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Dusty, Please: Use Your Power to Stop Bully Trump from Hurting Our Kids

Hey, Congressman Dusty Johnson! Donald Trump’s persistent hateful speech about four of your House colleagues isn’t just “the wrong way to communicate… disagreement” or not “helpful.” It’s hurting our children:

The crowd’s authoritarian outburst and the purposefully divisive, irresponsible presidential rhetoric that prompted it portends an ugly Trump campaign for reelection. Like “lock her up,” the chant that Trump rally-goers directed at Hillary Clinton in 2016, “send her back” is poised to travel the country with the president.

Already, the civic poison of the chant has been televised and celebrated on social media by Trump supporters. Naturalized immigrants must have heard it and felt anxious. Racists must have heard it and felt glad. Children must have heard it, too, and felt uncomfortable, knowing in their gut that the chant is wrong. Some kids are surely being malignly influenced by its repudiation of the American creed [Conor Friedersdorf, “‘Send Her Back’: The Bigoted Rallying Cry of Trump in 2020,” The Atlantic, 2019.07.18].

Don't be a cheerleader for bullies! Photo from Dusty Johnson, Twitter, 2019.03.15.
Don’t be a cheerleader for bullies! Photo from Dusty Johnson, Twitter, 2019.03.15.

When we see a bully hurting kids, we don’t just fold our arms and tut-tut, “Your words aren’t helpful.” We sit the bully down and say, “Your bullying stops now,” and we ground the bully until the bad behavior stops and our children are safe.

I don’t think you’re a bully, Dusty. I’m pretty sure that, among the many ways in which you and I are similar, you hate bullies as much as I do. There’s a really big bully in the White House, on TV all the time, doing harm to our kids. Even if we are raising our kids well enough to know that they should not emulate Trump’s behavior, they go to school with kids who may not be getting that message, who may start shouting mean things at our kids because Donald Trump shows them it’s o.k. to be mean.

Be a dad, Dusty. Be a teacher. Be a Congressman.

Stand up to the bully-in-chief, Dusty. Send a clear firm, and repeated message to him and to our kids that bullying is wrong and must stop, or else.

19 Comments

  1. Hank 2019-07-18 07:45

    I’ve sent this same message to Dusty’s email. I also sent the same to Senators Rounds and Thune. I don’t expect a direct response, but I had to let them know that the “all” at the end of our Pledge of Allegiance seems to have been forgotten or at least ignored. I asked them to do better, my hope is others will do the same.

  2. Loren 2019-07-18 08:55

    Dusty seems to display all the spine and moxie of Paul Ryan, Olympia Snow or Mitt Romney. They fret. They are concerned. They don’t like these things. In the end, they do NOTHING! I think we can count on Dusty to do the same. A words-only kind o’ guy!

  3. Donald Pay 2019-07-18 09:11

    I don’t think Dusty would participate in the bullying and the “send her back” fascism, but I doubt he has the courage to oppose it either. The modern Republican Party are the “good Germans” of today. They won’t stand up against Trump in the same way that most Germans wouldn’t stand up to Hitler. So, don’t expect Dusty to do the right thing.

    It must be disheartening to all those Teenage Republican kids Dusty mentored to see his lack of courage on full view, but that’s what has become of Republican “leadership.” Noem bullies a Girls Stater: silence. Trump bullies immigrant Congresswomen: silence and acquiescence. The next step happens when someone in the targeted community ends up being beat up. Silence. Then someone will be killed. Silence. Then it will be rounding up people. Silence.

    The silence is what kills and leads to fascism. Better wake up.

  4. Porter Lansing 2019-07-18 10:05

    Chant, we can.
    You scream, “SEND HER BACK!” We scream, “USE YOUR BRAIN!”
    Send her back! – Use your brain!
    Send her back! – Use your brain!
    Send her back! – Use your brain!
    Now. Isn’t that a productive use of politics?

  5. Kal Lis 2019-07-18 10:19

    Self-proclaimed conservatives used to pay lip service to the idea that Congress was a coequal branch of the federal government. They also formerly paid lip service to the notion that a state’s senators and a congressional district’s representative went to Washington to serve their constituents instead of their political party.

    It’s rough getting old and feeling nostalgic for the time when politicians had the decency to lie about their convictions instead of brazenly demonstrating they have none

  6. cibvet 2019-07-18 10:30

    We expect the congressional reps to stand against the racist hatred spewed by trump, but lets not overlook that probably a large percentage of SD agree with the trump dialog. This state has many racial issues and haters, so until that changes, rounds,thune and johnson will continue to wallow in the swamp with commander bone spurs.

  7. bearcreekbat 2019-07-18 11:09

    to echo cbvet – what exactly is important to Dusty and the crew, values or votes? How will SD republicans react If Dusty turns on Trump?

    Although I couldn’t find any recent SD polls on Trump’s current popularity among SD republicans, perhaps Dusty’s milktoast response to Trump’s racist screed is a calculated response based on internal findings that republicans in SD remain enamoured by Trump branding and lies. Wouldn’t want to take a public position that might cost votes from SD’s own mesmerized herds.

  8. Jenny 2019-07-18 11:31

    Trump married two immigrant women and his mom was an immigrant. Mary Trump Came from a poverty-stricken family in Scotland and came over to the US in 1930 at age 18 and found work as a domestic servant.
    From what I can find, Mary Trump got her citizenship in 1942,
    12 years after she came to the US. When she married Fred trump she lived a life of luxury and didn’t work for the rest of her life. I don’t blame her for that.
    Ilhan Omar came to the US as a refugee in 1992 at the age of 10 and
    got her citizenship in 2000 at the age of 18, and went to get Bachelors degrees in political science and international relations at NDSU. She has been active in politics ever since
    Eight years living in the US and Omar got her citizenship. Mary Trump lived 12 years in the US before she got her citizenship.
    Contrary to popular belief, Omar’s Fifth district of Minnesota is not a majority Somali and and minority Ethnic groups. It is 67% white.
    I admire a brave woman like Omar, where despite the odds against her, to have accomplished what she has.

