What is Trump's 1776 Commission and why is it garnering so much attention?

On the day America was supposed to be honoring the life of Martin Luther King Jr., the White House released its presidential 1776 Commission, calling for a "patriotic education that teaches the truth of America," and defends allegations America was tainted by slavery. The commission, released on Monday, also compared progressivism to racism.

Allow that ridiculousness to sink in. Okay, now let's unpack.

Designed by Trump in November, the commission argues that Americans must "stand up to the petty tyrants in every sphere who demand that we speak only of America's sins while denying her greatness" while not "ignoring the faults in our past." Please withhold your frustration and disdain until the end of the article.

As if that wasn't irritating enough, the commission decided to push the envelope further, by condemning claims the Founding Fathers were "hypocrites" for advancing rights and freedoms for "all men," while defending the practice of slavery. Again, please withhold your frustration till the end of the article.

This shouldn't come as a surprise. Especially after the events that took place on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. I would expect nothing less from an administration that condoned white supremacy and systematic racism, sprinkled with a touch of domestic terrorism.

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You must hand it to Trump. He sure knows how to make an exit. So what happens now?

"This charge is untrue, and has done enormous damage, especially in recent years, with a devastating effect on our civic unity and social fabric," the commission writes. Ok, and I suppose slavery and racial inequality didn't have a devastating effect on America's social fabric?

Moreover, the commission writes, "historical revisionism that tramples honest scholarship and historical truth, shames Americans by highlighting only the sins of their ancestors, and teaches claims of systemic racism that can only be eliminated by more discrimination, is an ideology intended to manipulate opinions more than educate minds."

Chaired by Trump loyalist Larry Arnn and former Vanderbilt University law professor and conservative television analyst Carol Swain, the commission is a response to The New York Times Magazine's 1619 Project, which focuses on America's history of slavery and racism.

And what exactly was the purpose of the overall commission? So glad you asked. As stated in Trump's executive order back in November, the purpose of the purposeless commission is "to better enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776, and, through this, form a more perfect Union."

Right, because the rising generation needs a clear understanding of "the history principles of the founding of the United States." All they have to do is turn on the TV to see those precise "principles" in action. You know, the ones consisting of xenophobia, sexism and racism?

You may now release your frustration.