Wrong again - America’s enemy within

IT is a moot point whether President Donald Trump understands that his refusal to explicitly condemn the role of white supremacists in weekend clashes in Charlottesville could be seen as a tacit expression of, to borrow a phrase from another never-ending racial conflict, his parity of esteem for the conflicting causes.

If that subtlety escapes him, he is the first American president in living memory unable to condemn, in the plainest terms, the old bigotry that has been such a cancer in his country’s history.

It may be that those who want to preserve the symbolism — and the segregations — of the old Confederate South are such a powerful influence in his constituency that he dare not criticise them.

Tragically, by not so doing he may inflame the situation and encourage others to follow the lead of the person who killed one person when he drove a car into a group of protesters on Saturday.

The world is on tenterhooks as President Trump is taunted by North Korea but Americans must be more forceful in confronting the resurgent enemy within.