Monthly Archives: February 2017

A crowd, maybe even millions crammed into the hanger in Florida, so many that they spilled across vast spaces. A feisty, pout-faced little man shouted about freedom and jobs and about disasters in Sweden. Never mind that no one in that country had a clue about his reference, we all know that a mere mention of Scandinavian Socialism  sparks vitriol in nearly everyone’s heart.

There was no ‘Hakenkreuz,’ no Swastika, but you could almost hear the drum-beat of the ‘Horst Wessel Song,’ the anthem of National Socialism until 1945. The words of the song were subtly alluded to:

Die Fahne hoch!
   [Fly high the Flag!]
Die Straße frei den braunen Batallionen.
   [Free the streets for the Brown Battalions.]
 Die Straße frei dem Sturmabteilungsmann!
   [Free the streets for the StormTroopers!]
 Es schau'n aufs Hakenkreuz voll Hoffnung schon Millionen.
   [Almost millions look with hope to the Swastika.]
Der Tag für Freiheit und für Brot bricht an!
   [The Day of Freedom and Bread (jobs) is coming!]

Our sad little man, like one years ago before him, would be a buffoon were he not in a position to wield such power. One can only suppose that like the moustache-faced, sad little man before him, our sad little man will precipitate his own downfall.

H.L. Mencken wrote “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” Ahh, Mencken was prescient!

Many almost-such-auspicious days have come and gone, I do not doubt, but at last, and alas, it appears that Mencken’s ‘great and glorious day’ has arrived in its fullest bloom. President 45 was elected by less than a majority of the popular vote, but that still leaves just under half of the country with their heart’s desire in office. Granted that is not all the ‘plain folks of the land’ but enough to cause a disaster. Granted also that Donald J. Trump has demonstrated acumen and some intellect in his life, he is nonetheless a moron in his current status as a political operative and President.

Nixon was much more politically savvy. He knew how to lie and manipulate public opinion to his benefit. Except that Nixon’s subordinates employed some amateur scofflaws to spy on Nixon’s political opponents, Nixon was able to surround himself with a staff fairly competent at focusing on his objectives.

# 45 is not so able. Yes, he lies and attempts to manipulate news, and even promulgates fake-news, but he cannot seem to do it successfully. 45’s staff are apparently among the least capable in recent memory to manage a transition into office effectively and in their elect’s best interest.

Were this moron’s only effect to embarrass himself, who would care? But this incompetent sits at the desk of real world power!

The future of a safe world and American democracy depends upon this ‘great and glorious day’ being an exceptionally short one. We can only hope that Democrats in office relentlessly push investigations, so that the sun sets soon.

During my professional education (post baccalaureate) there was a class for which I could not finish a final project. I requested an extension so that I could prolong my grading period to finish the work.

I’ve been pondering a similar strategy at this stage of my life. Having lived a bit more than three-quarters of a century, the final exam cannot be all that far into the future, can it? If only there were some possibility of a period of extension that I could count on before the finals!

My justification for such a request seems to me to make sense. Having lived to be seventy-six, soon to be seventy-seven, I was born during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. That I began under FDR and have to end under DJT seems a great deal more inconvenience, even suffering, than a person my age should have to bear.

If an extension is not a possibility, I would be equally happy with an impeachment.

By the way, I did not finish that project for which I had taken an ‘Incomplete” all those years ago and as a result, failed the course. On taking the class the following semester, I ‘aced it’, but my GPA suffered.

Since there is not really a possibility for a new semester that is likely to be offered just because I want it, I really would prefer an impeachment.