"Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms."
Now that the real news folks have tired of DJTrump's interesting comment on his unpopularity, it's our turn to have a shot at it.
In case you missed it or don't remember, the statement came during a COVID-19 White House press briefing on July 28. As usual the "briefing" was a series of repeated tropes on ventilators, inept governors, testing, and the importance of blocking China.
At about 20 minutes into the briefing, responding to a question about his relationship with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Mooncalf-in-Chief gave a typically self-contradictory answer, then went into ruminative mode, considering the relative popularity of Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx, and himself.
He came to this conclusion: "So it sort of is curious: A man works for us — with us, very closely,
Dr. Fauci, and Dr. Birx also highly thought of. And yet, they’re highly thought of, but nobody likes me. It can only be my personality. That’s all."
Let's parse that a bit. The delivery is uncolored, in almost a conversational tone. In the first sentence he redefines Fauci's status three times, elevating it each time: "A man works for us--with us, very closely." It's as if he's hoping to avoid another question about Fauci by precisely defining where Fauci stands relative to the Omphalos, i.e. DJTrump himself.
There's also a slight hint of discovery in that first sentence, as if he's just figured out that Fauci works with him--or for him, whichever.
The mention of Birx appears to be an afterthought. You can almost see the gears in his head working, churning out the thought that there's someone else he should mention, then the "Oh, yeah" moment.
Moving to the second sentence, there's that surprising admission: "Nobody likes me." Contrary to some commenters and analysts, that line is not delivered in a self-pitying way, but is stated matter-of-factly, with no noticeable emotion.
What is surprising to Trump here is that someone close to him can be "highly thought of" while he is not. He has continuously held to the idea that as the center of all things, all glory, popularity, and fame adhere to him, and are radiated to those around him as splendor emanates from a godhead.
And yet the notion that he's a dark center while those around him are esteemed does not appear to be a revelation to the Grand Poohbah. Rather, it sounds like something he has thought about for a while and he's turning to the press as an interlocutor. Then he says simply, without inflection, "Nobody likes me."
He states it as a fact. He knows it. He's not bothered by it because the adulation of lesser beings isn't important to him. He knows that he alone is important to the world, and these other names he mentions are nothing.
"Nobody likes me" is the phrase most people locked onto, but I think the penultimate sentence is most telling: "It can only be my personality." Whoa! Let's recontextualize that: "[The reason nobody likes me] can only be my personality."
Do you get what that is? That's Trump taking responsibility for people not liking him. He's not pointing fingers, not transferring the fault to someone else. We've not seen this, have we? Anywhere? Granted, he does speak of his personality as if it's something separate from him, but there's no way he can be separated from it.
"That's all" at the end is a throwaway line to get back into taking questions.
I opened this post with a line from a children's song because it reflects the usual response to being disliked. Trump is nowhere near ready to eat worms, and I think his flat emotional response to being disliked is a good indicator of his abysmal level of emotional intelligence.
Still, knowing that he knows he is disliked is another tool in the struggle.
---Diogenes, 8/7/2020
U.S. Constitution
The voice of the people
07 August 2020
05 August 2020
It Is What It Is
"It is what it is"--The mid-twentieth century statement of an absolute that has become a twenty-first-century dismissive, joining "Oh, well" and "Whatever."
"It is what it is." It's one of those phrases that sounds vaguely intellectual or philosophical. It is in fact, a gross oversimplification of Immanuel Kant's concept of "das Ding an sich," a "thing-in-itself" that exists outside human perception and knowing. The similarity is no doubt coincidental.
"It is what it is." People use it as a throwaway phrase to close conversations about something they either don't like or don't want to talk about.
"It is what it is" was the Jerk-in-Chief's throwaway line when he was recently reminded of the COVID-19 death toll by Jonathan Swan on AXIOS news. He first claimed that the pandemic was under control, then said, “They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is.”
"It is what it is." People die, and when they do it is customary to offer condolences and perhaps a bright note about something in their life. We all have an aversion to death, but it is, after all, the price of living. The Denier-in-Chief must have a special hatred of it because he won't deal with it. Perhaps he fears it because he knows it is the one thing that he absolutely cannot control. Or perhaps he thinks if he ignores it, it will go away.
