Still waiting for Trump the uniter

During his inaugural address on Friday, President Donald Trump proclaimed, 'When America is united, America is unstoppable.”

We agree.

Unfortunately, the new president spent much of his historic speech repeating the rhetoric of a campaign that has left our nation deeply divided. He triumphantly accepted the torch of American leadership, but instead of raising it to shine a light on all Americans he spoke mostly in darker tones meant to appeal to his most ardent supporters.

He painted a bleak picture: 'Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.”

'This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” Trump said.

We're not accustomed to hearing words such as 'carnage” on Inauguration Day - what should be an optimistic day in American politics, a day when so many presidents have lifted our spirits and appealed to our better angels.

And we take issue with the picture Trump paints of our country.

It's true, America has serious, stubborn problems to tackle in its cities, its small towns, in rural areas and around the world. But we've also made remarkable progress. Eight years after we stood on the brink of another Great Depression, our economy is creating jobs and opportunity. We're better positioned than any nation on earth to compete, and prosper, in an era of globalization and technological innovation.

Where Trump sees factory tombstones, Iowans have seen the rise of advanced manufacturing, food processing and renewable energy. Iowa's farmers have benefitted from global trade, providing markets for their remarkable productivity. Iowa-made implements are rolling across farm fields around the globe even as entrepreneurs dream up new products and solutions here at home.

In fact, American confidence, optimism and innovation are some of our most precious national resources. We would have liked to see President Trump give those qualities their due.

By ignoring them, and our country's exceptional successes, in his address, President Trump missed a critical opportunity to unite these United States.

' Comments: (319) 398-8469; editorial@thegazette.com