It's always a pleasure to read a post by Michael Jochum.
There is something uniquely offensive about watching a man with the aesthetic sensibilities of a casino arsonist wander through America’s civic inheritance like a drunk landlord with a demolition permit.
Today, Donald Trump apparently referred to the Reflecting Pool as a “reflecting lake” that he’s going to make “waterproof,” which is such a perfectly Trumpian phrase it almost reads like satire. Waterproof. As opposed to what, Donald? The famously leaky body of water? The concept itself tells you everything. A man so intellectually incurious, so monumentally ignorant, so allergic to history and nuance, that he treats national landmarks the way a mediocre property developer treats a tired golf resort. Rip it out. Rename it. Slap gold trim on it. Pretend improvement has occurred.
The Reflecting Pool is not some neglected feature outside a failing Mar-a-Lago annex. It sits in the shadow of Lincoln, a solemn axis of memory, sacrifice, protest, and national reckoning. It has reflected marches for civil rights, antiwar demonstrations, presidential memorials, grief, hope, and moments of actual American greatness. But to Trump, history is only valuable if his reflection appears in it.
So now, apparently, it’s a swamp. Fitting, really. Because everything this man touches eventually becomes one.
That’s the pattern, isn’t it? Institutions. Norms. Alliances. Language itself. He doesn’t build nearly as much as he brands, degrades, or repurposes for ego consumption. He treats democracy like a licensing opportunity. The presidency, to him, has never been public service. It’s been the ultimate vanity acquisition.
And yes, billionaires adore him, not because he represents strength, patriotism, or some mythical business genius, but because he functions exactly as intended: a tax shelter with vocal cords. He enriches the already grotesquely wealthy while selling working Americans a fantasy wrapped in grievance, flags, and manufactured enemies. The poor? Disposable. The vulnerable? Weakness to be mocked. The “unchosen,” as you so aptly frame it? Collateral damage in the prosperity gospel fever dream of Christian nationalism and oligarchic greed.
Which brings us to the real cruelty. Because cruelty is the point. Not accidental cruelty. Not unfortunate side effects. Deliberate cruelty. Toward immigrants. Toward political opponents. Toward the sick. Toward the poor. Toward women. Toward institutions that dared suggest accountability applies to him. Toward the memory of former administrations whose greatest offense was governing without worshipping him.
Even our monuments aren’t spared. Everything must be dragged into his orbit, rebranded in vulgarity, diminished by contact. He is not a steward of American history. He is its vandal.
And what exhausts me most is not even Trump himself anymore. It’s the endless chorus of enablers who continue to clap like trained seals while the furniture burns. Men in expensive suits. Cable news opportunists. Christian nationalists singing Onward, Christian Soldiers while kneeling before a man who embodies none of the values they pretend to defend. Billionaires congratulating themselves at private dinners while families wonder how to pay for groceries, rent, prescriptions, or another obscene tank of gas.
Donald Trump is not merely an embarrassment. He is a moral failure in a badly tailored suit, a narcissist who mistakes domination for leadership and spectacle for substance.
And when this chapter finally ends, and it will end, one way or another, history will not be kind to those who mistook this grotesque parade of ego, greed, and cruelty for patriotism.
Michael Jochum
Author of Not Just a Drummer: Reflections on Art, Politics, Dogs, and the Human Condition
Veteran drummer, writer, observer of the absurd, and still foolish enough to believe truth matters.
When the majority of Americans finally and completely realize that we have never had true economic freedom, other than the capital class, which is approximately 3% of our population, change will occur.
ReplyDeleteIt is time for Americans who value freedom and liberty to completely dismantle the political machinery that supports the capital class and return power to the working class to which the capital class has relegated wage slaves status.
Economics in America is political and is and always has been controlled by the capital class. It was a part of the original design of capitalism and it exists today in spades.
Well said, Les.
DeleteHow did the "capital class" ever grow to 3% from 1%? If it were growing, it would be more popular than it is.
DeleteWell, we talk about the wealthiest 1% indeed. But the capital class encompasses more that just 1%. That is the creme de la creme of the capitalist class. Clara Mattei, author of Escape from Capitalism, puts the capital class at 3%. Or her research does. She's a full professor of economics. She now resides teaches and in Oklahoma.
DeleteYou should check her work out. It's quite enlightening.
The author complains about DJT's kayfabe politics by responding with kayfabe accusations of his own.
ReplyDeleteIt's all just entertainment now. Does anyone feel better informed by it in any substantial way.
Now go back to reading the rest of your political newspaper as Pro-wrestling commentary...
My father used to say, “The truth hurts,” when anyone attacked the content of what anyone said or wrote, especially when that person gave no evidence to refute what was said or written. Only Trump‘s cultists would disagree with what Jochum wrote. The majority of Americans actually see Trump for what he truly is. Jochum was spot on. You didn’t like it. Because the truth hurts.
Delete-FJ prefers to shoot any messenger not in his MAGA cult.
DeleteHis is the same fascist demeaning tactic that Trump uses against journalists.
In 2016 CBS's Lesley Stahl asked Trump if he planned to continue bashing the media. Trump admitted, “You know why I do it? I do it to discredit you all and demean you all, so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you.”
Hitler's “Lügenpresse” is now Trump's "fake news" and -FJ's "kayfabe".