"It is what it is." On May 28, nearly six months into the pandemic and the day the U.S. COVID death toll reached 100,000, the Great Twit tweeted his one and only message acknowledging the great loss of life: “To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!”
"It is what it is." A mass message is better than nothing, I suppose. But what about some opportunities to join personally in the celebrations of other lives? It is traditional for presidents to attend the funerals of important Americans, but with one exception, the Avoider-in-Chief has chosen not to honor the fallen with his presence (the honor would proceed from the office of POTUS, not the individual holding the office).
"It is what it is." During his time in office, DJTrump has attended exactly one state funeral: that of former President George H. W. Bush--and he was not welcome. He could have but chose not to attend services for former First Lady Barbara Bush, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Rep. John Dingell, Rep. John Lewis, and Sen. John McCain.
“They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is.” The Great Pretender has only disdain for the American people, living or dead. He may be able to relate to 100,000 (now more than 165,000) as a big number but that is all it is to him--a number. He has no sympathy for the actual people or their families. Mostly he wishes they would just go away.
How to visualize that many people? This is a satellite photo of Salinas, California, population approximately 155,000.
Salinas is about five miles square. Imagine it as a ghost town. Imagine walking through streets with thousands of vacant homes, stores, and industrial buildings. No traffic, no sounds, no life, nothing moving that's not blown by the wind. No smells of food, smoke, sewage, or diesel. No sensory input at all.
That's what 155,000 missing souls feels like.
COVID-19 is beginning its second wave, and is starting to have a significant impact on the population of our country. Cities similar in size to Salinas are Springfield, MA, Bellevue, WA, and Alexandria, VA. If you're close to any of them, visit. Take a drive around and imagine it as a ghost town. Think of the economic impact of losing hundreds of thousands of people.
The Denier-in-Chief will not look at this, will not acknowledge it, will not mourn the dead nor comfort the surviving. It has nothing to do with him because he feels nothing outside the bounds of his imaginary world.
Yet COVID-19, hand in hand with Death, marches on.
It is what it is.
---Diogenes, 8/5/2020
Please share as widely as possible.
"It is what it is." It's one of those phrases that sounds vaguely intellectual or philosophical. It is in fact, a gross oversimplification of Immanuel Kant's concept of "das Ding an sich," a "thing-in-itself" that exists outside human perception and knowing. The similarity is no doubt coincidental.
"It is what it is." People use it as a throwaway phrase to close conversations about something they either don't like or don't want to talk about.
"It is what it is" was the Jerk-in-Chief's throwaway line when he was recently reminded of the COVID-19 death toll by Jonathan Swan on AXIOS news. He first claimed that the pandemic was under control, then said, “They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is.”
"It is what it is." People die, and when they do it is customary to offer condolences and perhaps a bright note about something in their life. We all have an aversion to death, but it is, after all, the price of living. The Denier-in-Chief must have a special hatred of it because he won't deal with it. Perhaps he fears it because he knows it is the one thing that he absolutely cannot control. Or perhaps he thinks if he ignores it, it will go away.
"It is what it is." On May 28, nearly six months into the pandemic and the day the U.S. COVID death toll reached 100,000, the Great Twit tweeted his one and only message acknowledging the great loss of life: “To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!”
"It is what it is." A mass message is better than nothing, I suppose. But what about some opportunities to join personally in the celebrations of other lives? It is traditional for presidents to attend the funerals of important Americans, but with one exception, the Avoider-in-Chief has chosen not to honor the fallen with his presence (the honor would proceed from the office of POTUS, not the individual holding the office).
"It is what it is." During his time in office, DJTrump has attended exactly one state funeral: that of former President George H. W. Bush--and he was not welcome. He could have but chose not to attend services for former First Lady Barbara Bush, Rep. Elijah Cummings, Rep. John Dingell, Rep. John Lewis, and Sen. John McCain.
“They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is.” The Great Pretender has only disdain for the American people, living or dead. He may be able to relate to 100,000 (now more than 165,000) as a big number but that is all it is to him--a number. He has no sympathy for the actual people or their families. Mostly he wishes they would just go away.
