DANGEROUS TIMES
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DAY 1379

10/31/2020

3 Comments

 
Days before election: 3

TRUMP – IN A SINGLE, SINISTER  WORD

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DONALD TRUMP IN ONE WORD.
   Just one.
   One word that describes him, clearly, honestly and absolutely.
   It’s harder than it seems. Usually, when you read something critical about the 45th president, many, many words are needed: an avalanche of adjectives, a list of labels, a series of stories. And together, they can form a reasonable picture.
   But is there a single word that sums him up?
   I’ve been trying to come up with one since he was inaugurated, and now that he is about to either be expelled  from the White House, or invited back for four more years that may end the American experiment with democracy, the search for the right word seems timely.
   Obscenities are off limits.
   That’s in part because they’re the easy way out. Foul words are so uniquely utilitarian and perfectly suited to the purpose.
   “Shithead,” for example, works on several levels, and everyone instantly understands its many negative suggestions. It describes an unwanted and odious individual; one who is despised, unpleasant and possessed of primitive-brain properties; a character nobody wants to be near; who hints of a range of behavioral deficiencies, from poor manners to outright criminality.
   But it’s not the kind of word we’re looking for, in part because obscenities are just that: they can’t be used in general conversation, and moreover, they are  part of Trump’s own arsenal of insults.
   We recall a 2018 Oval Office meeting in which the Commander in Chief referred to “shithole” countries in Africa, a remark made during a more innocent time, when we were still shocked by and wrote news stories about the president’s bathroom mouth.

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SOME OF THE BEST descriptions of Trump are anecdotal.
   One is the way in which Charles M. Blow, one of our favorite columnists at the New York Times, explained why he boycotted a meeting between then President-elect Trump and editors and other Times officials at the newspaper’s building a few weeks after the 2016 election. Blow wrote:
   “The very idea of sitting across the table from a demagogue who preyed on racial, ethnic and religious hostilities and treating him with decorum and social grace fills me with disgust, to the point of overflowing.”
   “… You are an aberration and admonition, who is willing to do and say anything – no matter whom it aligns you with and whom it hurts – to satisfy your ambitions,”
Blow continued, addressing Trump directly. “… You are a fraud and a charlatan ….  I have not only an ethical and professional duty to call out how obscene  your very existence is at the top of American government, I have a moral obligation to do so.”
   I was describing all of this  to Mr. O, the politically proficient opossum who popped up in our yard earlier this summer, and I said that I half-expected that the paper on which Blow’s column had been printed would actually burst into flames. The marsupial agreed, suggesting we keep a fire extinguisher handy, given the fact that Blow’s white-hot anger has not diminished in the years since he wrote that.

ANYWAY, WE ARE looking for just one word.
   Only one. The right one.
   “Autocrat,” Mr. O suggested.
   “It’s suggestive of Trump’s drift as a leader,” I said. “But he’s not quite there. I mean, there IS an election Tuesday, so he’s not an autocrat yet. Also, ‘Autocrat’ is a brand of coffee, which might throw some folks off the scent.”
   “What’s better?” Mr. O said.
   “Rogue,” I suggested. The Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definitions include ‘vagrant’ and ‘tramp’ and especially with that the last one, you only have to change on letter to give it context.”
   “Plus, there are beneficial qualities to ‘rogue’,” Mr. O said. “Another of the dictionary’s definitions is ‘a mischievous person,’ and frankly, we all can use a little of the ‘rogue’ in our own personalities.”
   “And in our friends,” I agreed.


