Skip to main content

45 is a puppet

By



It didn't take long for viewers to see there was something amiss about the presidential seal behind Trump as he took the stage of a youth rally sponsored by Turning Point USA.  I thought it was an on-line joke, but it turns out the techie who was in charge for the screen presentation was either grossly incompetent, had his presentation hacked or is the ultimate troll.  Whatever the case, this is a moment neither Trump nor Turning Point will be able to live down for a long time, as the seal has now become the unofficial emblem of the Trump White House.

The creator of the satiric seal has become an internet celebrity.  When he created this image at the height of the 2016 campaign, he could never have imagined that one day Trump would stand before it.  He will have a hard time holding onto the rights of the design, as I'm sure it will be plastered all over t-shirts and caps in the days ahead.  It's the perfect emblem for a faux president who thinks he is king of the world.

Trump has really outdone himself in recent days, venting before a North Carolina audience and now a group of conservative teens, about all the imaginary threats in this world.  One of them turns out to be Sweden, whose police had the audacity to arrest A$AP Rocky for starting a fight in Stockholm.  So now Trump is leading the #FreeRocky movement from the White House.  He was very disappointed that PM Stefan Lofven wouldn't act on his request to let the rapper go.  It seems the new mantra of his foreign policy will be "treat Americans fairly."

Former Swedish PM Carl Bildt had a few words to say in response.  He hasn't had a chance to learn that there is no winning a rhetorical battle with @realDonaldTrump on twitter.  He will soon enough.

Meanwhile, A$AP is milking this new found attention for all its worth and when finally allowed to leave Sweden, I'm sure will be stopping by the White House to personally thank Trump, maybe even with his main man Kanye West in tow.  A$AP is an up-and-comer in the World of Rap, and was badly in need of some street cred.  Of all the places to find it.

This level of absurdity underscores the White House, which is why Kamala Harris took time to address the issue at the NAACP convention in Detroit.  She, unlike others, sees the misuse of presidential power, not to mention the shameless attempt to pander to the African-American community.  But, she has gotten more flack than Donald Trump for not rushing to the defense of her young countryman, as other Democratic presidential candidates have done.

The only video evidence we have of A$AP's presumed innocence are the videos he posted on Instagram, supporting his claim he was being taunted by two men before he slammed one to the ground.  If a similar incident had taken place in New York, I doubt Trump would be defending the rapper.

Sadly, this is the state our presidency has deteriorated to.  Trump will falsely accuse Ilhan Omar of sleeping with terrorists and her own brother at a NC rally, but will rush to the defense of A$AP Rocky because Kanye and Kim interceded on his behalf, showing how easily he can be pulled in any direction.  What kind of mixed signal does this send to the African-American community in our country, or all Americans for that matter?  About the only purpose these twitter rages serve is to deflect attention from the real crimes being committed by this malevolent administration.  This is what Kanye and Kim or any American should be worried about, not A$AP Rocky, who is being treated by Swedish authorities much better than are the Central American migrants and asylum seekers in Trump's detention centers.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

O Pioneers!

By
It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer.  Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions.  I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters.  Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs.  Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77.  I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not.  Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi
12 comments
Read more

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

By
  Welcome to this month's reading group selection.  David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908.  At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades.  Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society.  I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran.  Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, noting the gro
228 comments
Read more

Colonel

By
Now with Colonel Roosevelt , the magnum opus is complete. And it deserves to stand as the definitive study of its restless, mutable, ever-boyish, erudite and tirelessly energetic subject. Mr. Morris has addressed the toughest and most frustrating part of Roosevelt’s life with the same care and precision that he brought to the two earlier installments. And if this story of a lifetime is his own life’s work, he has reason to be immensely proud.  -- Janet Maslin -- NY Times . Let the discussion begin!
240 comments
Read more