Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The letter

The Artist's Letter Rack, by William Harnett (Met)
     So I sat down Tuesday evening, just before dinner, to prepare Wednesday's blog post—something whimsical about the dubious holiday decorations at O'Hare airport—and it occurred to me that this is one of those moments where prudence requires one to set aside trifles and focus on the ongoing horror show that is Donald J. Trump. I tried reading the six-page letter he sent to Nancy Pelosi, but it's so long and corrosive I physically could not do it. My eyes went out of focus and trailed off the page. Maybe you'll have better luck; you'll find the full letter here.
     Instead, I'd like to do something that regular readers know I seldom do: defer to another writer, in this case, Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post, who must be made of stronger stuff, and whose column, It is hard to capture how bizarre and frightening Trump’s letter to Pelosi is, does about the best job that a person can to dissect what she calls his "rambling, unhinged and lie-filled letter," I don't see a need for me to try to do a better job than she does. I tip my hat and yield the field. 
     Besides, I'm on vacation this week, theoretically, from the paper at least—habit and momentum had me writing full posts Monday and Tuesday. I should at least try to dial it back a bit here, and this seems a perfect occasion. The important thing is the bad news, not the paperboy who delivers it.  See you tomorrow. 


9 comments:

  1. I had the exact same reaction to the letter as you. Gave it the old college try, but...

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  2. I couldn't get past the first page.

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  3. Frightening, especially since the base still goes to bat for him and will continue to do so.

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  4. I forced myself to read the entire letter. I now need to go find a five gallon bucket of brain bleach.

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  5. I hope nobody is listening to the hearings. Very depressing. Democrats piously recite the familiar story of Trump's "perfect" phone call; then Republicans howl about how unfair, unjustified, unprecedented and evil the hearings are. Apparently, every congressman is allowed a brief soliloquy center stage -- a lot of Polonius palaver. A sword through the Arras would be mercy indeed. Not sure if Democratic self-righteousness or Republican mendacity is more off putting, but watching how sausages are made would be a delight compared to listening to these pathetic old duffers, so anxious to shine, though fated to fail. And that was just the first 10 minutes.

    john.

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  6. "It is hard to capture how bizarre and frightening" the past three years have been.

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  7. All the sound and the fury will signify nothing. The third POTUS in history to be impeached by the House will be acquitted by the Senate, same as Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were. He will still be the POTUS a year from now.

    But will he have a month left to serve? Or four more years? We won't know for more than ten months. Don't touch that dial!

    Of course, even if he "eeks" out a victory, he might still be hauled away in a rubber truck, kicking and screaming, if the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked. And that possibility appears to be growing. The letter is just more proof that he's loco in the cabeza, and rapidly unraveling like a cheap baseball.

    Charlie

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  8. The letter was obviously composed by an aide and embellished by the Cowardly Liar with a selection from his helo-pad ramblings greatest hits. And last night it seems he brought back one of his greatest hits at a campaign rally, urging police or security to rough up demonstrators. I am waiting for him to suggest a Second Amendment solution for the whistleblower, while imagining the grief I would suffer for a similar suggestion.

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    1. Some radio gasbag in Denver stated that the impeachment story was getting old and stale and 'joked' that "what we need is a distraction, like a good school shooting." He was fired on the spot, as that was too much even for his conservative-Christian-talk-radio bosses. Imagine what listeners who lost kids to shooters thought and felt when they heard that come out of their radios. If Dolt 45 said something similar, his audiences would not only shrug, they'd laugh, cheer, and applaud.

      Nothing he says seems to touch Teflon Donald. He'll go to Michigan and say a popular deceased Congressman (from Michigan) is in hell, and people bitch and moan, but it's back to business as usual in a day or two. He will probably start suggesting that violence directed at his opponents is not a vice, and might even offer to help them legally and financially. 2020 is not only going to be a historical year, but a terrible one.

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