With the advent of the Trump presidency, I really thought I’d be writing more. 45 is truly atrocious – an unprepared, arrogant narcissist who enjoys chaos. Those of you who appreciate a Buffy reference will understand that he reminds me a bit of Giles’ nemesis Ethan Rayne. Well, except for the part where Buffy, Giles, and the rest of the Scoobies always manage to foil Ethan’s evil plans. We haven’t been so lucky with our new *shudder* president.
Part of the reason for the lack of words is my own lack of words. They just don’t flow the way they once did. Living with chronic pain means balancing relief with the ability to find the perfect word or phrase. At one point I had so much to say I could barely keep my hands away from the keyboard, but now I start out with the fear that I’ll lose the plot somewhere in the middle – or at least lose the word I wanted. Still, how does anyone improve at anything? Practice, practice, practice.
Of course, there is another issue. I like to contemplate the implications, look at a variety of sources, and find the connections between words, actions, events. There’s simply no time for that in 45 World. I feel for the professional journalists who are trying to investigate and analyze and, on a very basic level, keep the public informed. 45’s twists and spins and lies make it nigh impossible, but I’m going to try harder.
I didn’t watch his speech to Congress last night. Having my wisdom teeth extracted sans anesthesia is preferable to looking at him and hearing his voice. I’ve never been a Trump fan. Blowhard celebrities who think they’re sexy are not my thing (if you prefer smart, engaged celebrities who are sexy, this is for you). He turns up the obnoxious well past 11, and there’s never any substance to accompany it. “Soften”his stance on undocumented immigrants? Sure, maybe it’ll get more eyeballs on the TV screen. Does he really mean it? Who the hell knows?
Years ago, I worked for a local entrepreneur who liked to buy up controlling interests in small companies outside his industry and share his management expertise in return for monthly fees. Sometimes he would keep the existing CEO, sometimes he would install a new man (it was ALWAYS a man). One CEO in particular stood out to me. He was your typical hail-fellow-well-met big talker sort of guy, and the other guys thought he was the greatest. I thought he was full of shit from day one, and it turned out that my immediate boss’s wife thought the same. She would never use the s-word, but there was mention of how he set off her crap antenna. It turned out our much-maligned feminine intuition was correct, as he had an exceedingly questionable relationship with honesty and ethics. I’m not sure the male power structure ever recognized what a massive mistake they’d made with him, and some of that surely was willful blindness. They liked him; he couldn’t really be untrustworthy no matter the evidence that said he was.
Today it appears some pundits are cheering 45’s performance last night. They’ll grasp any straw to say he’s finally pivoting, finally starting to understand his responsibilities, finally becoming presidential. To them I say, “Are you fucking serious?” 45 has shown us over and over what he is, not just while he was running for president but throughout his very public career. He’s a liar and a cheat. He’ll say what you want to hear and stab you as soon as you turn your back. Fool me once, shame on me…you know the rest. Listen to your crap antenna. It’s telling you the truth, and truth is in short supply these days.
Birmingham Blues 