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| Jared Kushner |
I love the new skit about "Newsmax Sports." The guys argued that the Jets are really the best team in the NFL. And Trump is arguing. . .well, what is he really arguing? Whatever happened to our preference for classy behavior by public figures? Whatever happened to simple decorum? And yet so many of the local people who like to wear Christianity on their sleeves talk up Trump, to this very day.
I noticed when I drove into town this morning, a big "Trump-Pence" sign along the highway close to Greeley Pluming. Not saying Greeley is responsible. They may well not be. But it's a signal that you're really out into the hinterlands where Trump love is felt. I'm disgusted but it is futile to fight this. The election is over, guys. You can talk about Trump's outrageousness on any given day but it becomes like saying the Pope is Catholic.
If the "Access Hollywood" tape was not disqualifying with its outrageousness, what better exhibit could be put forward? Well, there are lots of candidates to be sure. If you are a public figure and show any reservations toward Trump and his crowd around him, prepare to be lambasted from the White House. Prepare for a "tweet."
What's new today? What's new from the big bully pulpit which Trump will occupy until mid-January? Trump is promoting a tweet from Lin Wood that two Georgia Republican officials "will soon be going to jail." It's such an intense threat, I mean to throw around language like that. Again, decorum. What has become of so many of us?
For Trump to promote such an argument is "a big deal," according to a Mediate piece by Colby Hall.
And of course it is. But we get dragged through so many "big deals" involving Trump acting unpresidential, we are numb. We are desensitized. And it is profoundly dangerous.
I see it as dangerous primarily because the desensitizing effect might cause us to overlook consequences of great import. And on this front I reflect back to Jared Kushner's behavior early in the pandemic.
I have suggested previously that Kushner might eventually be put on trial on some sort of "crimes against humanity" charge. It is amazing this episode sort of came and went on our radar screen. It is burnished in my memory and consciousness.
Am I really such an outlier in my reaction to this? Am I immune to a certain virus going around, a virus infecting people's brains to where they insist on keeping their big royal blue "Trump-Pence" signs on public display?
Let's see, what were Kushner's credentials for holding a high post? He's a senior advisor to the president. His background includes being an investor and real estate developer. A newspaper publisher too? I'd be more impressed if he put himself forward as a former newspaper writer. I suppose it helps that Kushner is married to Ivanka Trump, do you suppose? He took over management of his father's real estate company after his father was convicted and incarcerated for fraud. He later bought Observer Media, publisher of the New York Observer.
He must really have a feeling for what the common people are feeling, right? He has stayed active in his business interests even since joining the White House, and sometimes has even profited on policy proposals he has pushed. And yet all we hear about on Fox News or Newsmax is Hunter Biden. If only we really had "Newsmax Sports" as an alternative. We hear echoes of "Baghdad Bob."
And how about Kayleigh McEnany? Isn't she a piece of work? I think she's being ignored now.
Kellyanne and Claudia
Is Kellyanne Conway really signed to write a "tell all?" Will she really turn on her former bosses, as the "tell all" term implies? The publisher knows of course that the book will not sell like hotcakes unless it's an expose type of portrait of the big hot mess of the Trump administration.
Trump might have been suspicious of Conway, based on the constant anti-Trump messaging from her husband George. And better yet, the Trump skeptic daughter of the couple, Claudia! Way to go, Claudia. Someday you'll be portrayed as a hero in a Trump-based movie. Indeed, "and a little child will lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)
Better we follow the children than the local Apostolic Christians. When Kushner could be found guilty of a "crime against humanity." It's crystal clear from a July 31 headline. It's from "Business Insider": "Kushner's coronavirus team shied away from a national strategy, believing that the virus was hitting Democratic states hardest and that they could blame governors."
It was March and early April when Kushner gathered a team to devise a nationwide coronavirus testing plan. A public health expert in regular contact with the team told Vanity Fair that " 'the political folks' thought a nationwide response was a bad political move."
At the time, "Business Insider" reported, "outbreaks were worst in Democratic-voting states and cities. The source suggested that some close to Kushner thought it was best to hold back and blame governors."
I remember Laura Ingraham of Fox News following the script perfectly, as she said her aim was to hold "Cuomo and de Blasio accountable."
The White House disputed the Vanity Fair account. Well, what would you expect them to say? They lie like a rug. (I was going to write "sieve" but that's for leaks.)
Kushner's plan was indeed dropped in favor of a mainly state-by-state response. Since then, cases in fact surged on both sides of the political divide. So I'm astonished: do the Trump sympathizers like those who swarm around in our Morris MN area really want people to die, as a means of gaining leverage for the red staters? It appears so.
And so with this in mind, how can we really find joy as Christmas nears? I can only pretend I'm doing a good job but it's more in a crossing-my-fingers spirit. Crossing fingers until the Trump madness passes, abates. And then, maybe we'll have people in power who can put Kushner on trial for a "crime against humanity."
My podcast for Dec. 15
My we're halfway through December, on the home stretch toward Christmas, so I begin my "Morris Mojo" podcast by reciting "At Christmas," poem by Martha Cluxton. I express the hope that once the Bidens get established, we might hear them recite " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas." The link to today's podcast:
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| Kushner, by Jim Carrey |
Kushner's name is in some song lyrics I wrote shortly after the Trump administration began. I discovered this as I shuffled through papers in the household. We might at the time have been inclined toward "light" lyrics or poetry on the subject. A reality TV star as president. But I sensed at the time, as the lyrics show, that foreboding things likely lay ahead. Peruse these words:
"He Never Thought He Would Win"
by Brian Williams
Eight years came and went for "Mister O"
He was suave and classy, don't you know
Never one to show misogyny
He took care of us so faithfully
Now we say hello to Mr. Trump
So much like a bear with boxing gloves
Did he really plan this in advance?
It was like a sudden avalanche
CHORUS:
He never thought he would win
But now he's our president
Though he bragged a bunch
I just had a hunch
He never thought he would win
I thought Russia was our enemy
In the Cold War it was plain to see
You can't trust the Russians, we were told
Maybe it's a sign I'm growing old
So in touch with Mr. Vladimir
We might think that it was awful weird
Still we gave our nod to Mr. Trump
Now we wonder what we've went and done
(repeat chorus)
Jared Kushner is the son-in-law
He got power from Ivanka's pa
Donald Jr. has entitlement
They all understood what victory meant
On his way to being No. 1
Our new leader had a lightning tongue
He gave speeches that could knock 'em dead
If he only knew what lay ahead
(repeat chorus)
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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