Whether Donald Trump is legitimately president or not he is legitimately terrifying. Today a milestone in American culture was reached; in essence, the nadir of democracy, as epitomized by the swearing in of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America. H.L. Mencken most presciently predicted this day when he said, "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." What has happened to this country and how did a low class buffoon, whose everyday behavior is abhorrent and embarrassing to every normal sensibility, get elected to the highest office in the land? Come let us reason together, as LBJ used to say, and look at just a few of the signposts that have appeared on this journey recently in the press.
Donald Trump has no class whatsoever. Rolling Stone had this description of where we have plummeted as a nation today, with the inauguration of Trump:
At night, when he climbs out of whatever wrench-tightened contraption he uses to keep his gelatinous pink hulk from splitting the seams of his suits, Trump will lay his head in chambers once occupied by the likes of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Kennedy.
It is a good bet that the first time he has occasion to use the toilet, he will, with great satisfaction, tell us about it in a tweet. He may even rate the experience. If you think that's not possible, remember all the things you might have thought were impossible prior to the beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump says he began working on the speech three weeks ago in Fort Lauderdale. He even posted a picture of himself "writing" it. He's dressed in a suit and tie and frozen in an action pose with a pen and a legal pad, which must be his idea of what writing looks like.
This is the face of New America, everything bent, twisted and warped. Night is day and day is night and what's on the cover of TIME Magazine resembles what used to be on the cover of Mad Magazine. Trump is totally lacking in the dignity and poise that every other American president has been able to muster so far and rise to each occasion. I am no defender of George W. Bush, but I will say that even he, arguably the dullest knife in the drawer of all the presidents in our history, commendably rose to the occasion when he sent a handwritten, heartfelt letter to Bill Clinton, telling Clinton of the awe and excitement that he felt upon entering the oval office for the first time after his inauguration and realizing that it was his work space and he was now President. He wished that Clinton would feel the same sentiment and I respect "W" for that gesture. I thought that it showed class. Likewise, George H.W. Bush, garnered well deserved praise from the media for his concession speech to Bill Clinton. The media said that Bush displayed a "patrician grace" in his dignified admission of defeat and his sincere encouragement of his voters to now rally and support the new president. America shone at that moment and I gained a previously unfelt respect for Bush, Sr. that night. He, too, showed class.
When it comes to Trump, class only appears as a negative quantity, something that is conspicuous by its absence. His lack of class is like a black hole in space, it's a negative force of incomparable magnitude. His complete lack of dignity manifested recently at the wreathing ceremony at the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier. People cringed at the tacky photo-op quality of showman Trump and his model arm-trophy wife on the sacred grounds of Arlington Cemetery. It was a national disgrace and an embarrassment. For the reaction of the son of one military family to this particular debacle, read Murfster35's diary on this topic. I, too, was sobered by the occasion because I, too, have a decorated war hero relative buried in Arlington Cemetery. My great-uncle was a brilliant and talented man, both a civil engineer and a musician, conductor of the U.S. Army Orchestra in Washington, D.C. at one point. He was a pillar of his community as well. Donald Trump is not fit to wipe my great-uncle's boots.
As I follow the news, I wonder just exactly where we are going in the days to come and I am alarmed. Trump's supporters are monsters like him and have taken Trump's victory as some kind of demented social carte blanche to misbehave in whatever deranged manner suits them. Texas Democrat and Congressman, Filemon Vela told RawStory:
“While visiting Washington, DC, 40 migrant students from my district were subjected to comments of ‘beaners,’ ‘burritos,’ and ‘wetbacks’ from Inauguration attendees,” Vela wrote in a statement released Thursday. “One student was even spit on.”
“Then, Donald Trump made his final cabinet selection ensuring that there would be no Hispanic representation in the cabinet for the first time in 36 years,” Vela added, referring Trump’s announcement Thursday morning of Sonny Perdue as his nominee for U.S. agriculture secretary.
Thirty-six years, huh? That's all? Frankly, I find that encouraging. My expectation has been that we would slide back much further than three and a half decades in this free fall that our society is in. The Hispanics are rightfully concerned about zero representation in the cabinet as are the women, who make up 51% of the population and have 17% representation in the cabinet; if you call Betsy "Grizzlie Bear" DeVos "representation." And here is some more representation for you.
Donald Trump recently appointed another advisor, a friend of Ivanka's, Reed Cordish, President of Entertainment Concept Investors, a real estate management company that owns bars and clubs throughout the U.S. to advise him on Intergovernmental and Technology Initiatives. Cordish is a dyed in the wool racist, but then what else is new, in this era of American history, where the bottom keeps getting lower and falling through to a new bottom again and again to where now we're almost down to the molten core of the earth? Cordish is currently being sued for racial discrimination and when you read the details you will realize how American standards have plummeted beyond all comprehension that such a person as Cordish could be anywhere near the President of the United States, let alone be an advisor to a president. And look at the company Cordish keeps, read what his vice-president said, per RawStory:
Dante Combs and Adams Williams filed a class action racial discrimination against Cordish and his business in 2014 claiming they were beaten and harassed by white employees.
She [former employee Christian Martinez] also said Jake Miller, vice president of ECI, “did not want any African-Americans” at Tengo. According to Martinez, she once overheard Miller demand the DJ change the music, demanding, “Get that fucking n**ger music off here.”
A black former employee, William Whitlock, said Miller threatened him over the presence of black people in his club.
“He made the comment that if he ever saw this many n**gers in the building again, he would chain the doors and burn it down with me inside,” Whitlock testified. “He was embarrassed and horrified to see what we had done to his club.”
What has happened to our country that we have a monster like Trump at its head and that he nominates to cabinet posts trivial, insubstantial people with money, like Betsy DeVos or Rick Perry, who embarrass themselves at Senate confirmation hearings? Or that overt racists like Steve Bannon and now this Reed Cordish and cohorts should be spewing their hate speech liberally and without fear of censure in the world of broadcasting and entertainment? And what about the crash and burn of our politics? Richard Nixon certainly shocked everyone back in the early '70's but quite frankly the 21st century Watergate equivalent, i.e., the Russian hacking of the election does not seem to faze very many people at all. Standards have fallen in everything. Rap music may have its charms, no one is saying it doesn't but it cannot be compared to jazz, for example. The talent is not the same. And likewise, the talent in politics has been dropping steadily. People put up with Reagan the dense and then George W the dunce. Nixon may have been a crook and a liar but at least he was a statesmen with a considerable grasp of foreign policy.
And now we are in the era of Trump, the downright moron that H.L. Mencken foresaw early last century. What is even scarier than Trump is the school of fish that he swam in with. Take a good look at Rex Tillerson and Jeff Sessions, and the covey of Goldman Sachs alums and just what do you think that they will do? Do you expect them to be friends of the working man as Trump so incongruously claims to be? Clearly, we are on the verge of rule by a small group of the super wealthy, an oligarchy. And what do we do about it? There is only one thing that we can do about it. We must mobilize, in small groups, and focus on each issue and each candidate for office, piecemeal. Margaret Mead said this:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed, that’s all who ever have.
Today America stands at the crossroads. Will Democracy bounce back or will oligarchy prevail? Or put more simply, are we going to be the battered spouse or are we going to stand up for ourselves and fight? It is up to us to decide our future.