Roy Exum: What You Didn’t Read

  • Sunday, April 16, 2017
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

As Easter Sunday dawned across the United States, you may have read where more than 20 protesters at one of the Tax Marches were arrested in Berkley, Calif., on Saturday. Perhaps you saw the article where the Student Senate at Cal-Davis just voted to make the American flag “optional” at its gatherings. CNN was telling us that between press secretary Sean Spicer and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House was having its worst week ever and the president himself tweeted, “Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!”

For the record, 69 different organization sponsored the revived call for Trump to show us his taxes. The partnering labor unions and activist groups, according to the Washington Post, “range from the well-known -- MoveOn.org and Common Cause -- to more obscure players like the Endangered Species Coalition.”

So today let me share what you did not read. I looked for it with several search engines before I had to go searching on WhiteHouse.com. before I could find a copy of Donald Trump’s weekly address. I wanted to know what Donald Trump, smeared every day by our faux news lefties, had to say about the United States and the celebration of the Resurrection. As you read something that matters to me, perhaps it will matter to you more than Saturday Night Live’s skit of Melissa McCarthey wearing a rabbit suit …

* * *

DONALD TRUMP’S WEEKLY ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE (April 15, 2017)

My fellow Americans,

This is a season of great hope.

This week, Jewish families across our country, and around the world, celebrate Passover and retell the story of God’s deliverance of the Jewish people. The story of the Exodus is a story of freedom.  It is the story of an incredible people who were liberated from oppression and raised up the face of humankind.

Down through the centuries, the Jewish People have lived through one persecution after another -- and yet, they persevered and thrived and uplifted the world beyond measure.  And now, the State of Israel stands as a monument to their faith and endurance.

Another day of faith and celebration is also upon us.

This Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and the promise of eternal salvation.  It is a holy day of reverence and worship; it is a sacred time that fills the spirit of our Nation with the faith of our people.

America is a Nation of Believers.

As families gather in houses of worship across the Nation, we are grateful for the tremendous blessings of this land, our home. We have a beautiful country, an abundant countryside, and an amazing people with a truly bright and wonderful future.

From the beginning, America has been a place that has cherished the freedom of worship. That is the promise the first settlers saw in our vast continent—and it is the promise that our bravest warriors have protected for all of our citizens in centuries since, a long time ago.

Sadly, many around the globe do not enjoy this freedom—and one of the gravest threats to religious freedom remains the threat of terror.

On Palm Sunday, as Christians around the world celebrate the beginning of Holy Week, ISIS murdered at least 45 people and injured over 100 others at two Christian churches in Egypt.

We condemn this barbaric attack.  We mourn for those who lost loved ones.  And we pray for the strength and wisdom to achieve a better tomorrow—one where good people of all faiths, Christians and Muslims and Jewish and Hindu, can follow their hearts and worship according to their conscience.

With God’s grace, life always triumphs over death, freedom overcomes oppression, and faith extinguishes fear.  This is the source of our hope—and our confidence in the future.

I also want to give a special message to those struggling Americans who have felt for too long the bitter taste of hardship.  I want you to know: this White House is fighting for you.  We are fighting for every American who has been left behind.  We are fighting for the right of all citizens to enjoy safety and peace—and to work and live with the dignity that all Children of God are entitled to know.

As long as we have faith in each other, and trust in God, we will succeed.

Thank you. Have a Happy Easter, and a Happy Passover. God bless you. And God bless America.

* * *

Now, would you prefer to read our President’s thoughts on Easter morning or those of Elizabeth Warren, an ultra-liberal Senator from Massachusetts, who is shrilly demanding to know our nation’s military strategy after we dropped the “Mother of all Bombs” on caves in Afghanistan? In my mind and my heart, I’ll pick Easter.

And, in an aside, retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Jessie Jane Duff responded to Warren’s question about U.S. intentions with five just-perfect words, “To kill the bastards, Senator.”

royexum@aol.com

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