History’s judgment on President Donald Trump’s rain-delayed July 4th speech last Saturday night will be best described by the following unrelated quote from actress Cameron Diaz: “Your regrets aren’t what you did, but what you didn’t do”.
For approximately 40 minutes, President Trump spoke primarily about the American military’s ability to wage war. He cited an American Black that escaped slavery to become a Union soldier, who earned the Medal of Honor for preventing the American flag from touching the ground during battle; while speaking, the President presented on stage a 101-year-old veteran survivor of Iwo Jima, 2 veterans of the Korean War, a Vietnam War veteran, members of Gold Star families, and the space crew of Artemis II.
He bragged about the two military operations, the one which captured, arrested, and detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and the other one which destroyed Iran’s Navy. He also highlighted historic American flags from the past and spoke about his efforts to beautify Washington, D.C., the ills of communism while erroneously accusing Democrats of being communist, and endorsed the false need for the Save America Act.
Even if one ignores his falsehoods about Democrats being communists and America needing the Save America Act to become law, President Trump’s speech focusing only on the truthful and notable sacrifices veterans made to enable military victories was still a disservice to America’s military. Because President Trump missed a golden opportunity to illustrate how the American military is more than a one-trick pony that only knows how to fight and win wars. Through its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the American military invented and gave the world a tremendous gift: the internet, which enables real-time, instantaneous connection through email and instant messaging across the globe, shrinking distances and altering relationships.
The internet makes access to information and educational knowledge available to all people regardless of race, ethnicity, economic class, or what country one is a citizen of. It enables remote work and collaboration by decoupling work performance from physical office locations. And it makes everyday tasks like paying bills, applying for services, and purchasing consumer goods or groceries possible to complete entirely online from anyone’s location of choice, eliminating travel time and increasing convenience. History will note that the internet is the greatest invention of the 2oth century, made possible by America’s military.
Throughout his speech, President Trump appropriately asked veterans of past wars, gold star family members related to soldiers who lost their lives in war, and Artemis II astronauts from America’s space program to appear on stage with him to acknowledge their contribution to American greatness. But here too President Trump missed another semiquincentennial opportunity to acknowledge another great American achievement by failing to invite to join him onstage the 7 people: Dr. Moncef Slaoui, General Gustave F. Perna, Dr. Matthew Hepburn, Dr. Janet Woodcock, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, and Dr. Rick Bright who administered the most successful public-private partnership launched by the U.S. government in American history: Operation Warp Speed.
President Trump meets with Dr Kizzmekia Corbett (right) and Dr Anthony Fauci (left behind Trump) two of the people responible for the COVID-19 vaccine 12/14/2020
Operation Warp Speed is responsible for arguably the greatest invention of the 21st century: the COVID-19 vaccine, which saved millions of lives worldwide. The average vaccine normally takes 10-15 years to develop; Operation Warp Speed developed, tested, and distributed the COVID-19 vaccine in a record-breaking 11 months, the fastest development and distribution of a life-saving vaccine in human history. In America, the COVID-19 vaccine prevented more than 18.5 million hospitalizations, 3.2 million deaths, saved the United States $1.15 trillion, and it also saved 2.4 million lives in 141 countries. Operation Warp Speed and its COVID-19 vaccine not only saved millions of people from death, but it’s another example of America coming to the rescue of the world free of charge!!!
Many hours earlier on the same day and in the same city, before President Trump delivered his July 4th Washington, D.C. speech, about 400 masked members of the white nationalist group, Patriot Front, marched through Washington, D.C. carrying Confederate flags and chanting “Reclaim America”.
Patriot Front members marching on Washington D.C.
Unfortunately, President Trump’s white nationalist MAGA politics caused him not to take the opportunity to remind Patriot Front in his speech of America’s greatest semiquincentennial achievement that it took 188 years to achieve: American equality. President Trump could have acknowledged the free speech right of Patriot Front to express their racist viewpoint, which was legitimate and legal in America for 188 years, until 62 years ago, when Completion Father, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement he led convinced America to make the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act the law of the United States.
President Trump should have stated in his speech that the passage of these 2 laws was a great American achievement, which still allowed the Patriot Front the freedom to speak confederatism, but rendered their confederate viewpoint illegitimate and illegal. His speech was a missed opportunity to remind America how these 2 great laws completed and made real in America, for the last 62 years, the true democracy that the Founding Fathers intended and started 250 years ago (1776), but was left uncompleted, after they declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and specified that the new United States of America would be governed and function based on the democracy principle: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Ultimately, President Trump’s semiquincentennial speech missed the point. After 250 years of existence, it’s not America’s military might that makes America great. It’s America’s willingness to freely share our scientific and technological advances with the rest of the world for the betterment of the world, and it’s America’s quest to be the freest, most democratic society by always taking the steps necessary to create a more perfect union, which makes America the greatest nation on earth in human history!!!