Opinion: A mad-libbing president is mute on neo-Nazis

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, August 14, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( The guest writer of today’s newsletter is Bari Weiss, an editor and writer in the Opinion section. “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” That was the last Facebook post of [Heather D. Heyer]( a 32-year-old woman who went out on Saturday to face down white supremacists in Charlottesville and was murdered before the day was done by 20-year-old [James Alex Fields Jr.]( Her death, and the injury of a reported 19 others when Mr. Fields rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters, was the horrific capstone to a weekend of violence in the Virginia college town. Outrage is something Donald Trump typically has in no short supply. As Stephen Hayes [reminds]( readers in The Weekly Standard, this president is promiscuous with his denunciations. “Brit Hume is ‘a dope’ and a ‘know-nothing.’ Mika Brzezinski is ‘dumb as a rock’ and ‘crazy.’ Bill and Hillary Clinton were ‘the real predators.’” Trump is always ready to blast those he believes — often wrongly — to be worthy targets. See: [Judge Gonzalo Curiel]( and the [Khan family](. But when it came to white nationalists who’d spent the day brandishing swastikas and chanting “Jews will not replace us,” our mad-libbing president offered [uncharacteristic restraint]( “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence. On many sides.” Columnists across the political spectrum, including [Josh Levin]( at Slate and [Michael Gerson]( in The Washington Post, rightly tore into the president for the utter moral failure of this statement. So did many [lawmakers](. The one group that celebrated it, as our [Editorial Board]( points out, were the white nationalists themselves. There has been no shortage of powerful pieces and tweets over the past 48 hours, but there are three that shouldn’t be missed. The first is this moving [symposium]( in The Times. Let these thoughtful University of Virginia students take you into the eye of the storm. National Review writer David French and his family, especially his black daughter, have been [viciously targeted]( by the alt-right as a result of his longstanding and outspoken opposition to Donald Trump. Read his [short piece]( about how this weekend’s violence was nothing less than the alt-right’s chickens coming home to roost. Dahlia Lithwick is a Charlottesville native who owns a home that “carries a racially restrictive covenant. No blacks, no Jews.” In other words, she owns a house “that could once have been taken from me by the force of law.” In this powerful [rebuttal]( to the white nationalists’ slogan, “you will not replace us,” she shows how history proves their rallying cry to be “a bald-faced lie.” Amen. On the news. Robert Mueller’s [interest]( in Reince Priebus, Trump’s former chief of staff, suggests that the special counsel is looking for a pattern in the president’s conduct toward fired F.B.I. director James Comey, [argues]( The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent, “which prosecutors seek to establish in obstruction cases.” In The Times. The upcoming total solar eclipse, the first in 99 years to stretch from coast to coast, is right on time, [argues]( our poetic editorial. “Witnessing the eclipse will provide a needed sense of context of who and what we are on earth when the light of the sun — one mere star among billions — is interrupted.” Who among us doesn’t yearn for this kind of “cosmic distraction”? The full Opinion report from The Times follows. Editorial [The Hate He Dares Not Speak Of]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD White supremacists see President Trump’s failure to condemn them as a sign of implicit support. Which of course it is. Op-Ed Columnist [When the President Is Un-American]( By PAUL KRUGMAN Trumpism is a betrayal of our national identity. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Charlottesville and the Bigotocracy]( By MICHAEL ERIC DYSON It is disheartening for black folk to see such a vile and despicable replay of history. On Campus [What U.Va. Students Saw in Charlottesville]( “The alt-right rally,” said one student, “had nothing to do with a statue. It was about intimidation.” Op-Ed Contributor [What Trump Got Wrong on Charlottesville]( By ERICK-WOODS ERICKSON This weekend evil has a name, and it is white supremacy. ADVERTISEMENT Opinion [‘At the Stroke of Midnight My Entire Family Was Displaced’]( Seventy years ago, millions of people were uprooted as British India was carved up along religious and political lines. Here are some of their stories. Editorial [Before You Rip Up That Iran Deal ...]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The point is to curb its nuclear weapons program. Other issues, no matter how serious, can be handled separately. Editorial [The Real Suspense in Kenya]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The presidential election was close, but hanging over it has been the question of whether violence would spiral out of control. Editorial [Mr. Macron’s Homefront Flub]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD He has better things to do than to make “first lady” an official government position. Ariel Davis [Op-Ed Contributor]( [Single Payer or Bust?]( By MICHAEL TOMASKY Democrats should pause before making radical health care reform a litmus test. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Netanyahu’s Fate Doesn’t Determine Israel’s Future]( By SHMUEL ROSNER So why do so many Israelis think it does? On Campus [The ‘Free Speech’ Hypocrisy of Right-Wing Media]( By KEEANGA-YAMAHTTA TAYLOR Conservatives are obsessed with protecting “free speech,” but only the kind they agree with. The Stone [Christianity Does Not Justify Trump’s ‘Fire and Fury’]( By STEVEN PAULIKAS The Rev. Robert Jeffress promoted a twisted theology that fetishizes violence. Op-Ed Contributor [Why Is the Plight of ‘Comfort Women’ Still So Controversial?]( By ILARIA MARIA SALA Wartime sex slavery isn’t a thorny issue just for Japan. In South Korea, it’s still taboo. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT Sunday Review [A Cosmic Distraction From Earth’s Troubles]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The coming total eclipse of the sun has stirred imaginations as well as tourism. Sunday Review [Why Women Had Better Sex Under Socialism]( By KRISTEN R. GHODSEE Yes, there was repression behind the Iron Curtain. But it wasn’t sexual. Sunday Review [You’ll Never Be as Radical as This 18th-Century Quaker Dwarf]( By MARCUS REDIKER Give this environmentally conscious abolitionist his rightful place in history. Letters [When Doctors Help End Lives]( Readers discuss a doctor’s qualms when a terminally ill patient sought her aid in dying. SIGN UP FOR THE VIETNAM ’67 NEWSLETTER Examining America’s long war in Southeast Asia [through the course]( of a single year. FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytopinion]( [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018