Echo: Trump failed in Phoenix Arizona

By every analysis, the angry Donald Trump failed, again, to communicate to the American people. Nevertheless, he accomplished what he wanted to do, meaning- divide the nation just because he can.

MaineWriter Note- this editorial from The Arizona Republic is another in my "Echo" series of opinions found while randomly cruising the nation's newspapers.  

Editorial: If Donald Trump was trying to atone for the sins of Charlottesville and prove that he could be president of all Americans, he failed.

MaineWriter opinion- Obviously, Donald Trump wasn't trying to atone for anything.  He deliberately wanted to cause trouble in Phoenix. He's not a leader. Rather, he's a chronic bully.

Donald Trump’s trip to Phoenix displayed the deep political divisions in our country and provided a painful demonstration of why he is not the person to heal that divide. (MaineWriter- no leadership ability!)

Donald Trump's rant in Phoenix represented a missed opportunity to rise above pet peeves with the media and Barack Obama and, instead, to speak to all Americans.

It was just another Trump campaign (akin to "beer hall rallies), a rally in Arizona. In fact, he did seven last year. 

But this is no longer the campaign. This rally offered a chance to show something different from Trump, who has struggled to grow into the job of being president of all the people.

The announcement Tuesday afternoon of Trump’s decision not to pardon Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio during this rally suggested the president learned something from the reaction to his equivocation after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It was in line with his more restrained tone Monday when, while delivering a speech on Afghanistan, he said: “We cannot remain a force for peace in the world if we are not at peace with each other.”

That’s the kind of talk a divided America needs from the president.

But, it obviously didn’t last long. He didn't deliver. Trump made it clear that he would eventually deliver an Arpaio pardon, just not on this night.

Donald Trump ran his campaign on anger. He's probably incapable of delivering the grace notes necessary to heal America in times of racial division.

A president truly committed to unity would not spend so much time attacking the media as “damned dishonest” and “fake news,” while trying to rewrite his own response to Charlottesville.

It was Trump himself who blamed “both sides”, after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly.

It is truly disturbing to see the Donald Trump try to rewrite history and blame the messengers.

As a matter of fact, Donald Trump stooped to petty insults and once again went on about the size of his crowds while diminishing his opponents. In one faux magnanimous moment, he said he won't criticize by name Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, both of whom Trump went on to lambaste nonetheless for not supporting his agenda enough.

Instead, the Phoenix speech was not about unity, despite his insistence that his "movement was built on love."

It was about retrenching. It was about blaming others. It was about feeding the paranoia of his misguided passionate cult followers.