job in terms of governing. He just views it as a platform to vent and be angry... He’s not just appealing to the base, but he’s appealing to the base of the base. The aperture of the campaign is constricting, not expanding — he’s energizing a smaller and smaller group of angrier and angrier Americans. And to try to energize that base, he has to say more and more extreme things.”
Golly, alias wild places, you went pretty far afield with that tirade. Even ecbuck, in one of his earlier comments brought us back to center by reminding us that, "We are talking about his Mt Rushmore speech. After all we do want to keep this about the Parks and the appropriateness of the event." You should try to get hold of yourself, bro. If you don't, I fear you're not going to be able to stay stable in the face of what is probably coming over the next four months. You have to get a grip or I fear you're going to need some professional intervention to get through it all ...even more than you already need I mean.
Yet you can´t identify a single line. As to journalism, you certainly aren´t getting that from CNN or the NYTs. You need to listen, read and think for yourself.
Whoa, Bucky! You are telling me that my opinion doesn't count because I haven't fulfilled your requirements of identifying something that Donald said in some speech to his base? You, Bucky, are now the decider on the journalistic ethics and values of the New York Times? Should I write the New York Times and tell them that ECBuck thinks they suck? My gawd, I hope their subscriptions don't go down tomorrow! You, Bucky, are telling me that I need to listen to and read Donald's rambling and devisive speeches? You're telling me to think about what Donald has to say? I have thought about what Donald has to say; I have thought about what you try to say on this website. Here's what I think: you and Donald are both morons; that's my opinion. You've crossed the line, Bucky.
BrianP ---
Am I the only one who found a confliction in the orders Buck gave you? As the only one entitled to The Right Way he first told you "As to journalism, you certainly aren't getting that from CNN or the NYTs" and then followed it up with "You need to listen, read and think for yourself." --- which you would not be doing if you avoided CNN NYT etc. I thought Buck's main comploaint with you was that YOU WERE listening reading & thinkingfor yourself, just not for Buck.
Since most around these parts tend to thinkfor themselves - why would someone self-appointed to be on permanent Hall Patrol stick around.
I can remember when presidential Fourth of July speeches were stirring patriotic addresses about national unity. What we got from the orange idiot the other night was bile such as:
Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.
In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished.
The violent mayhem we have seen in the streets of cities that are run by liberal Democrats, in every case, is the predictable result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education, journalism, and other cultural institutions.
Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but that were villains. The radical view of American history is a web of lies — all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition.
End quote. Sorry to subject you all to Trump's pathetic partisan garbage. And EC, I didn't need any media outlet for this, it all came from the official White House transcript. This administration should be ashamed. November can't come quickly enough.
Ashamed of what Mike? Telling the truth? So to be non-divisive we have to ignore the truth and let this great nation be destroyed? No thank you.
That's the point, there is no truth in what he bellowed.
No truth? LOL - he was spot on with every comment. And I would love to debate each but won´t for Kurt´s sake. My last one on this.
I joined this web site to get information on the national parks, etc. It has become a leftist mouthpiece. I can go to CNN for that drivel. I will unsubscribe.