Yes, toward 7:30 EST time Thursday, I slid over to Twitter, whoops, X, and waited, monitoring the chatter. Waited for Donald Trump's mugshot to ... I almost said "hit the wires," but that would be dating myself. Waiting for it to drop. Be flung into the aether.
The atmosphere was festive. Everyone seemed to be there. Sex columnist Dan Savage, who 20 years ago transformed former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's last name into the term for a frothy byproduct of anal sex, offered a new, amusing definition for "mugshot" that might be useful when describing certain pornographic tableaux.
A fake Trump mugshot was shared as real, then rapidly withdrawn.
Why the huge interest? Aren't we all tired of him? Yet there we were. I suppose I could carry on about fascination with the physical body of the tyrant, his image, hewn into limestone in Egypt 4,000 years ago. I've already compared the Former Guy's curled lip to Ozymandias, the pharaoh Shelley's imagination saw peeking from the shifting sand: Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command (that post running in June, 2014, when his name defaced Trump Tower, a full year before he announced his vanity run for the presidency)
Of course, lately Trump's command, hot or cold, sets only a dwindling band of flunkies into motion. The Washington Post reports that "scores" of supporters turned out around the Fulton County Jail for the arrival of their Orange Lord, then looked at their own photos and changed that to "a few dozen." (I would have be satisfied with "a few.")
I don't think paying attention to Trump needs to be defended at this point. The man is the front runner for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nominee. His four-year misrule of our country is still a fresh memory, an open wound. Justice for the Jan. 6 insurrection has not reached him. Yet. Those saying ignore Trump and he'll go away have seriously misunderstood the situation, and are as detached from our unfortunate reality as his fans are. We can't ignore him. He's never going away, not until he finally occupies his hole in hell — upside down, I hope, the way Dante envisioned the resting place for Boniface VIII, his flaming feet kicking in protest.
Frankly, now the interest is more pathological than practical. There isn't much choice in the matter on either side. It's an obsession. Forty percent of the country looks at him with the head-cocked adoration of a dog awaiting a treat. And 40 percent look at him with the focused anxiety of a beaten dog tracking a stick. Either way, the result is the same.
Why the huge interest? Aren't we all tired of him? Yet there we were. I suppose I could carry on about fascination with the physical body of the tyrant, his image, hewn into limestone in Egypt 4,000 years ago. I've already compared the Former Guy's curled lip to Ozymandias, the pharaoh Shelley's imagination saw peeking from the shifting sand: Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command (that post running in June, 2014, when his name defaced Trump Tower, a full year before he announced his vanity run for the presidency)
Of course, lately Trump's command, hot or cold, sets only a dwindling band of flunkies into motion. The Washington Post reports that "scores" of supporters turned out around the Fulton County Jail for the arrival of their Orange Lord, then looked at their own photos and changed that to "a few dozen." (I would have be satisfied with "a few.")
I don't think paying attention to Trump needs to be defended at this point. The man is the front runner for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nominee. His four-year misrule of our country is still a fresh memory, an open wound. Justice for the Jan. 6 insurrection has not reached him. Yet. Those saying ignore Trump and he'll go away have seriously misunderstood the situation, and are as detached from our unfortunate reality as his fans are. We can't ignore him. He's never going away, not until he finally occupies his hole in hell — upside down, I hope, the way Dante envisioned the resting place for Boniface VIII, his flaming feet kicking in protest.
Frankly, now the interest is more pathological than practical. There isn't much choice in the matter on either side. It's an obsession. Forty percent of the country looks at him with the head-cocked adoration of a dog awaiting a treat. And 40 percent look at him with the focused anxiety of a beaten dog tracking a stick. Either way, the result is the same.
Not to forget 20 percent — and this is just nuts — who can't seem to make up their minds. They seem worst of all. Really? Scratching your head and trying to puzzle this mystery out, are ya?
Maybe they're just awaiting more information. That lone bit of new data to push them over the edge.
Like his stated height and weight, which broke before the picture was revealed. 6'3 and 215 pounds. Much glee over that — the man weighs 260 pounds if he weighs an ounce. And last time he was arraigned, in April, he was 6'2 and 240 pounds. So gained an inch while losing 25 pounds.
Like his stated height and weight, which broke before the picture was revealed. 6'3 and 215 pounds. Much glee over that — the man weighs 260 pounds if he weighs an ounce. And last time he was arraigned, in April, he was 6'2 and 240 pounds. So gained an inch while losing 25 pounds.
Why not? To me it was barely worth an eye roll. You mean to suggest that Donald Trump is lying?!? Oh my!
The mugshot was finally released, and passed along immediately. "He looks broken," Scott Dworkin suggested. "He looks like Satan," my wife said. In between those extremes, a crushed loser and the slick Prince of Darkness (can he be both? I'd vote for both) every possible opinion poured forth.
The mugshot was finally released, and passed along immediately. "He looks broken," Scott Dworkin suggested. "He looks like Satan," my wife said. In between those extremes, a crushed loser and the slick Prince of Darkness (can he be both? I'd vote for both) every possible opinion poured forth.
