Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Easy to laugh at Trump's delusions of heroism; harder to realize we all do it.


Trump's delusions of heroism are shared by many Americans.

     Mockery is easy. And kinda cheap. Well, not all mockery. Mocking government officials for political cowardice, for instance, is both important and not that easy, if done well.
     I mean mockery over petty stuff. Particularly physical traits. Whenever someone goes on about Donald Trump's strange hairdo, or tiny hands, or bulging weight, I wince and think, "Really? The man is a liar and a bully and a fraud, not to mention rolling like a puppy at the feet of the Russians and you're bothered because his necktie is too long?"
     Yes, mockery has a purpose. It comforts. The scary thing isn't so scary. Hitler becomes a little man with a funny mustache.
     Though sometimes mockery causes us to miss the larger point.
     Such as Monday, when the president strutted his own imaginary courage before a group of governors at the White House, sparking a firestorm of ridicule. Twitter erupted like the Hindenburg exploding when Trump said he would have reacted to the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with reflexive bravery.
     "I really believe I'd run in there, even if I didn't have a weapon," the president said.
     I'm sure he does really believe that.
     Trump's five draft deferments, when ducking military service in Vietnam, began pinballing around social media. Nothing more need be said. We are already familiar with his comic braggadocio. Just jump in with the #TrumpCoward hashtag, savoring clips of the Cowardly Lion and Trump cringing away from an American eagle. My favorite: an audio clip of Trump yucking it up with Howard Stern in 2008 about an 80-year-old man who fell off the stage during a ball at Mar-a-Lago.
    "You know what I did? I said 'Oh my God, that's disgusting' and I turned away," Trump laughed. "He was right in front of me. I didn't want to touch him."
   

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7 comments:

  1. The Boy Scouts have a good motto, words to live by, "Be Prepared." There are more mundane and common things than intervening in an active shooter situation. Also to a greater or lesser degree be considered heroic. They're on my bucket list, although not to be done just once. Like one time successfully preforming the Heimlich maneuver on a choking person. Have lifeguard training and helped rescue someone struggling in the water at a remote beach. Administering CPR, current score is zero for one. Knock on doors when there was an apartment fire.
    Then there are really dangerous situations, like confronting a person committing a crime. At one end of the spectrum you have the real heroes like Commander Paul Bauer, who paid for his courage with his life. On the other Officer Scot Peterson who was not alone, the first three police officers to arrive at Parkland's High School did not try to enter the building while Nikolas Cruz was shooting people. Also police at Columbine did not enter the school until well after Harris and Klebold had committed suicide. Even more disturbing, at both events police prevented paramedics from treating the wounded. If anyone believes citizens don't need to be armed because we have police, think again. The DC Court has ruled in Warren v. District of Columbia, police have no obligation to do their job.
    P.S. Add my voice to the cacophony that knows Trump is a blithering idiot.
    P.P.S. And grant a pardon to the guy who lives the secret life of Mark Wahlberg, his apology seemed sincere.

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    1. Bernie, I have lived 58 of my 68 years in Chicago and never owned a firearm. In that time I met 2 people who used guns in self defense. One emptied his magazine at a possible robber, though he may have reacted in haste to a man with darker skin than his own. The shooter had no idea about his targets' condition post incident. The second person was attacked by a man with a 22 handgun, shot 5 or 6 times but managed to take the weapon from his assailant and killed him with the remaining bullets. Allegedly. You are right about Trump though.

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    2. Neil, commenting about Trumps hair is not frivolous. I contend that after he has combed his hair he has told at least one lie that day. Presenting that ridiculous combover says volumes about this shallow human being. The hands thing is stupid, I agree, and overused by now. Talking to a friend last night with MSNBC on mute, I saw a video that Stephanie Miller described on the radio as Trump shielding himself from the rain with an umbrella while letting his young son get drenched. I did not see a hard rain, nor any reaction from Barron that he was being drenched. But Trumps actions, and the buffeting of his brolly were indicative of an attempt to shield his coif from the strong breeze. That he is probably a treasonous ass doesn't preclude legitimate laughter at his petty vanity.

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    3. I didn't just meet someone who used his gun, I saw him do it.

      Jewelry store owner followed a holdup man outside. He ran up behind the robber, who was striding rapidly down the sidewalk. His gun was still in his hand as he tried to disappear into the noontime lunch crowd. The store owner put a round into his head from about a foot away.

      I was between both them, to the right and about two feet away. We were on Madison, just west of Dearborn. Didn't care to be an eyewitness, so I sprinted for the subway stairs and got the hell out of there.

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  2. Dead on, Neil. Too many people think if they play enough video games, that constitutes "training."

    Now we have nitwits who call themselves Oath Keepers standing uninvited outside schools fondling guns. You just know something will go wrong there. If we'll lucky, it'll just be one of them shooting themselves in the foot or something.

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  3. I don't know what movie is playing inside Trump's head and I'll be damned if I'm going to be the one to rush into that dank, cavernous auditorium to find out. I'm no hero. It's scary in there. Dark, too. It's got that abandoned warehouse feel to it. Fuck it. The movie will come out on DVD soon.

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  4. I don't know if everyone deludes himself as to how he would act in an emergency, but I can say with certainty that I do, even to the extent immortalized by our Dear Leader. Not only am I sure that I would act with indomitable courage and superb wisdom in the face of danger, but that phenomenal luck would also be with me. When all around me are fleeing or being felled by withering fire, exploding bombs, devastating earthquakes, I would prevail. The difference between me and Trump is that in the end I have my doubts.

    john

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