Even his most loyal supporters would have to agree, I'd say, that compassion is not our President's strong suit. His narcissism is so forbidding there's no room for other people's pain. That he cares primarily, sometimes totally, about himself, is on display in most everything he says: he has never spotted a superlative he didn't like--or hasn't used. Remember his insistence on the size of his inauguration day crowd--biggest ever?
His antipathy for Barack Obama has multiple sources, one of which, most certainly, is the fact that his base hates the former president just as ferociously. He keeps the temp turned up on that hate, and his loyalists love it and him.
But there's more. Obama cut him up like ring baloney at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, when Mr. Superlative wasn't even a candidate, but was leader of the pack who claimed Barack Obama's mother rigged her baby's birth certificate with the help of some sleazy Hawaiian government official because Barack Hussein Obama was actually born in Kenya. Remember that one?--Trump used the birther thing like a battle flag, and it was, from day 1, raw hooey. No matter.
Trump took it right in the nose at that 2011 dinner, then again at subsequent Correspondents Dinners in 2015 and 2016, when Obama took the house down with broadsides that had Trump's lips puckered, steam pumping out of his ears. The Greatest of ALL can't handle public put downs.
Which is why what Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser did to our President last week has to rank as one of the best jokes of his Presidency. You must have seen it. After Trump showed his "domination" ("you've got to dominate," he told the country's diddling governors) by clearing the area so that he could walk over to the President's Church and thereby show his devoted faithfulness to Holy Scripture. Mayor Bowser politely told the American fighting men and women Trump had called up to go home. She didn't need them.
Then, she called out her city workers and had them paint "Black Lives Matter" in huge yellow letters two blocks long down 15th Street, close to the White House.
A word on the phrase. Just a few years ago, President Donald E. Trump took that phrase to the bank by calling on his massively white base to get all steamed at what a man named Colin Kaepernick, an NFL quarterback, had ignited when he took at knee during the playing of the national anthem. At a succession of his famous rallies, he'd invoke the name of Kaepernick and thereby elicit all manner of derision because our president wrapping himself in Old Glory is something his base really loves, bone spurs not withstanding.
What's more, back then, Roger Godell, chief of the National Football League, caved in to the Donald and created guidelines for expressions of game-time protest. Colin Kaepernick not only stayed on that famous one-knee but never returned to the playing field, becoming Trump and Godell's all-league bad boy.
But in a story that was politically far bigger than either the protests or the pestilence last week, Godell, who'd caved to Orange Man a couple of years ago, reversed field, embracing Black Lives Matter, made a public statement that stuck a sharp stick in the President's eye, in fact. Politically, that was huge.
Today, Colin Kaepernick is no longer a devil but a saint. Trump got maligned by one of his own people, big time, a guy who took off downfield, seemingly no longer afraid of getting hit by a 230-pound defensive back.
For years now, people on my side of national politics have wondered when there'd come a point, a turning point--would it be his hatred for John McCain, an audio tape in which he told a guy he liked going backstage at Miss America contests? Maybe it would be his hush money to two of his illicit bed partners, or his sweet love for dictatores. How about his mad suggestions about injecting Lysol. At what point would people begin to see the Real Wizard behind the curtain?
Mayor Bowser and Roger Goddell last week offered yet another opportunity for his loyalists to see the emperor with no clothes.
By his eminent disregard for truth (remember "it'll just go away" and "we've got it under control") his dilly-dallying and his lies cost thousands of American lives, but he has yet to stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone. For most of his presidency, I haven't been sure that a smoking gun in his hand would do it either.
Maybe now? Who knows? Maybe it'll never happen.
"Black Lives Matter"--two blocks long. That's pure genius. Oh my, that's got to smart.
13 comments:
You really HATE the President, don't you?
Good question. If it is hate, then I'm wrong. Without a doubt, I hate his unending lies, his bullying, his patronizing me (holding up the Bible for a photo op). I hate his pooh-poohing the American people with the assurance that Covid-19 wasn't going to amount to much. I hate what I see as his persistent belittling every last soul who doesn't agree with him. I hate the attitude he conveys that his economy is more important than 100,000 lives. I'm a white man, but I can't help but believe he is a racist--and I hate that about him too. There's a ton about him I hate, I'll certainly admit to all of that. But if I hate him, then I am in the wrong.
The analysis on the Trumper's reaction to the racial strife and the NFL is understandable. The loathing over COVID-19 seems a bit of a stretch. In mid-March the so-called health "experts" proclaimed "likely 2 million will die and some 25 million will need hospital care" even with mitigation, as they filled the 24-hour news cycles with fear. Every death is sad, but the American death rate is much lower than other nations. As late as Feb. 29, Fauci said there was no reason to "shut down the country." One of the few reasons many in Northwest Iowa would vote for Trump is the steady economy. Trump allowed it to be splintered at the recommendation of the epidemiologists, even though no doubt knew that it was a huge risk to him personally. American deaths have been much, much lower than most projected and many in the fear industry hoped.
The blogger here is a fiction writer, and a very good one. I have read some of his titles. Regrettably he is inept at non-fiction, particularly when he tries his literary hand at politics. This blog and others, like “No Entry,” and “President Powerless” are cases in point.
It strains the credulity of a rational thinker that a fellow member of the academic community would put these “thoughts” in print. Perhaps it is because he is in the Arts & Literature community where the standards for scholarship are rather low. For example, the blogger never tires of making disrespectful, almost stereotypically negative, and unexamined attacks on the president. What is being questioned here is not his antipathy for the president. He has a right to that. But to pass oneself off as an academic and fail to document his remarks with citations from books about Trump or even from valid news sources is an embarrassment to the rest of us.
