Every so often, we are reminded of the irreplaceable value of reading the classics.
To understand how Donald Trump will come to his inevitable inglorious end, Read “MacBeth.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-end-of-trumps-reign/568480/
All bad things must come to an end.
We must protect what we cherish until that happens. And we must be ready to repair our democracy and our institutions.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Everybody Dies?
First, we immunize all the lawyers?
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“Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” –Sir Walter Scott (but sounds like could well have been said by Shakespeare)
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The pay’s the thing wherein we’ll watch the downfall of the Don
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Here are some Shakespearean quotes that he could be making to the Orange Menace:
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. – William Shakespeare
“I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!” – William Shakespeare
“Words are easy, like the wind;
Faithful friends are hard to find.” – William Shakespeare
“You speak an infinite deal of nothing.” – William Shakespeare
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🙂
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Burnham Wood approaches…..
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Someone on Twitter criticizes me for referring to writings of dead white men, also for recommending Shakespeare, because he is on the Common Core reading list. Tweet of a white man.
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Ø ← Ø
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But Trump is not a Shakespearean character. He’s more like a Robert Altman character. And the world today is quite unlike Shakespeare’s stage, it is as full of microcosms as it is strangely global.
But this will end. Everyone close enough to him sees the truth, the reality, regardless of their beliefs and politics.
This is a huge disgrace for the country. But it’s also a wake-up call to the world, about racism, disenfranchisement, inordinate wealth, privatization, globalization, paranoia, etc.
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I disagree that Shakespeare doesn’t speak to our day. I just got back from the (Tony award winning) Utah Shakespeare Festival. This season’s offerings deal specifically with those minorities and others left behind by society. And they TOTALLY speak to today.
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/flag-donald-trump-color-marker-incorrect-stripes-american-flag-us-flag-1090990%3famp=1
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It’s those who are or have been close that will enable his downfall. Most of all, though, himself.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trumps-contempt-for-the-law-will-be-his-downfall/568564/
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I’d have to say his contempt for women will really be his downfall.
Lots of presidents have had contempt for the law and many got away with it.
Contempt for women, on the other hand is hard to get away with.
Kinda like Stormy weather that follows you wherever you go, if you know what I mean.
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Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned
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Dump really, really HATES women. His contempt for us is visible. How any female can support that dump is beyond me.
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Well, that’s what has snared Cohen and Pecker. And of course there’s Melania. And I think the immunities and tapes and canceled non-disclosures will keep coming, until he is removed or resigns, threatened with imminent removal through legal instruments, votes.
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The incomparable Steven Greenblatt has written a brilliant, funny, disturbing book on this very subject, which I highly recommend. Treat yourself. The book is Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics, and is published by W.W. Norton.
A review of the book:
A link to it:
LOVED THIS BOOK. Read it in a single sitting. Could not put it down. Greenblatt describes the insanity of Agent Orange’s criminal, treasonous reign without mentioning DT. Instead, he gives us a beautiful and typically erudite discussion of Shakespeare on politics and let’s us see the breathtaking parallels. A work of genius by a great scholar who, like every other thinking human in this country, feels, witnessing this debacle, utter rage.
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Oops. Stephen, not Steven.
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And lets, not let’s, ofc. My kingdom for an edit function on WordPress! Well, not really. And besides, the kingdom has already been sold out by Vlad’s Agent Orange.
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And we must be ready to repair our democracy and our institutions.
It’s going to take a long, long time for our intelligence services to get to the slimy, dark depths of the damage that has been done to our country by this buffoon.
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How about the ending of “King Lear?” (W/Ivanka as Regan.)
That’s a scenario I like!
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Oooh! Who is Goneril?
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Eric?!
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This is still a problem. Let’s not forget these children who have been separated from their parents and the ones who are in prison with their mothers. This is just plain disgusting. How will these abused kids ever recover?
Trump’s grandchildren need to be put in a facility. See how much they like being in cages without their mother.
