“We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent. I speak to you here in Kansas as I would speak in New York or Georgia, for the most vital problems are those which affect all of us alike.”
Theodore Roosevelt, The New Nationalism, August, 1910.
Like many Americans, I did not vote for Donald Trump (or Hillary Clinton) in the 2016 election. As an American nationalist, former Secretary Clinton’s globalist history and her express commitment to continue the Obama Administration’s policies that weakened America were clearly anathema to me. At the same time, no authentic American nationalist would support the Russian and WikiLeaks hacks of a fellow American citizen. Nevertheless, I hoped Trump still might be able to unify us around a new nationalist foreign and domestic program to develop a realist and sustainable foreign policy and to renew the American Dream.
Some welcome steps have been taken toward these goals, such as the new National Security Strategy and the rollback of unnecessary regulations. Sadly, the positive accomplishments have been overshadowed by the President’s constant appeals to rank ethnic bigotry and jingoistic international provocations. His recent tweets telling four congressmembers to “go back to the….places from which they came” further proved he has no real understanding of the principles of American nationalism. Those principles are grounded in our democratic values and our commitment to helping all citizens achieve the American Dream. As I said in previous posts, there is, and never should be, any such thing as an ethnic American.
Theodore Roosevelt welcomed anyone from any nationality that embraced American values and could work to strengthen our nation. This positive nationalism would reject the kind of hateful rhetoric the President has directed toward Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib. It is the purpose of this site to save American nationalism from permanent association with such ugly demagoguery.
