Recently I have been tweeting The Onion, not posting it, even when I thought it was funny.
But this post is so real, so not-funny, and so representative of what is happening that I wanted to share it with you.
It is about Trump’s insistence on intruding into our lives every day, dominating our thoughts with concern about what crazy thing he will do next, what crackpot nonsense he will tweet, which institution he will destroy next, which person he will insult today. It is exhausting and fascinating, like watching a violent car crash and wondering if you too will crash into the wreckage.
It begins like this:
“Good morning, everyone! What a week we’ve got coming up. A tremendous week. The fall season is here, we’re working on huge tax cuts, and there’s a lot of optimism having to do with business in our economy. Also, we’re ending Obamacare. And I’m going to get the wall. But beyond all that, what I’m looking forward to the most is another seven days of infecting every little aspect of your daily lives.
“Oh, you thought you might be able to block me out for even a moment? Good luck with that one. There will be no rest from having to think about me, or my administration, or the latest controversy I’ve thrown myself into. I am inescapable. My name, my face, my voice, my words, and those of my legions of surrogates—no matter how much you try to go about your normal life, I will find a way force myself in. MAGA!
“I will poison every second of quiet reflection that you previously enjoyed.
“I’m like a disease without a cure. There’s not a single thing I haven’t contaminated. News, entertainment, medicine, sports; if there’s a part of culture I haven’t ruined for you yet, just wait. This could be the week. I’ll either claw my way into your waking consciousness or just linger in the back of your mind, ready to pop out at any moment and remind you that I’m the president of the United States and will be for at least the next three years. You know that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach—the one that’s been there since last November? Well, it’s not going away this week, I’ll tell you that.
“I will poison every second of quiet reflection that you previously enjoyed. No more sitting calmly with a coffee on a park bench. No more carefree drives with the windows down and the radio up. No more tranquil moments reveling in the splendor of a sunset. Just me festering in your brain, befouling all you hold dear.
“The mind is funny like that sometimes. The second you’ve freed yourself from the burden of having to ponder my ironclad stranglehold on absolutely every facet of American life, there I’ll be again, ready to resume the endless cycle of fear, regret, anger, and shame. Go ahead, try and tune me out right now.
“Donald Trump. Donald Trump. Donald Trump.”
Read the rest.
The Washington Post reports that his daily attacks on the free press are undermining public confidence in the media.
“THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump celebrated Sunday that his campaign to delegitimize the free press is working.
“The president touted a Politico-Morning Consult poll published last week that found 46 percent of registered voters believe major news organizations fabricate stories about him. Just 37 percent of Americans think the mainstream media does not invent stories, while the rest are undecided. More than 3 in 4 Republicans believe reporters make up stories about Trump.
“It is finally sinking through,” the president tweeted.
“The first rule of propaganda is that if you repeat something enough times people will start to believe it, no matter how false. Trump uses the bully pulpit of the presidency to dismiss any journalism he doesn’t like as “fake news.” This daily drumbeat has clearly taken a toll on the Fourth Estate.”
The first rule of a would-be dictator is to destroy confidence in the free press.
Trump swore on the Bible at his inauguration to uphold the Constitution. That includes the First Amendment. His daily attacks on freedom of the press, which he called “the Enemy of the People,” violates the oath he took. The term “Ennemy of the People” was borrowed from Josef Stalin.
He also daily violates the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by accepting payments from foreign governments in Trump properties and brands around the world and refusing to divest his business interests.
Two grounds for impeachment even without the Russia investigation.
Be GONE!
We need Merlin!
I check the news frequently these days to see if Donald Trump has:
Started a nuclear war.
Resigned.
Needless to say, I would prefer the latter to the former.
Actually, I don’t have much problem keeping The Donald out of my life. I’m not on Twitter, so I couldn’t care less what inane garbage he tweets. I don’t watch mainstream news and rarely read mainstream papers, so I’m not constantly in outrage mode over every word that’s spewed from his lips. I couldn’t care less who he insults – in fact, those insulted should wear it as a badge of honor.
I do worry about the institutions he’s trying to destroy, but he’s not had nearly the success I think he was hoping for. In fact, by being so blatant in his destruction attempts, he may have shored up some weaknesses as people are finally coming to their senses and realizing what the .01% are really after.
Sixteen years ago George 43 was the worst president ever, wreaking unimaginable carnage everywhere he went, absolutely unprecedented, how would we ever survive??? Now, he’s back in the good graces of liberals and conservatives alike who look back on him fondly, with nostalgia, mere war criminal that he was.
This too shall pass.
lol wonderful
It’s easy to waste an afternoon watching OK Go videos. Very, very creative and fun.
Greg,
If you are on Twitter, go to Shadowing Trump and see the brilliant remake of the NRA ad
I will look for it, Diane. And here’s one that will brighten your day:
Did we survive #43? Talk to the wounded and maimed veterans of his wars of choice? We can’t talk to the US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan who died as a result of unnecessary wars. Bush bears some significant responsibility for the melt down of 2008. He certainly doesn’t get all the blame but his policies did not help, they aggravated an already bad situation. The mini depression was building up for a long time but Bush certainly kicked the can over the cliff with his tax cuts during a time of war. Bush ignored the warnings in the summer of 2001 about possible terrorist attacks by plane.
But yet he’s now been rehabilitated. Appearing on Ellen? Hugs with Michelle Obama? Bush gives a speech supposedly against Trumpism (overlooking entirely how he is directly responsible for Trump), and liberals and liberal media promptly swooned. https://newrepublic.com/article/145456/liberals-stop-applauding-george-w-bush
Did we survive 34?
Did we survive 35?