For example, the blogger consistently refers to Trump as a liar. A would-be scholar should follow that with a series of cited examples that differentiate him from the prevaricative styles of his predecessors. There are many books on Trump, ranging from very positive to very negative. I know, because I have read them. The nature of the blogger’s remarks indicate he has done little more than get riled up watching cable news shows littered with pundits—not always very bright—positioned on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage from the president. This kind of intellectually deficient writing is not worthy of a genuine scholar.
The blogger consistently refers to himself as a Calvinist, rarely a Christian. They are not synonymous. I recommend the blogger familiarizes himself with genuine Christian worldview thinking. There is much literature on this. One of its hallmarks is alignment—a consistent rather than dissonant quality. It is difficult to square the blogger’s political catharses with Christian thinking, both in style and substance. He paints the president as running a close second to Beelzebub, neatly splicing in a quote from say, Michael Gerson, apparently because it happens to be convenient. He continues to stand in judgment of Trump as if he were in charge of the final judgment. Why not splice in some quotes from the writers of The Faith of Donald Trump, or his Christian vice president, Mike Pence, and refute them using sound reasoning?
And while we’re at it, how about those politicians he seems to admire? He lionizes Amy Klobuchar who is notorious for abusing members of her staff, running away from her poor Civil Rights record, and enthusiastically supporting the right to kill babies in the womb, and in many cases, on the way out of the womb. A person who truly values Christian worldview thinking is placed in a virtual cul de sac when it comes to making sense of the blogger’s notions. Perhaps our benighted novelist could acquaint himself with groups like Red Letter Christians that are on the political left without supporting the extinction of the unborn.
In sum, the blogger, a gifted novelist, seems unable to be fair, scholarly, or even consistent in his forays once he leaves the safety of fiction. One would think the misalignment of both his style and substance with the Christian faith would be brazenly clear—even to him. If this is what is “in the basement” I suggest he consider changing “stuff” to a four-letter word that also starts with s.
Dr. David Claerbaut www.faithandlearningforum.com
Cute. Thanks. I wondered why, after half a century you wanted to be my FB friend. Now I know. I was wary then, not because I didn't remember you or like you when we were kids--you were older as I remember--but because I had this feeling that we didn't share similar politics. We used to call you "Chatter," as I remember, and that was before you became the kind of serious scholar you seem to want me to be. I'm sorry you think my blog post is shit, but this is a free country--for both of us. And thanks for putting in your blog address. Maybe you'll get some new subscribers.
By the way, for the record, the "gifted novelist" (Don't I wish that were true!) is quite sure fiction isn't always "safe."
Romans13
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/20/president-trump-made-16241-false-or-misleading-claims-his-first-three-years/
Wow, that was hard.
Terry McAuliffe's comment: "Biden is fine in the basement." JCS,at least you have some company. Does he play ping pong?
Keep up the good work, Jim. We need people like to you speak the truth. All one has to do is listen to and watch Trump to see what he is. You don't have to watch cable news either. If everyone was as truthful as you are about Trump's character, admit that he is a danger to our country, and vote with courage, we might be able to forge a new path in our country.
Button, you might enjoy moving to Chaz. I hear they are looking for "moon-beams" to bolster their security and borders. I also heard they are planting some gardens and discussing strategies for generating some revenue. Sounds like a perfect fit. The mayor brought in some porta potties and encouraged them to "forge a new path in our country " with their experiment.
Peace and love. I lived there in the 60's until I got drafted into the US Army (Vietnam Era). My Utopia turned into a foxhole. The experience woke me up and I became "woke " I trust the Almighty will awaken you all too.
Defund the defunders!
Nr, Schaap, keep speaking the truth.
Trump? He's finished.
Stick a fork in 'im.
Hello, everyone! I,m here to explore blogs and forums about the wonderful and most safe cure for HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS (HSV).
I was positive about the deadly virus called HERPES and I lost hope because I was outcast and rejected even by my closet friends.
I searched on-line to know an enquirer cure for HERPES and i read someone's testimony on how he was cured from HSV-2 so i decided to contact the same herbalist Called Dr JAMES because i know that nature has the power to heal everything.
i contacted him to know how he can help me and he told me never to worry that he will help me with the natural herbs from God!
After 2 days of contacting him, he told me that the cure has been ready and he sent it to me via UPS SPEED POST and it got to me after 3 days!
i used the medicine as he instructed me (MORNING and EVENING) and i was cured!
it's really like a dream but I am so happy!
That's the reason I decided to also add more comments on Him so that more can be saved just like me!He also cures diseases such as Rectum effects, intestine damage, bowel obstruction, Ovarian disease, Cancer, hypothyroidism, Herpes, COPD, HIV, Arthritis, Lyme disease,Hpv, Infections,Liver Disease, Autoimmune Diseases, Parkinson's disease,Lupus,Nephrology and Hypertension, Neurology, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health, Oncology, Pediatrics, Pulmonary, ACUTE MYELOFIBROSIS, ALZHEIMER's symptoms, BREAST CANCER, DIABETES, HAIR LOSS AND HAIR TREATMENT, KIDNEY DISEASES, LEUKEMIA, MYELOID LEUKEMIA, STEM CELL TREATMENT
if you need his help, you can email OR What's App Him
Drjamesherbalmix@gmail.com
https//drjamesherbalmix.wordpress.com
whatsapp +2348152855846
Post a Comment