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Children Separated Under Trump’s “Zero Tolerance” Policy Say Their Trauma Continues
Debbie Nathan
August 26 2018, 4:27 a.m.
…The girl has told immigration attorneys at Dilley that “bad people” in Honduras injured her mother and threatened her — in part because the family is Mormon. She said that when she and her mother crossed the border into South Texas in early June, Customs and Border Protection separated them and put the girl in the cage-like “dog pound” room. They told her she and her mother would be reunited in two days. In reality, it took almost five weeks.
After the separation, officials told the child she was being flown to New York to see her mother, even though her mother was in detention in South Texas. The child was put in a shelter in New York for 32 days.
Now, back in Dilley, she is hyper aware of the government’s desire to deport them both.
“If we leave them just for a minute they start crying,” said another mother, also in a phone call. “They don’t even want to see us signing a paper because they’re afraid…
https://interc.pt/2LqOj12
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Subject: Tell Hyatt Hotels to Stop Hosting Hate
I signed a petition to Hyatt Hotels, which says:
“Hyatt Hotels is set to host the annual conference for the largest anti-Muslim hate group in the country, ACT for America, in September. Other major hotel chains have denied hate groups, but Hyatt continues to accept them with open arms. Tell Hyatt there’s #NoRoomforHate.”
Will you sign this petition? Click here:
https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/tell-hyatt-hotels-to?source=s.em.cp&r_by=1432174
Thanks!
Carol
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Elizabeth Warren is on the right path:
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When it comes to this president, nothing is too low.
He’s ripped children from their mamas’ arms at our border.
He’s snuggled up to the world’s most brutal dictators.
He’s cut health care, Medicaid, and education funding to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires.
You’d think that would make anyone’s stomach turn — but Republicans in Congress are waving their pom-poms and cheering Trump on every step of the way.
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Dear Agent Orange, “O for breath to utter what is like thee!”
“Thy tongue outvenoms all the worms of the Nile.”
“Methink’st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee.”
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Once again it has been proven that guns don’t kill, or injure, people. The Orange one should be proud since he was paid $30 million to understand the NRA. How many killings have to occur in Florida before people there get fed up and insist on gun control laws? I’m not holding my breath until something positive happens.
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Florida mass shooting
Two people were killed and 11 injured after a shooting during a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. Police said the suspect in the shooting, 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore, Maryland, opened fire on gamers before killing himself. A possible motive in the shooting, which took place at an open-air marketplace along the St. Johns River, hasn’t been released.
Survivors of the shooting described a scene of absolute chaos, with people either running from the immediate area or hiding in bathrooms, calling for help. Florida has seen several mass shootings the past couple of years: at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, at the Fort Lauderdale airport, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. This latest incident is sure to reignite the ever-smoldering gun debate.
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So a QAnon theorist came to the Oval office. He is a ‘legal and media analyst’ for a Russian funded TV network and gives positive comments about Trump. Makes perfect sense if you are a Trump supporter. Trump wants to be worshiped and I guess this fellow passed the test.
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No One Knows Why This QAnon Conspiracy Theorist Was in the Oval Office with Trump | GQ
Lebron, who regularly posts videos on a “Lionel Nation” YouTube channel, has urged viewers to absorb Q’s posts and follow along for clues of the coming “storm.” He also frequently appears on the Russian-funded television network RT, where he is cited as a “legal and media analyst,” and typically offers positive commentary about Trump.
“Q’s it. The bomb. The future. The ignition switch, the connection, the conduit,” Lebron wrote in a July 4 blog post. “It’s like having your own personal Deep Throat, your own Mark Felt. Just imagine that. Better, where Commissioner Gordon summoned Batman through the bat signal, here our Batman summons us when he, she, it or they feel it necessary.”