"Trumps mugshot where he looks like a pissed off and angry badass is an iconic historic photo," tweeted Ted Cruz, whose entire reputation now consists of salaaming at Trump's feet, degrading himself like a zonked out meth addict on Lower Wacker Drive, wearing a strap t-shirt as a dress. To me, that is the saddest, most tragic aspect of the entire Trump tragedy. He can't help himself — that's who he is. But people like Ted Cruz knew better. And look at the choices they made, the choices they make. It boggles the mind.
Of course Trump immediately fundraised with it — "O yet defend me friends, I am but hurt!" — using it as his first Tweet, whoops, message on X, in more than two years.
The dimwit media noted the historic nature — a president's mugshot — as if history weren't made daily with each new Trump twist. He didn't look any more awful than normal, and indeed had a certain airbrushed Big Brother is Watching You quality.
The dimwit media noted the historic nature — a president's mugshot — as if history weren't made daily with each new Trump twist. He didn't look any more awful than normal, and indeed had a certain airbrushed Big Brother is Watching You quality.
That was my takeaway. If he's reelected — and he might be — I could see him vindictively putting that photo on postage stamps and American currency. That is the photo that will be rendered enormous, 50 feet hall, in the newly renamed Trump Square at 42nd Street in New York, and will gaze from posters affixed to every wall in every town, along with some apt slogan. "HAVE YOU GIVEN TODAY?" I suppose we'll get used to it. Look what we've adjusted ourselves to already.
I cry for this nation. A shell of what it once was thanks to Chump. I’ve lost faith in our judicial system, our electoral system, and the continuing income inequality. And yet millions think he’s the next Messiah. I just don’t understand how formerly sane people can still believe that he was a good leader? If he’s re-elected, we’re doomed. I best brush up on the lyrics of “Oh, Canada”.
ReplyDeleteI continue to be amazed at the adoration heaped upon TFG, ugly troll that he is. That photo is representative of his life and administration ... reflective of the morass of hatred, rage, and fear in which he exists. That mugshot will become his presidential photo, but it will never hang in the White House.
ReplyDeleteMitch McConnel could have stopped so much of this a long time ago. No courage, no morals. Just a boot licker and butt kisser. It's a sad disgrace, but an eye opening reality, that so many "Americans", who espouse "democracy", voted for such a racist. He's bad enough, let alone folks like Mitch, and the the others that kneel at his feet, and embrace his evil.
ReplyDeleteObviously he must have stood in front of a mirror for hours practicing that absurd scowl on his face.
ReplyDeleteBut the insane gall to tell the people at the Fulton County sheriff's office that he's the same height he was 50 years ago & only weighs 215 lbs. is the mark of a truly delusional & demented character.
There are multiple photos of him standing next to Mark Meadows, who gave his stats when he was booked at the same jail as 6'1" & 240 lbs. & Meadows is about a half inch taller than his former boss, who has gotten him into serious legal trouble & a probable prison sentence in Georgia. On top of that, some shoe experts insist that Velveeta Voldemort wears lifts in his shoes.
It must really piss off T**** that his youngest son, Barron [what a pretentious name BTW, I wonder if he watched the Flash Gordon serials & named him after Prince Barin, one of Ming's enemies on Mongo], is 6'7" & his mother has tried to keep him away from his father whenever possible. Remember, Melanoma lived in NYC with Barron until he finished the school year in June 2017, rather than move into the White House, where the First Lady usually lives with her husband!
I feel like I am living in aspects of 1984 mixed with The Handmaid’s Tale. His ugly omnipresence is horrific and sickening. I am keeping a go bag packed and calculating the best route to the closest border. Yes, it seems extreme but everyone who isn’t in his thrall is way too comfortable and complacent and when they finally aren’t it will be too late. We have had 8 years of warnings.
ReplyDeleteSir Walter Scott nails TFG:
ReplyDelete"Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour’d, and unsung."
I really hate to say it, but the expression on the mugshot is eerily similar to the “Uncle Sam Wants You” poster.
ReplyDeleteI just looked at the pictures side by side. You are on to something.
DeleteIn the future, will Trump be the most written about American of all time? More than Lincoln, FDR, Martin Luther King, Elvis? What will historians & documentarians 100 years from now have to say about this? Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI like to think that after this is over he will be a footnote like Andrew Johnson but will most likely be like Nixon. There will be a unifier - its just a question of in 8 years or 20 years. Hope is what we have.
DeleteAs a kid growing up in post-WWII America, I often was puzzled when reading history as to why German people, who seemed to have been the most cultured and advanced in science and the arts of all the European countries, could have been so easily enamored with a clown like Hitler. While I still lack understanding, and although history doesn't repeat itself, I feel like I am living in a similar situation in this country today.
ReplyDeleteThe saying that people who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat does apply to our country. What Hitler & Putin did is what TFG would like to do here. It is IMO why Neil, despite criticism from some commentators here, continues to write about TFG. We can’t ignore his actions, we must continue to push back against Trump & stand up for democracy in America or else history will repeat itself.
