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| Directions to the TV news media? |
We cannot bless the president at this time, and if you're inclined to do so, please try to get a prescription for something. What kind of Christmas month lies ahead? How can we cope with the dark cloud of Trump's instability, now on display to total caricature?
Christmas has the power to overcome all sorts of looming distractions. I have neighbors on Northridge Drive who already have Christmas lights up. If the wind were not so strong today (Sunday), I'd put some out. I string them on the branches of arborvitae trees along the driveway. It's more visible from there than from the actual house, I have found.
One of my neighbors, the new one, has major league Christmas decorations, maybe not rivaling Chevy Chase - remember the "nuclear override?" - but totally top-notch. Does this put pressure on the rest of us? Oh I'm just joking - of course it doesn't.
Can the resilient Christmas spirit push aside the disturbing aspects of Trump's rhetoric now? Was that dude in Iran assassinated on direct instructions from this man? We can only pray now that there is no domino effect of violence. History does have precedent. I hate to even mention the "Sum of All Fears" endgame. The fall of Berlin was once an endgame. How wonderful if the world could have been spared all that violence. And then backtrack to World War I: wasn't that powder keg lit by an assassination?
Have we forgotten how delicate the whole world order is? Is Trump overreacting to Iran, as a gesture toward Israel, which fears Iran, and this in turn pleases the U.S. evangelicals who see Israel as helping fulfill Biblical prophecy? Do you think Trump even gives a damn about Christianity? Do you think he prioritizes anything much beyond his own narrowest interests?
Look at all the scoundrels who have been close to Trump. Roger Stone? Steve Bannon? Michael Flynn who loved leading the "lock her up" chants about Hillary Clinton? Flynn, who was fired by Trump after lying to the quintessential caddy, Mike Pence?
Michael Cohen has become a good guy only after being drawn into a vise legally. He could have resisted that in the hope he'd be pardoned. He looks right into the camera now and you know he's desperately trying to tell the truth. For that he has a target on his forehead in the eyes of Trump supporters. "Target on his forehead" is a figure of speech. When Steve Bannon talks about "beheading" Dr. Anthony Fauci, there is no hint of exaggeration. We have to assume he's exaggerating but in this age of Trump, benign assumptions are risky.
Rudy Giuliani has gotten into the heads-lopped-off talk too and it's incredibly dangerous, based on the precedent of world history. This kind of stuff has happened. Are we totally certain there won't be a calamitous economic crisis that would induce some toward violence? Bannon and Giuliani should know that the violence might not come from their crowd: the political far right. I would in fact suggest the opposite, that a sense of being oppressed among the masses could foment trouble from the other side. And I most certainly wouldn't condone violence. All I'm saying is that based on history, desperation brings about some very disturbing things.
Washington D.C. cannot get together on a relief package to get our citizenry through the immediate rough waters. I think the Kochs sense what is happening. One of those dudes has left us after a bout of cancer. The survivor was recently quoted saying something shocking, which should have gotten more media attention. He regretted his organization funding the conservative tea party. He made no bones about this. I laud him for such impressive candor. I laud him for "seeing the light" and to not be blinded by the crazed political right led by the Trumps. Yes, a ruling family.
I cannot assume there will be anything like a routine transfer of power. Michael Cohen in his under-oath testimony looked us in the eye and said Trump would not leave office in a peaceful or routine way. And, the rhetoric since the election has reinforced the likelihood of what Cohen talked about.
Again, how can the considerable dark clouds affect our attitude toward Christmas this year? The month of December awaits. We're in a near-total shutdown. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that churches cannot be limited in their activity in the name of public health measures. "Freedom of religion." Even if the availability of hospital beds becomes strained. As if the government has a bone to pick with religion. As if worshiping actually requires going to a big brick building - no substitute. Of course there's a substitute today. You've heard of the Internet, right?
So Trump drones on and on this Sunday a.m., guided by Bartiromo. Maria Bartiromo was once a basically credible reporter on the business side of things. She began acquiescing with Trump, as did so many other commentators, because of opportunism. Talk up Trump, be sympathetic to Trump, and there's a big herd of listeners out there who will be at your beck and call. Your TV screen time will be guaranteed.
Jeff Flake resisted Trump and how often do you see him on TV these days? Bob Corker was "sort of" a skeptic although he too got cold feet some, and how often do you see him on TV now? I guess there's one "trooper" who is hanging in there and that's Mitt Romney. Ronna McDaniel once had Romney as part of her name, in the middle, and she had to excise it. Trump people put their master ahead of their own family.
One ray of hope is that a faction or cult like the Trumpists can begin crumbling if they start fighting with each other. With power comes paranoia. People jockey for influence and attention. Bartiromo has cast her lot. We cannot predict the future, but if the Trump dynasty goes down, we will see the likes of her removed from our TV screen. All those people are disposable and they know it.
The TV media world is just a big make-believe place anyway, like the haunted forest in "The Wizard of Oz." It is not real. It can seem real but it isn't. The O.J. trial turned into entertainment. And because of that, many of us were sort of hypnotized into thinking it was a "whodunit" and maybe O.J. really didn't do it. The late Vince Bugliosi got apoplectic over that.
But such is the nature of popular media. "Cable news" is in the ecosystem. As with the O.J. trial, the cable news universe encourages us to take Trump more seriously than we should. The consequences? We have the assassination in Iran which John Brennan has said was "state sponsored terrorism." Do you realize what this could lead to? Remember the movie "Sum of All Fears?"
Addendum: I finally learned how to type "arborvitae," pronounced "arbovida." My father called them "pyramid arborvitaes" which we have beside our driveway on Northridge Drive. Once when he brought our dog "Heidi" back in from a walk, I asked if our dog had "accomplished anything," and you know what I mean. Dad said she did so, "in the shadow of the pyramid arborvitae." Sounds romantic.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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