  9. Certain Inflatable Recreational Devices 2019-07-18 13:02

    If you have not watched “Chernobyl” (HBO miniseries), you should. The parallels to current events in the USA are not immediately apparent, but by the time the scientists are weighing their consciences against the threat of opposing the lies of the State, i became pretty plain to me.

  10. SDBlue 2019-07-18 16:30

    Dusty wrings his hands, frets about Don the Con’s racism but doesn’t vote in the House to condemn it. Over The Shoulder Guy says Trump should “tone down his rhetoric” and the very next day Trump’s cultists are chanting “send her back” at his latest KKK rally while he stands and smirks. All one has to do is read the comments posted under any KELO, KSFY, KDLT story about Trump’s racism to see the majority of commenters siding with the racists and blaming Democrats. Even that moron Stace Nelson was on Twitter blaming Dems. I don’t expect anyone representing SD in a position of power to actually DO anything but flap their gums and blame others. Accountability is not even in their vocabulary.

  11. Debbo 2019-07-18 17:40

    Rancid Racist is indeed just that. The stench is the only thing “tremendous” about him. It is a wonderful thing any time a member of the GOP stands up for decency. 4 did, 5 counting Amash. That’s something. Much more is needed.

    I’m heartened because the center is sticking tight together and perhaps even growing. Monsters like Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc, succeed by dividing their country against itself in factions. While there is a portion of the US that is eagerly willing, the majority continues to stick tight together.

    There’s a group of old farmers who come into McDonald’s, probably daily, to bitch about prices, government, etc. I stop there sometimes on hot summer days for ice cream and I was seated near enough today to overhear them.

    Imagine my surprise when I realized those grizzled old grumps were talking about how much they disliked Rancid Racist and supported Democrats!! They’re not buying into any of his schtick. Nice.

  12. jerry 2019-07-18 17:44

    “Moron Stace Nelson”, good one. True that, dude has forgotten his wife and kids. Mitch McConnell the same same. Why do these guys feel they are protected when the white nationalists come knocking on their doors demanding to see their papers for proof of whiteness.

  13. Roger Cornelius 2019-07-18 18:08

    Dusty will do nothing to stop Trump from bullying and his lack of action enables his president. Dusty’s only disapproval of Trump will only go as far as saying, “don’t be so mean”.
    Dusty doesn’t even recognize the contempt Trump has for the branch of government Dusty was elected to.
    Rather then governing today Trump was trying to walk back his “send them back” chant last night.
    The only thing true in his denial was that he didn’t start the chant.
    Being the brave man that Trump is he would have stopped the chant, instead he blamed his staff and his own supporters.
    CNN did an editorial piece noting 51 lies Trump told at the rally.

  14. mike from iowa 2019-07-18 18:42

    Pathological liar/racist Drumpf told a bald faced lie to all America when he claimed he spoke quickly to stop send her back chant. Video shows Drumpf waited a full 13 seconds until chant died on its own before he spoke again.

  15. jerry 2019-07-18 22:36

    Well, Rep, Ihan Omar (D-MN) did go home. And what a greeting!!

    Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) got something of a hero’s welcome the moment she arrived back to her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Thursday evening.

    When Omar stepped out of the airport doors, she was greeted with signs and a cheering crowd welcoming her return.

    “Welcome home, Ilhan! Welcome home, Ilhan!” the crowd chanted.” How about that!!

  16. Caroline 2019-07-18 23:02

    It occurred to me today, that the Trump slogan, Make America Great Again, would indicate he doesn’t much like this country. Maybe he should leave.

  17. jerry 2019-07-19 00:05

    Indeed Caroline, send him back..Send him back. Anyone notice that trump is raising hell with China, Iran and just about everyone…except Russia. Could the pee tapes, the collusion, the corruption, the stolen election, are those the reasons to protect Russia? Damn straight.

  18. Debbo 2019-07-19 00:19

    I watched the Strib’s online video of Rep. Omar’s welcome in the baggage claim area. It was pretty cool. Because the Strib is paywalled, here’s the first couple paragraphs of the article:
    _____________________________

    U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar was engulfed in a crowd of cheering supporters Thursday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a loud counterpoint to a turbulent week in Congress where she came under a sustained rhetorical assault from President Donald Trump and his supporters.

    More than 100 people filled the baggage claim area with songs, signs and cheers of “Welcome home, Ilhan,” providing a stark contrast to chants of “Send her back!” that reverberated through a Trump rally in North Carolina just a day before. In brief remarks, a defiant Omar vowed to “continue to be a nightmare to this president, because his policies are a nightmare to us.”

    “We are not deterred, we are not frightened, we are ready. We are in the ring,” Omar said before departing for a town hall in south Minneapolis. “We are in the people’s house, and we are going to continue to fight it until we have the America we know we all deserve.”
    ___________________________________________

    Rep. Omar has to travel with bodyguards because Rancid Racist’s mouth has made her the regular target of credible threats on her life. She could resign her seat and return to much safer private life, but she doesn’t. Having lived in a refugee camp, she knows danger. Rep. Omar a very brave woman, unlike Cadet Bone Spurs.

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