DeleteArthur
I wonder if it slightly overblown how cultured Germany was. From a review of a 1989 BBC documentery It argues that most Germans came, after January 1933, to support Hitler because of their belief that he had brought to an end the hardships of the Great Depression and the humiliations which the country had suffered at Versailles. Having fallen prey to his "fatal attraction," they were prepared, even if in some cases unwillingly, to support him in his goals of eliminating the Jews and establishing a German Empire. with a population of 200 million. This "fatal attraction" explains the failure of German morale to crack under the devastating impact of Allied mass bombing in which 300,000 civilians died. Only after Hitler's suicide was the spell broken. One has to wonder why so many highly educated people supported Hitler. That includes all the people in his admistration, conservative pundits and talking heads. They all knew what he was like log before he ran for president. The documentary is on you tube. Someday they weill make the Fatal Attraction of Donald Trump. I come accross what are apparently videos from the Daily Show. They are questions to Trump Backers. One women was aske what if Trump is convicted. Her reply. I don't care. I doubt that there is anything that Trump could do that will stop the support of his base.
DeleteSilly as it sounds, the one thing that struck me about those mugshots, once they started rolling out over the past week, was how oddly photographed they were. Specifically, the camera was always slightly higher than the subject, looking down at him or her, forcing them to look up in return. This usually leads to some kind of contrite, Okay-you-got-me expression, save for a few of the co-conspirators who manage either a neutral expression or a mild grin, and most notably Jenna Ellis, who blazes a smile back at the camera in full-bore casting-photo mode.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that style of photography is standard practice for the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, but doesn't seem like the usual square-on mugshot we're used to seeing, either with or without the height scale and cinder-block background. Perhaps they're making a little editorial comment after all.
I'd guess the perp is intentionally placed off center to allow for the sheriffs logo and possibly other data that might be included in the actual records , while these shots were specifically for press release.. I was disappointed that the typical info wasn't included ala Capone or Dillinger.
DeleteI haven't adjusted nor will I ever.
ReplyDeleteAll I want to know is where's the goddamn prisoner number plaque that perps usually have to hold up?
ReplyDeleteAnd why no profile shot? I mean, we wanna be able to identify and apprehend the perp in case he makes a run for it. Fat Bastard. 215 lbs indeed.
What do politicians talk about at heir conventions. While democrats probably talk about issues and their families, do republicans talk about how they reconcile their hypocrisies? Are there workshops or therapists for ball-less weasels like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz? Looking back, how did Ted Kennedy ever appear in public after Chappaquidic? When he declared for President in1980 did he think his cowardice wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass? Fortunately democratic voters rose up to force him out. Like Drumpf's Chicago rally, where we ran him out of town, Chicagoans shouted Ted down in 80 asking Where's Mary Jo? Dems aren't perfect but todays GOP is mostly spineless.
ReplyDeleteTo me, his carefully planned pose in the mugshot looks like a 5-year-old either trying to look tough, or stewing about having just filled his pants with a boo-boo.
ReplyDeletePathetic, sure, but actually not as concerning as the tens of millions of minions who are as enthralled by him as Tibetans were with the 5-year-old Dalai Lama.
"It boggles the mind." Indeed, in 2016 I had no clue as to how often I would use variations of that phrase to express exasperation about the essentially treasonous acquiescence of guys like McConnell, Cruz, Graham and dozens of others who definitely know better than to offer aid and comfort to this criminal, megalomaniacal carnival barker. Cowards, all, putting the nation at risk due to fear of alienating his base base.
Good blog, Mr. S. And yes, he can't be ignored.
ReplyDeleteJesse Watters really liked the mug shot. "I say this with an unblemished record of heterosexuality. He looks good and he looks hard." . . ."It’s a handsome mug shot. My wife says he looks fierce. He looks hard, but he doesn’t look scared, does he? Doesn’t look humiliated. He looks exactly the opposite of how the left thought he’d look,”
ReplyDeleteI hope these agitated, well written insults transform into action; ringing door bells, making calls, campaign contributions - it's gong to be another close one.
In the opening pages of "Nineteen Eighty-Four," George Orwell describes the physical appearance of Big Brother, on posters and on all those ubiquitous telescreens..."A man about forty-five, with black hair, a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features...full of power and mysterious calm."
ReplyDeleteDoes that description even remotely resemble the latest image of Orange Julius? Hell, no! He's no Big Brother. He resembles Pissed-Off Uncle, wearing the same hair and the same expression, after he slapped my face when his sweet little nephew told an off-color joke at a family gathering.
Trump might end up becoming the most written-about American of all time, as Hitler is the most written-about German of all time (even though he was born in Austria).That is assuming a great deal, however. Firstly, that there are still historians and documentarians a hundred years from now. Secondly. that there is still an America a century from now. And finally, that Americans, as such, have not simply become relegated to whatever history books---if there are still such things as books--are being written.