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AS WE TALKED, ANOTHER of our problems in searching for the perfect word was that many excellent and appropriate choices fit one part of Trump’s personality – but not the rest. Some examples:
  •  Liar.
  •  Crook.
  •  Bully.
  •  Racist.
  •  Misogynist.
  •  Hypocrite.
   Take "liar."  The Washington Post counted 22,247 "false or misleading claims" (the Post's catchall phrase for Trumpian lies) during 1,316 days, starting when he took office through Aug. 27.
   (You ask why the Post’s count isn’t more up to date? The newspaper wrote: “Down in the polls, the president has amped-up his rhetoric and often scheduled two or three rallies, interviews with friendly TV hosts and repeated press availabilities in a single day. That has left us swamped and exhausted as we plow through tens of thousands of presidential words a day.”)
   Lying may be one of the worst of Trump’s transgressions, because it weighs on everything else that he does, and has huge ramifications for the life of the country. Trump’s lies undermine his very ability to govern.
   For instance, when Trump was infected and hospitalized with Covid-19 earlier this fall, there were plenty of people who thought he made it up. The Tracking Trump blog was among the skeptics, and remains so, although we admit that we were, and remain, on weak ground in that regard.
   Similarly, if Trump announces, before or after the election, that the U.S. has found a Covid-19  vaccine, many people will have nothing to do with it, simply because the president has been advertising the possibility in political terms (i.e before Nov. 3). And that compounds the destructiveness of the overall anti-vaccine movement when it comes to legitimate  disease-fighting agents.
   So  “liar” is a very important word. But as a standalone epithet, it hardly encapsulates the many other despicable elements of  Trump’s character. There’s Trump the tax-cheat, Trump the bumbling executive,  Trump the draft dodger, Trump the failed developer, Trump the self-centered egoist.
   “Here’s one I like,” Mr. O chimed in, as he pawed through a Thesaurus, “it's ‘bounder.’  One definition is ‘One that bounds,’ which doesn’t work when he’s trying to walk down a ramp. But a second definition is ‘A man of objectionable social behavior.’ It works, but I guess doesn’t nail a lot of the other stuff.”
   "'Clown' seemed appropriate, at least in the early days,” I said. “But it didn’t take long for us to realize that there’s nothing funny about Donald Trump.”
   “Not in  the least,” Mr. O said.

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CREDIT: Frank Gerardi
“DEMAGOGUE,”  is one of the words that Blow used in his per-inauguration column, and surely it gets us pretty far,” I said. “The Merriam-Webster definition fits like the proverbial glove: ‘A leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power.’”
   “So why not use that?” Mr. O asked.
   “It’s hard to spell,” I said.
   “And not easy to pronounce,” Mr. O whispered.
   “Also, it sounds too academic,” I said, “and it lacks the stink of the cesspool.”
   “We did ‘psychopath’ a while back in the blog,” Mr. O noted. “In fact, it took two days of postings to go through all of the qualifying definitions.”
   “It’s also unfair to psychopaths,” I said, “and I think it lets Trump off the hook, implying that he suffers from an illness, and therefore can’t be completely blamed for steering the ship close to the rocks.”
   “Is there anything that you DO like?” asked Mr. O, who by now was getting a little frustrated, and sounding like he was getting a little low on gas.
   “Demon comes close, and it’s kind of fitting with the season,” I said.
   “You mean Halloween?” he asked.
   “No, the election,” I said. “The dictionary leads off with 1) ‘An evil spirit’ and 2) ‘A source or agent of evil, harm, distress, or ruin'. Certainly sums him up.”
   “But that’s another of those words that has some positive meanings, including: ‘One that has exceptional enthusiasm, drive, or effectiveness’,” Mr. O said.
   “You know, the election is going to be over before we get to the end of this,” I said.
   “There’s another possibility,” Mr. O said. "Maybe the best word for him is one that we already use. There are historical precedents:  the last names of men whose depravity is so onerous that their very names become definitions of evil: ‘McCarthy’, ‘Hitler’ and ‘Stalin’.”
   “I see what you’re getting at,” I said. “Somebody might use it this way: ‘You’re nothing but a lowdown,  slimy, underhanded, lousy, horrible TRUMP!”
   “Absolutely,” Mr. O said, “But just with all the other words that at first seem to fit, there’s a problem.”
   “Which is?” I asked.
   “Trump would really, really, really like to be remembered that way, “Mr. O said.
   “For years to come.”
                                                                * * *
                                       A WORD FROM OUR READERS?
   If you have an idea for the perfect  word – just one, and it’s got to be a noun – that fully and fairly describes Donald Trump, please let us know.  Submit nominations to our “Comments” section, just under this photo. The editors will be screening for unsuitable suggestions.

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3 Comments

DAY 1370

10/21/2020

0 Comments

 

Days until Election: 14
Cleaning up after Trump

OLD WORRY: BIDEN LOSES
NEW WORRY: BIDEN WINS!