In the photo he posted with Trump, Lebron assured his followers that the president definitely knows about the QAnon conspiracy, though he’s also claimed that they didn’t explicitly talk about it. If that sounds confusing, it’s nothing compared to the fact that no one can seem to account for how or why Lebron was in the Oval Office in the first place…
https://www.gq.com/story/qanon-conspiracy-theorist-oval-office-trump
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Oh how rich and appropriate! A Shakespearean demise, “A consummation devoutly to be wished.”
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This sounds like Trump as his normal self.This neuroscientist predicts really awful behavior from Trump as he looses power.
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Trump’s Downfall: A Neuroscientist Explains What Happens When a Narcissist Starts to Lose Power @alternet
…When a narcissist’s self-esteem or self-worth is badly injured, their whole identity begins to fall apart, and they often respond with what is referred to as “narcissistic rage.” When this happens, the lashing out, bullying, threats, and erratic behaviors rise to new levels. Rather than accepting the blame one deserves for their own actions, narcissists tell themselves that others are responsible, and that they deserve to be punished. They often become obsessed with revenge, which comes in many forms, such as verbal or even physical abuse…
Narcissistic rage can also manifest itself as intense anger, outbursts, and extreme aggressiveness. As Donald Trump begins to feel more and more like his downfall is imminent, we should expect his behavior to become progressively chaotic, and a total meltdown is likely…
https://www.alternet.org/trumps-downfall-neuroscientist-explains-what-happens-when-narcissist-starts-lose-power#.W4VhNRlu2dk.gmail
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Pretty sure I’ve seen this movie before …
Petulant Poobah Pounds Podium With His Pumps …
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All the money is going towards the wealthy. Here’s to the ‘great tax cut for the middle class’, increasing work requirements for Medicaid, giving ‘cheap’ worthless insurance policies as an alternative to ACA and raising the rents for the poor. Don’t you just love Trump and the GOP? [No URL for this article. I think it shows just how bad things are. Those who are too poor for healthcare are also too poor to get food.]
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Staggering Number of Americans Can’t Meet Basic Needs While Trump Brags About the Economy
By Libby Watson, Splinter News
29 August 18
A new study by the Urban Institute published Tuesday found that 40 percent of Americans can’t meet at least one basic need—food, healthcare, housing, or utilities—even as the economy approaches nearly full employment with only a 4.4 percent unemployment rate. Remember this as the president boasts about the stock market, as he does frequently, without realizing it’s an indictment of his policies: The people the president cares about are making obscene amounts of cash while the rest of America is falling behind.
The findings in the study reveal how widespread the struggle to meet basic needs is among Americans. Sixty percent of those who reported at least one hardship reported experiencing two or more. Almost a quarter of adults overall—23 percent—reported experiencing food insecurity in the last year. A total of 35 percent reported either problems paying medical bills or having an unmet medical need that they couldn’t afford to treat. More than half of black and Hispanic respondents reported experiencing at least one hardship compared to 34 percent of white people.
One interesting wrinkle: families who made just above the poverty line were more likely to report problems with medical bills than those below it, likely because of Medicaid, although a quarter of those below the poverty still reported struggling with medical bills. (The federal poverty level is $24,600 for a family of four.) This is the inevitable result of means testing access to government-funded healthcare and an indictment of how absurdly expensive healthcare is, even on the Affordable Care Act exchange.
Most devastating of all, the sickest are also the most vulnerable: 66 percent of those whose health was “fair or poor” experienced hardship. This echoes previous findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that even those with health insurance struggle to pay for care—their analysis found just under half of people in fair or poor health “are either uninsured or have affordability problems despite having health insurance.” The Urban Institute also found that 55 percent of those who had an unmet medical need experienced food insecurity, too—meaning those who are too poor to pay for medical care are also more likely to be too poor to eat.
All of this will only continue to get worse. Medicaid work requirements will push more people into that most vulnerable category of being sick, poor, and uninsured; the Trump administration’s plans to raise rents for the poorest will increase the likelihood of evictions and homelessness. The question you must ask yourself is: If unemployment is as low as it is and the stock market is at an all time high, where is all the money going?
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