How to visualize that many people? This is a satellite photo of Salinas, California, population approximately 155,000.
Salinas is about five miles square. Imagine it as a ghost town. Imagine walking through streets with thousands of vacant homes, stores, and industrial buildings. No traffic, no sounds, no life, nothing moving that's not blown by the wind. No smells of food, smoke, sewage, or diesel. No sensory input at all.
That's what 155,000 missing souls feels like.
COVID-19 is beginning its second wave, and is starting to have a significant impact on the population of our country. Cities similar in size to Salinas are Springfield, MA, Bellevue, WA, and Alexandria, VA. If you're close to any of them, visit. Take a drive around and imagine it as a ghost town. Think of the economic impact of losing hundreds of thousands of people.
The Denier-in-Chief will not look at this, will not acknowledge it, will not mourn the dead nor comfort the surviving. It has nothing to do with him because he feels nothing outside the bounds of his imaginary world.
Yet COVID-19, hand in hand with Death, marches on.
It is what it is.
---Diogenes, 8/5/2020
Please share as widely as possible.
04 August 2020
On Hiding
There are four major reasons people hide things: Fear, Greed, Guilt, and Shame.
Donald John Trump has a lot of stuff hidden.
DJTrump thinks he's smart and says so frequently. "I'm, like, a really smart person." But factual accounts of his student days don't always square with his claim.
Needless to say, his butt never sat at a public school desk. Consider his education:
He attended, in order, the Kew-Forest School, which bills itself as "The oldest independent school in the borough of Queens;" the New York Military Academy, where he was sent in hopes of straightening out his incorrigible bad behavior; Fordham University, a Jesuit school in the Bronx, which his niece alleges he got into by paying someone else to take his SAT; and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with the default degree, a B.S. in Economics (he has occasionally boasted of having the prestigious Wharton MBA--not true).
During the 2016 campaign, Trump ordered his minions to threaten all those schools but Kew-Forest with criminal charges if they made the Dunce-in-Chief's academic records public.
Why might the Litigant-in-Chief make such threats? Academic records are already protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Threatening a lawsuit would be overkill--the act of a person desperate to keep those records in deep darkness.
This kind of behavior never fails to make us Homo Saps curious. We're naturally nosy. Why hide records? What's the big deal? Come on, Donny, tell!
In my professional life as an educator I've noticed that most students react to grades in one of two ways: with joy and pride, or with disappointment and chagrin. Those who are proud of their grades as an accomplishment boast of them to anyone who will listen. The others go off and sulk.
Trump is a sulker. He has said he was first in his class (without designating a school), but those records that are public are clear: he never achieved honors and was never on a dean's list.
So here's my take on a non-mystery that's as plain as day: Donald John Trump was a terrible, uninterested, and unmotivated student. He spent his time in school playing and doing just enough to avoid flunking. He may have cheated on his SAT, and there is evidence that family connections got him into the Wharton School.
I doubt he cares overmuch about the grades themselves. He managed to get a degree so he could fit into a certain type of society. With the records sealed he could boast and lie about his academic prowess and never be challenged.
What exactly motivated him to bury his records? Unlikely as it sounds, I think it might have been shame, or the fear of being shamed. If the records were revealed somehow he would no doubt dismiss them as forgeries or an attempt to discredit him. But somewhere deep down, maybe the Liar-in-Chief knows that most Americans still have faith in the integrity of America's universities.
Just not in its chief executive.
---Diogenes, 8/4/2020
Donald John Trump has a lot of stuff hidden.
DJTrump thinks he's smart and says so frequently. "I'm, like, a really smart person." But factual accounts of his student days don't always square with his claim.
Needless to say, his butt never sat at a public school desk. Consider his education:
He attended, in order, the Kew-Forest School, which bills itself as "The oldest independent school in the borough of Queens;" the New York Military Academy, where he was sent in hopes of straightening out his incorrigible bad behavior; Fordham University, a Jesuit school in the Bronx, which his niece alleges he got into by paying someone else to take his SAT; and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with the default degree, a B.S. in Economics (he has occasionally boasted of having the prestigious Wharton MBA--not true).