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“YOU LOOK WORRIED, PHOEBE.”
   It was Mr. O, the politically persuasive opossum, and his tone was sympathetic.
   “I’m sorry,” I said.
   “No need to apologize, Old Friend,” the marsupial said. “These are tough times.”
   “I just don’t want it to show,” I said. “A lot of people have real things to worry about – getting evicted, getting sick, getting laid off, getting kicked off unemployment. And let's not forget dying.”
   “Which doesn’t mean you have no reason to be anxious,” Mr. O said.
   “I suppose,” I said. “Maybe we can just drop the subject.”
   “Worried that Biden is going to crack up in Thursday’s debate?” Mr. O pressed.
   “Not particularly,” I said. “Joe's shown he can hold his own.”
   “Upset about Pennsylvania, the swing state that Trump/Biden  ‘must’ win, but which is 'too close to call' and ‘within the margin of error’ -- that type of thing?”
   “Pennsylvania doesn’t keep me up nights," I explained. "My Humans went to college in Allentown, and actually, The Nice One was born there.”
   “Are you worried that Trump is going to win?” Mr. O asked, finally coming out with the most terrifying possibility of all.
   “Nope,” I said.
   “WHAT ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT?” Mr. O said, finally losing his patience.
   “That Biden’s going to win.”

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   “YOU'RE WORRIED that Biden is going to win?" Mr. O asked. "And we're talking about the same guy -- Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.?” Mr. O said, swishing that long, rat-like tail of his, which he does when he's upset. "So this is what's on your mind, the possibility of victory? Success? Triumph?”
   “Afraid so,” I said.
   “You do remember that you, I and every other sane, nice, ordinary, thinking, pleasant, decent and kind creature on the planet,” Mr. O said, “have been saying for four dismal, frightening, miserable, horrible and long years that this is the election of a lifetime, it’s democracy’s last chance and that if Trump is reelected, the world is doomed?”
   “I do recall something along those lines,” I said.
   “But now you’re upset because it’s possible – dare I say, even likely – that J.R.B will become the 46th president of the United States, and that D.J.T is going to be headed up the 'up' escalator at Trump Tower, or even better, that he may flee to some place that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the United States?” Mr. O said. “And that worries you! Why?”
   “Look at what’s waiting for Biden shortly after noon on Jan. 20, 2021,” I said. “The Big Mess.  A mess of immense, unimaginable, immeasurable, morbid immensity.”
   “You’re talking nonsense, Phoebe,” Mr. O said.
   “In case you’ve forgotten, Mr. O,” I said, “there’s a pandemic underway; 8,312,109 people in the U.S. have had Covid-19, and 221,694 of them are dead. There isn’t a vaccine yet; even when there is, it’s going to be months, even years, before enough people are inoculated. Meanwhile, Trump’s trained half the country not to wear masks and do the other simple things to slow the coronavirus until the science kicks in.”
   “Seems to be the case,” Mr. O said.

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“AND THEN THERE’S THE ECONOMY,” I said.
   “Improving,” Mr. O suggested.
   “About to go over the cliff, Little Friend, because the Republicans in the Senate won’t approve the billions of dollars economists say is needed to prevent a wholesale collapse,” I said.
   “Anything else bothering you?” Mr. O asked.
   “Climate change,” I said.
   “Big on Biden’s to-do list,” Mr. O said. “He’s going to repair all the damage Trump’s done. Joe's going to get back into the international treaty; he'll jump into renewable and clean energy; this alone will put millions of people to work. Win-win, ” Mr. O said.
   “Maybe he’ll do a lot; he probably will,” I said. “But will he do everything that needs to be done? And fast enough? And even if he does, the damage that’s already been done means more floods, more hurricanes, more wildfires.”
   “You are the life of the party,” Mr. O said.
   “And look at all the people waiting to tear Joe Biden apart,” I said. “The Republican-Fox-Limbaugh-Hannity hate machine will get right to work, criticizing, misrepresenting, carping, complaining, naysaying.”
   “Seems likely,” Mr. O said.
   "But leading the charge,” I said, “will be the liberals, the progressives, the Left, all demanding ‘Real Reform' and ‘Real Justice' and, of course, they’ll have every right to do that, and often they’ll be absolutely right to complain about half-way measures, broken promises and the Unfinished Agenda.”
   “But," said Mr. O, "Biden, the Democrats, the Left and the left-out people who voted for him and Harris know that the problems are impossibly big. I mean, even without Trump's murderous bungling, these things would be big, nasty problems, no matter who's president.”
   “So what?” I said, “Biden and the Forces of Good will have just two years – until the mid-term elections – to show progress, real progress, real results measured by Ronald Reagan’s old question: ‘Are you better off today than you were on Nov. 3, 2020?' The answer better be 'I think so?' "
   “Or what?” Mr. O said.
   “Or else.”