~~~
Speaking of America's Fourth Reich:
This is the beginning of the path to recovering our representative democracy:
https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-cohen-introduces-six-articles-impeachment-against-supreme
"Congressman Cohen Introduces Six Articles of Impeachment Against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts"
I will add, it is trump and his cultists that are engaging in primarily two things. 1) Distraction to provide the base 2) Entertainment.
DeleteThey simply are not serious people.
Democracy carries with it the seeds of its own demise.
ReplyDeleteWe The People are holding our breath to see in November if USA corrects recent mistakes and criminal activities/actions made by the junta. Patience will eventually wear out. Then...
I listened to trumps speech today while I was driving. I am not a supporter but a lot of what he said makes sense. Maybe had the democrats listened to voters they could have had a better showing and wouldn't have to spend 10 million to tell them how they screwed up.
ReplyDeleteI would say the majority of Americans see both parties as not representing them and the democrats spending their time pushing for uninvited border crossers and being anti women's rights.
The Democratic Party explicitly supports reproductive rights, including restoring abortion access, IVF protection, and strengthening contraception access.
DeleteAlso, Democrats generally lead in gender parity among candidates and elected officials. Two of the last three Democratic presidential nominees have been women.
A long-standing "gender gap" exists where women, especially single and college-educated women, are significantly more likely to vote for and identify with the Democratic Party than with the Republicans. These are facts.
I’m guessing your opinion that Democrats are “Anti- women” rests solely on the transgender issue, which is absurd. That would be like labeling the Republicans “pro-pedophiles/ child rapists” because they’ve refused to follow the law and release the names of the child sex traffickers and rapists in the Epstein files.
Your generalization of the Democratic Party as “ anti- women” is risible.
Abortion is about fetus rights not women's rights because normally the women doesn't die. Allowing males to complete as a women therefore eliminating competition for women is women's rights. Allowing surgical mutilation of children is children's rights. Opening the border to uninvited individuals is American Citizens rights.
ReplyDeleteRunning two women who were disliked enough to lose to an orange haired narcissist and then spending ten million to figure out why is just plain ill advised and a waste of money. Sending over a billion dollars to lose to someone who is not liked by over half the US citizens is not a good use of resources.
Abortion is NOT just about fetus's rights, and that's a FACT. At times, you seem to be averse to facts, and this is one of those times, skud.
ReplyDeleteAbortion rights includes the rights of the pregnant person, not just the zygote, morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus.
zygote: The initial, single-celled organism formed immediately after the sperm fertilizes the egg, lasting until it begins to divide. There is no heart, no brain, no nervous system. If an abortifacient it taken at this point in the fertilization process up to and including the blastocyst stage, it aborts a collection of cells.
The heart begins to form and beat much later, around week 5 of pregnancy (week 3 of embryonic development).Nervous System & Brain: The nervous system and brain begin to develop during the third week of pregnancy with the formation of the neural tube, eventually maturing significantly in the weeks and months that follow.
These collections of cells are potential human beings, they are NOT "babies," as anti-choice fanatics like to call them. It is RELIGION that claims a "soul" is imparted at the moment of conception, and therefore prohibits abortion at this and ANY stage of development. That is a religious idea, not a biologically scientific one. Religion and science operate in two different spheres. They are NOT the same.
Abortion rights are fundamentally centered on the pregnant person’s rights alongside those of the fetus. The debate balances fetal development against essential human rights, including bodily autonomy, personal liberty, medical privacy, and the life and health of the mother.
These are facts that I wish you had taken the time to read up on instead of making the statement you made. That statement is false.
"Public health research tracks a systemic impact beyond individual cases. Studies from institutions like Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the The Global Equity Priority Initiative indicate that states with abortion bans have seen significant increases in maternal mortality rates compared to the national average. Health experts emphasize that while these laws often contain "exceptions" for the life of the pregnant patient, the vague legal language and severe penalties deter doctors from providing necessary, time-sensitive obstetric care."
You may not give a damn about the increase of maternal deaths because of stupidly restrictive abortion laws in states like Texas, Georgia, and other MAGA-ruled states, but there are those who do.
I'll answer the rest of your opinions you included in your comment later.
So that's why Idaho no longer has OBGYN physicians anymore. Problems go across the river to the state of WA. Or die here. Potato capital, proud and
ReplyDeleteof our ignorance.
Every person I have met who is pregnant has been a women. By taking a women and making her a person aren't you demeaning women and their contribution to the human race.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is just my Southern upbringing but I have a great deal of respect for women because they are special. I never thought of introducing my mother, wife of daughter as just a person. YOMV
The world is changing, Skud. Throughout human history, there has always been people who do not accept change. The fact is that trans males who retain their reproductive organs can be pregnant.
Delete”Pregnancy is possible for transgender men who retain functioning ovaries and a uterus, such as in the case of Thomas Beatie. Regardless of prior hormone replacement therapy (HRT) treatments, the progression of pregnancy and birthing procedures are typically the same as those of cisgender women. Delivery options include conventional methods such as vaginal delivery and cesarean section, and patient preference should be taken into consideration in order to reduce gender dysphoric feelings associated with certain physical changes and sensations.”
My vocabulary reflects this inclusion and change — it disrespects no one.
For American conservatives like skud the primary objective seems to be returning to, and then freezing the human experience to reflect and embrace human evolution at it was experienced in the 1950's and early 1960's.
ReplyDeleteI guess I should have said female at birth. I do apologize for my act of sanity in my response. I will try to remember there is no such thing as a male or female and need to refer to them as at birth of identify as.
ReplyDelete