During the 2016 campaign, Trump ordered his minions to threaten all those schools but Kew-Forest with criminal charges if they made the Dunce-in-Chief's academic records public.
Why might the Litigant-in-Chief make such threats? Academic records are already protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). Threatening a lawsuit would be overkill--the act of a person desperate to keep those records in deep darkness.
This kind of behavior never fails to make us Homo Saps curious. We're naturally nosy. Why hide records? What's the big deal? Come on, Donny, tell!
In my professional life as an educator I've noticed that most students react to grades in one of two ways: with joy and pride, or with disappointment and chagrin. Those who are proud of their grades as an accomplishment boast of them to anyone who will listen. The others go off and sulk.
Trump is a sulker. He has said he was first in his class (without designating a school), but those records that are public are clear: he never achieved honors and was never on a dean's list.
So here's my take on a non-mystery that's as plain as day: Donald John Trump was a terrible, uninterested, and unmotivated student. He spent his time in school playing and doing just enough to avoid flunking. He may have cheated on his SAT, and there is evidence that family connections got him into the Wharton School.
I doubt he cares overmuch about the grades themselves. He managed to get a degree so he could fit into a certain type of society. With the records sealed he could boast and lie about his academic prowess and never be challenged.
What exactly motivated him to bury his records? Unlikely as it sounds, I think it might have been shame, or the fear of being shamed. If the records were revealed somehow he would no doubt dismiss them as forgeries or an attempt to discredit him. But somewhere deep down, maybe the Liar-in-Chief knows that most Americans still have faith in the integrity of America's universities.
Just not in its chief executive.
---Diogenes, 8/4/2020
03 August 2020
On Kneeling
We kneel before gods, monarchs, and executioners.
For the first two we take the posture to swear our fealty and allegiance. In the third, so our bodies will not have so far to fall to the ground.
Kneeling is an ancient gesture of respect and submission. It says, "I humble myself before you and I pledge my allegiance to you." It is a reasonable and legitimate way to express one's patriotism.
It is also a protest.
The prescribed manner for saluting the flag and the national anthem is: "During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart."¹
I am not a fan of professional sports, but I admire and respect those players who "take a knee" when the national anthem is played. The action was initially taken by Black players, who have been joined in solidarity by many of their teammates of other races.
In 1787 the British ceramic artist Josiah Wedgwood created a design to be an emblem for abolitionist groups in Great Britain and America. The emblem, featuring a fettered Black slave kneeling, with the caption "Am I not a man and a brother" was a powerful boost to antislavery movements on both continents:
In the context of Black history this image has great power. The slave in the image is a supplicant. Not so those who kneel today. Their intended message is that they will not stand in recognition of a country that enslaved their ancestors and has practiced systemic racism throughout its history up to the present day.
Therein, I think, is an interesting conundrum. Is there a difference in the way one kneels when swearing allegiance and when protesting? Is there some subtle difference in the placement of the knee or the angle at which the head is held? Or is the only difference in the mind of the kneeler? And if that is the case, who's to know for sure the intent of the action?
Regardless of intent, it maddens DJTrump and his ilk. Why? Mightn't it be possible that some of those kneeling are in fact offering allegiance to the United States in their hearts while physically supporting their colleagues?
Doesn't matter. They don't like it because it's not the way they want it to be. They're Conservatives, and they don't like change. They learned to put their hands over their hearts when that song played, and by God that's the only salute that should be allowed. Anything else is rocking the boat, crossing a line, going a step too far--all anathema to Conservatives.
It's one more reminder for the Whiner-in-Chief that things in this nation are moving in ways he can't control. In his mind the only good changes are those he makes, and lately he's been unable to make many, while some have been forced on him. His world is unraveling like that obscene hair he wears.
He despises everyone who is different from him, and that's damned near everyone else on the planet. He fears change, he fears anyone who might be better than him, and he fears patriotism because he's never felt it.
Patriotism lives in the heart, not in actions.
--- Diogenes, 8/3/2020
¹ USC Title 36, Chapter 10, §171. The flag rules are meant as guidelines. They are virtually unenforceable and violation of them carries no penalty.
