“American politics has long recycled elderly men and presented them as vessels of reassurance and national strength … Trump is simply the ugliest culmination of the pattern.” – Dr Georgios Samaras
By Marc C. Johnson
I doubt the president of the United States thought his 80th birthday would be the occasion for a raft of new questions about his mental and physical state, his clearly deteriorating speech patterns, and his instant turn to unhinged ugly name calling.
The New York Times reports Trump is “really uncomfortable” with aging.
You don’t say:
As President Trump turns 80 on Sunday, he is so intent on projecting an image of relentless energy that he has installed a massive, mixed martial arts octagon on the South Lawn to mark the occasion. After watching the fight, Mr. Trump will depart Washington in the middle of the night and cross an ocean for a diplomatic summit in France. It is a schedule that seems devised to ward off questions about age and stamina as he begins his ninth decade.
But even for a president known for imposing his own reality on every situation, Mr. Trump is facing scrutiny over his age that has grown more intense with each passing year. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in February showed that nearly six in 10 Americans think Mr. Trump is growing more erratic.
Growing? I’d say arrived.
How about a cage match on the White House lawn for erratic?
What says America more than gladiators beating on each other on the south lawn of the White House? I mean, come on, let’s Make America Great Again.
And who wouldn’t want to celebrate a round number birthday cosplaying Caligula, while desecrating the Executive Mansion?
But what else can you really say about an erratic 80-year old malignant narcissist? Seems we have known it all for a long time now.
Well, you can say that the cage fighters will be paid in Trump crypto currency, which is to say they won’t be paid.
The whole deal – the gross spectacle, the absurd tackiness, the grifting, the manosphere violence – is so completely on brand for the Orange Man. As is the forecast for high winds, rain and lightening in the District of Columbia. Stands to be a lovely night with fireworks crashing over our nation’s capital at 11:30 pm Eastern time.
And the Iran deal, if it ever happens, will turn out to be a massive defeat for the country’s credibility and the world economy. Trump will, of course, claim a historic victory for himself. It won’t be that, but on cue, most of the Republican Party will descend into a crazy rabbit hole of praise for what is likely the greatest foreign policy setback since Mission Accomplished, or the fall of Saigon.
But let’s not dwell on the negative.
Our demagogue in decline
His name came down from the Kennedy Center. The National Mall reflecting pool was “rehabilitated” using excessive no bid contracts that Trump engineered, and then almost immediately the green algae returned. A federal judge issued a permanent ban on his “slush fund” to reward, among others, January 6 insurrectionists. The Trump Arch is getting all the pushback it richly deserves.
And … the Knicks won the NBA championship despite apparently Trump falling asleep during a game at Madison Square Garden – who could sleep through that noise – while snoringly invoking his evil karma that was clearly strong enough to keep the New Yorkers from sweeping the Spurs.
It’s been said every thing Trump touches dies. Who knows, could be true, except for the Knicks.
I suspect, understanding his fragile ego and profoundly damaged personality, not to mention the accelerating age and dementia, is leaving our hollow president emptier and more alone than ever on his 80th. He’s deeply disliked by more and more Americans, his health and mind are in decline, he faces the very real prospect of a historic mid-term defeat.
On the one hand it couldn’t be happening to a more deserving guy, yet we should acknowledge that he grows ever more dangerous as he declines.
The outrages will continue until they don’t.
This much is clear: Trump hates to be humiliated or defeated. His name coming down from the Kennedy Center surely wounded him. And that is a good reminder to all the law firms, universities, corporations and toady politicos who violated the basic tenets of decency and common sense by capitulating to Trump with money and praise, including vast amounts of self debasement. They didn’t have to do that. And making a stand really matters with this crowd.
Caligula is in the [White] house, but the crazy emperor is trapped in a big black box made of the tattered strands of his own personality. The finale, when it comes, will not be any better than the first acts.
But for a good parting thought let’s call on Churchill: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Finally.
Some links:
A look at American decline from the vantage point of a Ukrainian journalist.
In Ukraine, the war claims the lives of soldiers every day. Resources are scarce, the economy has been shattered, and yet even the poor contribute what they can to support fellow citizens, often through small but meaningful donations. Those experiences make it even more unsettling to observe how in the US, democracy is being eroded and dismantled, sometimes without an effective fight. And how a prosperous society, facing no comparable threat, can hesitate to redistribute resources that are readily available.
A fine piece on the friendship and rivalry between founders John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by historian Marianne Holdzkom:
When Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, their lives took on new meaning. In eulogizing them, House member Daniel Webster told the American public: “They are no more. They are dead. But how little is there of the great and good which can die! To their country they yet live, and live forever.”
Now, 200 years later, Americans still look to these Founding Fathers for inspiration. However, what Adams and Jefferson demonstrated is not unity. Instead, they exemplify the capacity for people to disagree and yet work for a common cause.
Thanks. Keep in touch.
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