I awakened in a dark mood this morning, made even darker when I came downstairs, fired up the baby Dell, and sat down with my first cup of coffee of the day, only two read two news stories about the continuing saga of idiocy that defines the Oval Office these days …

Pomp and Circumstance Trump-Style

It was one of those “wtf” moments when I read that Trump wants the Pentagon to stage a military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.  WHY???  Military parades are the tools of dictators and autocrats to show, not strength, but might. A power trip, nothing more, nothing less.  And at whose expense?  Take a wild guess.

Trump’s egomaniacal military parade is likely to cost this country millions of dollars.  A country that is already unable to pay its debt, a country with no universal healthcare, with an education system going down the tubes, a country that has negated climate-change regulation, saying it was too expensive.  This is like the family who cannot afford to pay their rent buying a Mercedes!

Adolph Hitler was quite fond of his military parades, for they proved to the people that he was all-powerful.  They instilled fear, not pride. Donald Trump continues to model himself after the autocrats, past and present, and then wonders why he is the most unpopular president in modern history.

According to an article in NPR …

“U.S. presidents have long shied away from such displays of military prowess — which typically include tanks, missiles and, in some cases, goose-stepping soldiers — for fear of being compared to Washington’s Cold War adversaries, where such displays have traditionally been potent symbols of state power. Those countries include Russia (and, formerly, the Soviet Union), China and North Korea.”

Members of Congress seem divided on the idea, with some in support and some against.  My take?  It is a tacky display of imperialism and if Trump insists on it, let him pay for it out of his own pocket.

Of Treason and Traitors

When Trump gave his ‘State of the Union Address’ last week, Democrats in Congress did not clap, did not give him the standing ovations that the Republicans did, and he was offended.  I did not clap either … there was nothing to clap about.  He used the time to pat himself on the back, to inflate his “accomplishments” and to generally be the jerk that he always is.

So earlier this week, Trump, once again on the campaign trail, it would seem, visited a facility outside of Cincinnati.  It was here that he said …

“They were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody said, ‘treasonous.’ I mean, Yeah, I guess why not? Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean they certainly didn’t seem to love our country that much.”

Merriam-Webster defines ‘treason’ as:

“The offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign’s family.”

Treason applies better to a president who minimizes and denigrates clear evidence that a foreign power meddled in an American election — and makes no real effort to prevent that from happening again — than it does to a bunch of lawmakers who decline to salute him.

I’m certain that if he ever … ever … says or does anything that can be viewed as in the best interest of the people of this nation, the Democrats in Congress will applaud him.  I’m not holding my breath for that day to come.

Treason: It’s a word that he has used before, to characterize an F.B.I. agent whose text messages made his distaste for Trump clear. In the narcissistic mind of Donald Trump, any who do not pledge fealty to him are traitors guilty of treason.  Now I ask you, dear readers, does this sound llike the president of a democratic nation, or like the autocratic ruler of a kingdom?

In May, 1918, former President Theodore Roosevelt wrote the following:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is treasonable to the American public.”

Point made.  I rest my case.  Carry on.