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DAY 1366

10/17/2020

0 Comments

 

Days until election: 17
SAVING DEMOCRACY,
ONE LETTER AT A TIME

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“SO, WHERE WERE YOU?” Mr. O asked, after the Grouchy One parked the car in the driveway, and I wandered into the back yard, where the opossum and I sometimes hang out to  talk politics.
   “At the Post Office,” I said. “Trying to sway the election.”
   “You mean, there’s still a Post Office?” the politically astute marsupial asked.
   “Still standing, despite Trump’s attempt to wreck yet another beloved, historic and essential American institution,” I said.
   “That’s good to know,” he said. “What was the occasion?”
   “The Big Send,” I said.
   “I’m supposed to know what that’s about?” Mr. O replied, annoyance creeping into his usually refined, if tiny, voice. "The Big Send?"
   “It’s the culmination of the Vote Forward initiative,” I said.
   “That explains it,” Mr. O said, sarcastically. “You are getting more obscure by the minute. What’s ‘Vote Forward'?”
   “Vote Forward organized a humongous letter-writing campaign to encourage people to vote, including those in battleground and other critical states," I said. “Volunteers have been preparing the letters for weeks, but holding them until the national mailing day, which is today: Saturday, Oct. 17.”
   “How many?” the opossum asked.
   “At least 15 million letters,” I said, “and maybe a lot more.”
   “I meant how many did Our Humans send?”
   “The Grouchy One did 40, and the Nice One 94,” I said. “Total of 134."
   “I can do the math,” Mr. O snapped. “And it figures that the Nice One would turn out lots more than Grouchy. But how are 134 letters supposed to ‘sway the election,’ as you put it? What can you say about Trump or Biden that people don’t already know?”


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“THE LETTERS don’t mention either candidate,” I said.
   “Now, you're really losing me,” Mr. O huffed.
   “It’s actually kind of subtle,” I said.
   “I don’t think subtle wins elections,” he said.
   “The idea is not to harangue people about this candidate or that one, but just get them to vote,” I said. “And just increasing the numbers of people who vote can help Democrats.”
   “But what if the people who get the letters DO vote for Trump?” Mr. O asked.
   “Some people might do that,” I said. “But a lot of them might not.”
   “What makes  you think that the letters will persuade people to vote?” he asked.
   “The organizers say that the letters do work, especially if they’re handwritten, hand-addresses and mailed with real stamps,” I said. “They tested it out three years ago in an    Alabama special election: places that got the letters had a turnout of 52.9 percent, compared to 'control' areas that didn’t get letters, where the turnout was 49.5 percent.”
   “That’s not much,” Mr. O said, “3.4 percent.”
   “You are the math wizard,” I said. “But in a close election, 3 or 4 percent is enough to, as they say, 'sway.' ”
   “It sure beats sitting at home and just yelling at the TV,” Mr. O said. “You get to write some letters, address some envelopes, attach some stamps - and you still get to sit at home.”
   “You’re not only a math wizard,” I said, “you’re a pretty good skunk-at-the-party, even if you're an opossum.”
   “But honestly, Phoebe,” Mr. O said. “Do you think the Nice One and the Grouchy One are kidding themselves about really making a difference?”
   “Nope,” I said.
   “Nope?” he replied.

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“LOOK AT IT THIS WAY,” I said.
   “There are millions of people, just like Nice and Grouchy, who are really, really frustrated, because they really care about the election, but live in a state like Rhode Island, where the outcome is predictable,” I said. “Meanwhile, voters in ‘swing’ and other states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, actually determine who wins. The Big Send gives everyone else something to do.”
   “That’s what I mean,” Mr. O said. “Maybe that’s all it is – an illusion of doing something.”
   “The Vote Forward people say it works,” I said. “And just as important, if Trump is defeated, it will be because lots of good people all over the country are doing whatever they can. Some people demonstrate. Some work for candidates. Some send money. Some carry pitchforks. Some make phone calls. Some pester their relatives. Some people pray. Some people post. But they’re all doing something.”
   “Point made,” Mr. O said.
   “This how democracies rescue themselves when they’re in trouble,” I said. “The letter campaign seems innocuous because it's so simple. But it’s part of something much bigger. It's part of an awakening, an uprising. It’s inspired. And, yes, it matters.”

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0 Comments

Day 1351

10/2/2020

2 Comments

 

SPECIAL REPORT
A PRESIDENT’S PATHOLOGICAL PAST
PRODUCES PROBLEMATIC PROGNOSIS
FOR PANDEMIC’S POSSIBLE PATH

      Can A Serial Liar’s 'Sick tweet' be believed?