Did we survive 36?
Did we survive 37?
Did we survive 38?
These were the five presidents that brought us the Vietnam war that started in 1955 and didn’t end until 1975, almost twenty years.
How many died during those years in Southeast Asia?
How many were wounded during those years in Southeast Asia?
And how many still die or are maimed from all the cluster bombs the U.S. dropped in Southeast Asia?
Millions died and that war was based on lies too.
Agreed Dienne77–It’s my choice whether to let the idiot into my life. It’s my choice whether to allow triggers that make me angry or upset or outraged. I choose to remain at peace. That doesn’t mean that I don’t “know” what’s happening, but there’s a difference between that and immersing yourself in Trump’s swamp by constantly checking/listening/tweeting/facebooking… If I see something I think I take action on, I do it. Otherwise, I see no point in giving him the time of day.
We cannot control what Trump says or does, but we can at least control our response to him. Do not let your frustration take away your joy or your purpose.
As for Trump’s attacks on the press, not all the press is as free as we are lead to believe. Some so-called journalists use their position to support people like Trump or to rubber stamp horrible policies. Journalists now know what public educators have faced for the past decade. They have been targeted, vilified and demeaned, and many have lost their jobs. Journalists get a taste of how it feels to be a political scapegoat.
Spot on, retired teacher.
Trump, stupid as he is, is no more than a loud-mouth figurehead distraction and willing tool of the generals, neocons, and neoliberals who are actually running things.
While Trump tweets and gets into public pissing contests with so many people, the oligarchs who run things are doing despicable things here and abroad, and corporate media will only report very few of those despicable things, because corporate media are part of the Empire and propagandize for it to keep their profits (blood money) flowing.
From before the election, it was obvious that despite the distaste on the right, the extreme right and among evangelicals, tRump was the go to guy because of his vast skills as a shamelessly lying distractor in chief. This was made clear during what passed for the debates, both primary and electoral. He was never going to be anything other than a figurehead, a sock puppet for the policy agendas of others, for the longstanding wet dreams of oligarchs and ideologs of every description on the right. He is aided in this by the media who can’t turn away from the ongoing trainwreck lest their ratings, ad rates and market shares decline. tRump has been well played by those who installed him, they gave him what he values most, a way to stroke his ego and lash out at any who question him from the most powerful seat in the nation, the presidency.
The cure for this infection is simple and more effective than you might think. Ignore the distraction of the minute and instead pay attention to the horrifically toxic policies that are being advanced by all the coat tail riders behind the acrid smokescreen of tRumps malicious disregard for the constitution and true American values. Then, once the source of the disease has been pushed away, begin to inoculate yourself against it by calling and writing your elected representatives in opposition of all the evil policies and agendas tRump is trying to distract you from. You’ll feel better in very short order, but you have to keep the inoculation going as it takes multiple, ongoing doses to become fully effective. The more you do it the easier it gets and the better it feels.
Amen!
The odds are that nothing will happen Monday through Friday. That why I wait for the weekends because the best chance that some patriot will take out the Kremlin’s Agent Orange with a Hellfire missile fired from a stealth Patriot drone will be while Mr. Tweet is on a golf course where he spends every weekend. Then he will become the perfect target and the risk of collateral damage is almost nothing.
Lloyd, my friend, be careful what you say.
You don’t know who is monitoring this blog.
I know. But I have no access to stealth drones or Hellfire missiles. I don’t know anyone who does. It is all wishful thinking that will never become reality for me, because I am not even attempting to gain access to those weapons. How could I? It would be insane.
I’ve been warned by others who never served in the U.S. military. Has the U.S. police state made it illegal to fantasize too? I wouldn’t be surprised.
In 1965, before I turned 19, the U.S. Marines turned me into someone that thinks this way. Before they got their hands on me and turned me into a Marine, I was an innocent child who loved to read SF/fantasy and historical fiction. I still do. But back then as a teen, I was ignorantly innocent.
When I left boot camp and went to Vietnam, I wasn’t the same person that went to boot camp … not even close and after I came back from the war the transition was complete. I would never be the person again that I was before I left for MCRD.
There is a reason why many combat vets only share these types of thoughts with other combat vets who understand. I think most people that read this site would be shocked speechless and be traumatized at the stuff we talk about when civilians who never served are not around.
in the meantime, every Saturday and Sunday, I will continue to wake up hoping that I will read from the fake news that he’s permanently gone, sent straight to whatever hell there is to live in agony and torment for eternity.
This President violated the oath of office the moment he took that oath.
He lied once again when he said, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
I’m also disappointed with former General Kelly. I now think of him as a traitor to the oath he took decades ago when he was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Marines.
“I, _____, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.” (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)”
Trump is a cancerous stain on that oath.
I know they are liars antraitors but threatening the life of the Dear Leader might have consequences
But I didn’t threaten his life. I only said what I’d like to see happen.
A hole in one!
It is not just Trump, it also all of the people in place to destroy voter rights, public education, and so much more. He has an army of appointees who are determined to undermine anything and everything associated with the common good.
Correct, Laura.
Every teacher in America believes that critical thinking is more important than knowing facts –it’s been dunned into our heads. This attitude trickles down to our students. The result? A reflexive doubting. I think the skepticism of the media is in part due to this attitude that permeates our schools. I think a doubting attitude without a solid grasp of essential facts about our world is dangerous. I think our schools are, in part, to blame for this situation. The remedy for disbelief in global warming is detailed knowledge about the mechanisms of global warming, etc. Kids who have a library of home truths installed in their minds will be more apt to question the genuinely fake news, and less apt to question the real news. An empty mind cannot distinguish.