Day: January 28, 2021

Trump: The Accidental President

Fandango24 Comments

In the latest issue of The Week magazine, William Falk, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, wrote an editorial that I found spot on and I want to share a few excerpts with you.

First, Mr. Falk talks about the surprising election of Donald Trump in 2016.

It was an accident of history. On election night in 2016, Donald Trump’s victory came as a shock even to him. As results came in, adviser Steve Bannon said, Trump was speechless and “horrified.” Don Jr. said his father looked like he’d “seen a ghost.” Like millions of Americans, Melania was crying, and they were not tears of joy. Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, later said his longtime boss had told him the presidential run would serve as “the greatest infomercial in political history”—a way of promoting his real-estate and reality-TV brand.

Then Mr. Falk offers a brilliant summation of Trump’s presidency.

Breaking news: Trump did not grow into the job. He tweeted, watched Fox News, and golfed, turning the presidency into just another show. He used his platform and power to sow chaos, spout lies and disinformation, poison our politics, defy norms and laws, pander to despots, alienate allies, downplay and actually worsen a raging pandemic that’s killed 400,000 Americans, encourage and embolden white supremacists, incite an insurrection to overturn an election, and futilely try to fill his bottomless pit of narcissistic need.

(The remainder of this post isn’t William Falk talking. It’s all me.)

And yet, even after The worst president in U.S. history has left office, the aftermath of Trump still haunts us.And now GOP leaders, such as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, above, are starting to meet with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, his “Winter White House,” as he used to call it.

Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Trump is planning to set up a shadow presidency working with Republicans in Congress and maybe Republican governors in order to undermine and subvert the duly elected President and his administration.

As Rachel Maddow always says, “watch this space.”

Thursday Inspiration — Go With the Flow

Fandango10 Comments

“Did you hear that they’re forecasting a category four hurricane for this weekend? It’s supposed to pummel the coastline with heavy rains and strong, gusty winds,” Ricky told his mother.

“Yes sweetie, I heard,” Anita said. “I hope it’s not as bad as the one we had three years ago. So much damage. It was so sad.

“I worry that, with climate change and all, that the storm three years ago won’t hold a candle to this upcoming hurricane,” Ricky said. “This time they’re predicting flash floods in low lying areas. Mom, do we live in a low lying area?”

“We do, hon, but they’re also warning of potential landslides and mudslides in the hilly parts of town,” Anita said.

“Mom, I’m scared, Ricky said. “Are we going to die?”

Anita walked over to where Ricky was standing and gave him a hug. “We’ll be fine, sweetie, I promise. You remember what your dad always used to say, right?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Ricky said, “he’d say to just go with the flow. But what if the flash floods or landslide flow in this direction?”

“Don’t worry, Ricky,” Anita reassured her son. “We’ll be fine.” She wished she believed what she was saying.

Written Paula Light’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, were the theme is “flow.” Also for these daily prompts: Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (category), MMA Storytime (pummel), Word of the Day Challenge (sad), Just Jot it January (storm), and The Daily Spur (candle).

FOWC with Fandango — Category

Fandango22 Comments

FOWCWelcome to January 28, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “category.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.