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PHOEBE AND MR. O met in an emergency session today to analyze news reports that Donald Trump tweeted shortly after midnight that he and his wife tested positive for Covid-19.  From the back deck of the Rhode Island house where a sweet dog and an optopossumistic opossum come up with their hair-brained pronouncements on the Trump presidency, Phoebe and Mr. O issued the following statement:
  
UNLIKE MANY ANALYSTS, we at the TRACKING TRUMP blog have absolutely no special insight into this development.
   By now, we understand that it’s utterly foolish and a disservice to our ever-shrinking audience to shoot from the hip, run off at the mouth, leap to conclusions,  before the facts are known.
   We believe the prudent course is to bide our time before we embarrass ourselves and our profession. But because we’ve had one or fewer persons text us for our analysis, we’ve decided to sacrifice credibility for immediacy. Here are our conclusions:

General propositions:
   1. Nothing that Trump says, or is purported to have said, can be presumed to be true.
   2. More likely, anything he says is a lie, in whole or in part.
   3. Nothing that the White House says in its official statements can be assumed to be factual, in whole or in part.
   4. Most presidents lie about their health. Trump lies about everything. You do the math.

Probable possibilities:
   a. The Trumps are not sick.
   b. The Trumps are much sicker than has been disclosed.
   c. Only one of the Trumps is sick.
   d. The other Trump is not sick.
   e. Only one of the Trumps is much sicker than has been disclosed.
   f.  See item “d” and extrapolate.
   g. Something is definitely going on.

Implications of "something is definitely going on":
Whatever is going on is a ploy to affect the election. One way or another.
  • The Undebates: The least Machiavellian scheme is calling in sick will be a way of skipping further debates with Joe Biden, since his attempt to disrupt last Tuesday’s shout fest failed.
  • The Miracle: A “miracle” recovery will convince voters to elect Trump after all. He’ll disclose that  the “Warp Speed” program to find a vaccine has had a second, but secret, phase: development of a cure. Trump will say he volunteered to be the first to try it as his sacrifice for the nation. “I could have been playing golf; but instead, I, and only I, have taken the miracle cure as my gift to Making America Healthy Again. I’m not saying that I truly had Covid-19, or that the miracle cure will work for anyone else than me, because I and only I is me. But my campaign will distribute millions of MAHA hats by the second week of October."
  • Nov. 3? LOL:  A more likely strategy is another move to disrupt the election itself, such as demanding the date be changed “until such time as I get well.”
  • I Quit: Trump wants to withdraw from the election, because he believes he’s going to lose, and will move to have Vice President Mike Pence take his place.
        For Trump, this has attractive sub-options.
  1. Pardon me: With Trump out of the race, conservatives who were disgusted by him, will find Pence palatable and will vote Republican and overcome Joe Biden’s current lead in the polls.  Pence, in turn, will pardon Trump, as Gerry Ford did Dick Nixon.
  2. Pence will lose: Trump, now miraculously recovered, will be able blame the veep for the “pathetic” loss, and immediately begin planning “The Greatest Comeback in Fake History.”
  3. Should Pence run again: Mike could turn out to be popular enough to run again, and Trump will invite him to Trump Tower in New York City, where, in the middle of 5th Avenue, he’ll put his famous test of popularity to the ultimate test.
  4. Covid's revenge: Trump, who never had Covid-19 and was “too smart” to risk taking the new vaccine, suddenly will suddenly develop symptoms and cough, causing him to miss his 5th Avenue target.
  5. Pence grows impatient: Now tired of the criticism that followed his original pardon of Trump, Pence will appoint a commission to advise him on whether he should consider clemency or a second pardon; but for never explained reasons, the panel will fail to achieve a quorum, and thus be unable to produce a final report.
Executive summary:
    As you consider our report, please consider the source: a sweet dog and an optopossumistic opossum. We may or may not update this preliminary nonsense, based on further developments and what’s steaming now on Netflix.




 


2 Comments
    A "sweet dog" and a smart opossum consider a nation at risk.

    The writers

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    PHOEBE, a "sweet dog" who came to Rhode Island in 2010 as a stray puppy from Missouri, was a political agnostic until Trump's catastrophic election. She tracked his presidency in a blog, which she decided to resurrect it this year  when it became obvious that Republicans are committed to Trump's destructive policies
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    MR. O, an opossum, showed up in Phoebe's backyard somewhat mysteriously. He turned out to have genuine insight into political matters, and he agreed to assume co-author duties of the blog after Phoebe's previous writing partner, Cat, a cat, died.
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    CAT

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