Hello, friends of Katalusis. If you've read my posts here for any length of time, you're well aware that I'm an enthusiastic fan of diversity. And then came Donald J. Trump, who somehow got elected president of the United States, the homeland of immigrants and refugees from around the world. Donnie took it upon himself recently to ban Muslims from entering the US.

Trump's presidency of the "Raised Fist."

Photo by Jeff Reed, Courtesy, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles

It's been awhile since I last posted at Katalusis, and a lot has happened. For one thing, the "crooked Donald" I mentioned on Nov. 22 has since become president and continuously fails to live up to his campaign promises.

At the Washington Post, columnist Ruth Marcus tells us that Trump's administration will be "the presidency of the raised fist, not the outstretched hand".

Marcus writes: " Inaugural addresses are traditionally occasions of inclusion and healing. In that transformative moment, the new president sheds a partisan identity and assumes the mantle of national leader, president of and for all the people. If any new president should have sounded that soothing note, it was President Trump. If any nation needed to hear it, it was America today."

I agree with Marcus, America is not likely to experience inclusion and healing under President Donald J. Trump, who only recently recommended that all Muslims be banned from our country. Writing for the Washington Post, Marcus reminds us:

"The state of our union is dangerously frayed. The country is in a volatile and fragile condition that requires attending to, not ignoring. More citizens voted against the new president than for him, and the reports since Election Day about Russian efforts to install Trump in the presidency have only served to deepen those anxieties. The 45th president takes office with less popular support than any president in the history of polling."


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