When will enough be enough?

It was another sleepless night for me — around 3 a.m. — when I saw a social media post that made my jaw drop. Technically, it was a repost.

I stared at it and thought:

no way this can be real. It has to be a hoax – some kind of AI hack. There is just no way. Not even this guy can be THAT stupid.

No politician — let alone a sitting president — would ever post something like this. I mean, it's just not conceivable. It would be political suicide.

As the minutes passed, I saw more and more people sharing the post – but no one I deemed reputable. All the "reputable" people would be in bed anyway.

Just wait 'til they wake up!

This was what I first posted when I saw the Trump post circulating. Note how I was hesitant to jump to conclusions:

Social media is notorious for creating sick celebrity death hoaxes and other fake news items, especially at this time of night.

Social media after midnight is a scary place – I don't recommend it.

After an hour or so, I went to bed. I prayed hard that this post was real and when I'd wake up I'd see the outrage everywhere.

Even Republicans would have to be outraged. There could be no defending this. This would, finally, be Trump's undoing. We'd be done with him.

Morning came. I couldn't check my phone fast enough.

People were still talking about it! Even reputable journalists were now re-posting it and condemning it.

Holy shit!!! The post was really sent by HIM.

Here was my first post that morning:

The Silence

This had to be the top story on all the major media sites — right?

I checked MSNBC. Nothing.
CNN. Nothing.
New York Post. Nothing.
Yahoo News. Nothing.

I texted my football friends group chat and Erin's family group chat because I needed to hear from people who were as incensed as me.

Instead, the response was casual resignation:

“That’s just how he is.”
“Nothing will come of it.”

Online reactions were similarly underwhelming. Some were angry — but even they ended by asking only for the post to be deleted and an apology.

An apology?

As if that fixes it.

If any ordinary person posted something comparable at work, they would be fired instantly. There wouldn't be any debate about it.

AND this was the President of the United States posting it about the first Black president in American history — and the country shrugged.

I had less than twenty minutes to get ready for an appointment, but I couldn't focus on anything else. My blood was boiling. This is the reading I got when I took my blood pressure at that exact moment:

Why I Thought It Would Matter

My mind went to Howard Cosell.

Cosell was one of the most recognizable sports broadcasters ever. If you've ever heard anyone parody, “And down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!” That was Cosell.

His personality made him famous enough to join the Monday Night Football broadcast team despite football not being his strongest sport. Cosell was considered a draw.

During a 1977 game, a player for the Washington Redskins (Oh, yeah – remember Washington felt like they had to change their name because they viewed "Redskins" as racist) returned a punt, quickly weaving through defenders. Cosell blurted:

“Look at that monkey run.”

The punt returner he was referring to was named Alvin Garrett... and he was Black.

The backlash was immediate and massive. It would be another seven years until Cosell retired, but his reputation was severely tarnished by the incident – so much so that he was the first person I thought of when I saw Trump's images of the Obamas as chimps.

Cosell insisted he hadn’t meant the term "monkey" racially — and by most accounts, he wasn’t a racist. He had close relationships with Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Some argue Ali wouldn't have become as big of an icon as he became without Howard Cosell. And vice versa as well.

Cosell admitted he had used the term "monkey" numerous times before to refer to any player – Black or White – if they proved to be quick and elusive.

The difference between Cosell and Trump was obvious, though:

Cosell didn’t understand what he said was racist.

Trump did.

And Trump is President of the United States. Cosell was a broadcaster.

The Pattern

This was Trump feeling comfortable enough to remove his KKK hood to reveal his true identity.

Look at the housing discrimination case against him in 1973 when he and his father refused to rent apartments to Black applicants.

In 1989, Trump bought full page ads in New York newspapers calling for the return of the death penalty as punishment for the "Central Park Five" – five black youths falsely accused of raping a jogger.

In testimony to Congress in 1993, Trump claimed some tribal casino owners "don't look like Indians to me."

Trump jumped into the political arena around 2011 when it became evident that Barack Obama had a legit chance at becoming the first Black President of the United States. Trump made headlines by claiming Obama was not born in the U.S. and therefore could not be president.

In 2017, Trump said there were "very fine people on both sides" after violence erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In a 2020 presidential debate, Trump was asked about political violence and extremist groups and he refused to condemn them, saying instead, "Proud Boys – stand back and stand by." The Proud Boys for those who don't know are a far-right, male-only nationalist group founded in 2016 that hates women, immigrants, and Blacks. Their members have been repeatedly linked to political violence, including being heavily involved in the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack.

Look at the makeup of Trump's cabinets across two administrations — one Black member each time, both in Housing and Urban Development. Because what else could they be in charge of, right?

Just look at Trump's reaction to this blatantly racist social media post. Trump could not even bring himself to doing the bare minimum of apologizing to the Obamas.

He admitted he sent the post. Then he said a staff member did. At 2 o'clock in the morning?

Then he said he only saw the first part of the video. That's probably the most believable part of what he said because one can imagine he has the attention span of a five-year-old. Even if what he says is true, is this how he treats bills that get put on his desk on a daily basis? I'm afraid the answer is "yes."

Ultimately, the fact remains...

He refused to apologize for any aspect of the racist post which was sent with his name attached to it.

The Realization

People keep asking me what is wrong with me?

What is wrong with me? What is wrong with the majority of the people in this country??

It reminds me of an incident a couple of years back:

I was wandering the supermarket looking up and down the aisles for my partner, Erin. As I was standing at the end of one of the aisles, I overheard a woman behind me whisper to her husband as they pushed their cart past me:

"These are the kind of weirdos you have to watch out for."

I had to look around to see who she was talking about.

Me??? She really said that about ... ME?

I've always wondered if we think we’re normal and others are crazy — the crazy must think they’re normal and we’re the crazy ones.

Someone has to be right.

But I just don't see how I can be the crazy one in this instance. Maybe I am.

I grew up knowing that you never call people the N-word. Just a rung below that is referring to Blacks as monkeys. It was never that hard of a rule for me.

And here is the President of the United States doing it. And he is getting away with it!

The public has accepted this as typical behavior.

NO! NO! NO!

This is not why over a million Americans have sacrificed their lives in battle to protect the flag and all that the flag represents.

On an even more basic level, this is not what we should teach our kids. Ever since the days of The Brady Bunch and Leave it to Beaver – and centuries before – we've taught our kids to tell the truth, treat everyone like we'd like to be treated, stay humble, and don't call people names.

Look at this president's behavior. He's trying to paste his name on every building and airport around D.C. He is having banners bearing his ugly mug dangling from the Department of Justice – a department that is supposed to be independent and impartial.

Speaking of the Department of Justice, how about Attorney General Pam Bondi's performance before Congress last week? Did she sound neutral and impartial?

What an embarrassment!

She showed up with binders – not full of crucial testimony or useful information. No, no. The binders contained dirt on all the committee members. When it was someone's turn to speak, you could see her searching for the tab containing that Congressman's name. It didn't go unnoticed.

J. Edgar Hoover would have been impressed by the brass balls on this administration.

And here we are – two weeks after the President of the United States put out a social media post picturing the first Black American president and his wife as chimpanzees...

And nothing has happened!