For the first two we take the posture to swear our fealty and allegiance. In the third, so our bodies will not have so far to fall to the ground.
Kneeling is an ancient gesture of respect and submission. It says, "I humble myself before you and I pledge my allegiance to you." It is a reasonable and legitimate way to express one's patriotism.
It is also a protest.
The prescribed manner for saluting the flag and the national anthem is: "During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart."¹
I am not a fan of professional sports, but I admire and respect those players who "take a knee" when the national anthem is played. The action was initially taken by Black players, who have been joined in solidarity by many of their teammates of other races.
In 1787 the British ceramic artist Josiah Wedgwood created a design to be an emblem for abolitionist groups in Great Britain and America. The emblem, featuring a fettered Black slave kneeling, with the caption "Am I not a man and a brother" was a powerful boost to antislavery movements on both continents:
In the context of Black history this image has great power. The slave in the image is a supplicant. Not so those who kneel today. Their intended message is that they will not stand in recognition of a country that enslaved their ancestors and has practiced systemic racism throughout its history up to the present day.Therein, I think, is an interesting conundrum. Is there a difference in the way one kneels when swearing allegiance and when protesting? Is there some subtle difference in the placement of the knee or the angle at which the head is held? Or is the only difference in the mind of the kneeler? And if that is the case, who's to know for sure the intent of the action?
Regardless of intent, it maddens DJTrump and his ilk. Why? Mightn't it be possible that some of those kneeling are in fact offering allegiance to the United States in their hearts while physically supporting their colleagues?
Doesn't matter. They don't like it because it's not the way they want it to be. They're Conservatives, and they don't like change. They learned to put their hands over their hearts when that song played, and by God that's the only salute that should be allowed. Anything else is rocking the boat, crossing a line, going a step too far--all anathema to Conservatives.
It's one more reminder for the Whiner-in-Chief that things in this nation are moving in ways he can't control. In his mind the only good changes are those he makes, and lately he's been unable to make many, while some have been forced on him. His world is unraveling like that obscene hair he wears.
He despises everyone who is different from him, and that's damned near everyone else on the planet. He fears change, he fears anyone who might be better than him, and he fears patriotism because he's never felt it.
Patriotism lives in the heart, not in actions.
--- Diogenes, 8/3/2020
¹ USC Title 36, Chapter 10, §171. The flag rules are meant as guidelines. They are virtually unenforceable and violation of them carries no penalty.
02 August 2020
36 compelling reasons . . .
. . . to drag the misbegotten DJTrump out of the White House and dump him in the street:
- He is in active and treasonous collusion with Vladimir Putin.
- He has sent armed thugs into American cities to attack the American people.
- His disregard and disrespect for the Constitution.
- His disregard and disrespect for the American people.
- His blatant sexism, racism, and xenophobia.
- His stupidity.
- His refusal to deal with COVID-19 as a national emergency.
- His self-righteousness.
- His belief that he is intelligent.
- His lack of allegiance to anything but himself.
- His continually empty words.
- His lack of empathy.
- His sociopathic Narcissism.
- His apathy toward COVID-19 victims.
- His non-response to the deaths of genuinely great Americans (John Lewis, most recently).
- His foolishness.
- He is seeking to profit from a major government building contract in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clauses.
- His lack of concern for the legislative and democratic processes.
- His refusal to cooperate with Congress.
- His lack of knowledge of American history.
- His hatefulness.
- His untruthfulness and untrustworthiness.
- His infantile behavior.
- He has openly stated he lusts for his daughter Ivanka (called her a "piece of ass" in a Howard Stern interview).
- His mental instability.
- His refusal to deal forcefully with potential adversaries.
- His belief in his own infallibility
- His need to insult everybody, all the time.
- His ridiculous Tweets.
- His withdrawal of the U.S. from WHO.
- The Wall.
- His pulling out of the Paris Agreement.
- His inability to control his emotions.
- His ignorance.
- His rudeness, crudeness, and general lack of class.
- His overwhelming lack of leadership and any presidential quality whatsoever.
That's all for now.
--- Diogenes, 8/2/2020
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