Over the course of the last twelve months, one simple three word phrase has made its way to the top ten of the American lexicon.
You may actually, though, not be aware of its prominence.
Which is simultaneously paradoxical, humorous and more than just a smidge ironic because you have almost certainly heard the phrase used, if not used the phrase yourself, at some time at least once a day.
Minimum.
And, if not the phrase itself, then most assuredly you have heard, or used, some variation, euphemism and/or expression that more than covers the primary spirit intended by use of the original.
Ladies and gentlemen, racing its way up the charts and soon to over take such three word chestnuts as OMG, what the fuck?, who's on first, you da man, never look back and even I love you, we offer the soon to be number one three word phrase of the era history will both hilariously and tragically revisit some day as the age of Donald....
"But...what about...?"
This trilogy of testimony on behalf of a particular attitude or point of view or even behavior has come into fashion primarily on the same tsunami of passion and emotion that swept the Donald into his temporary tenure as America's director of temper tantrum.
And, of course, is used prolifically and unfailingly by those who still, one year into the Dante meets Benny Hill meets Chrisley Knows Best sitcom/reality show mutant that is this presidency, feel the need, desire and/or intention of defending the pretty much daily output of surreal nonsense issued from a roundish sort of office on Pennsylvania Ave. that used to be good for at least the occasional sprinkling of inspiration, motivation or...wait for it....good old fashioned American savvy and know how.
Yeah. America has totally hit the pause button on that shit, to be sure.
But, what about..."but, what about...?"
The most recent display, at this writing, of course, because, again, usage is now measured on a daily, if not hourly, basis, came as the result of Donald's reassurances to that portion of the electorate that isn't still having family portraits done at Olan Mills wearing their red MAGA caps, that he is in full possession of his faculties. A concern that said portion of the electorate, let's round down and say 80 million Americans, give or take, have had all along, most recently with the publishing of the first of what will be more tell all books than you can shake your Dewey Decimal at, Fire and Fury.
Donald's tweet du jour apparently meant to reassure went something like this:
...actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman to top TV star to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius...and a very stable genius at that.
Okay.
Let's skip the armchair Freudian interpretations and amateur attempts at psychobabble in dissecting what is to any first year psych student a textbook example of infantile narcissism and cut to the three word chase.
But...what about?.
Upon enjoying a chortle or two at Donald's latest "see me, feel me, need me, love me" twittering there, I, in a newly committed spirit of looking for the humor in all of this, posted this observation on Facebook.
"...here's the thing...when you vote for a cartoon character...and it gets elected...you can't blame the rest of us for laughing at the cartoon..."
The responses, for the most part, were commiserating, grammatical nods of the head in one form or another.
The key phrase in that sentence, of course, being "for the most part".
Because it took almost no time at all before a meme was posted taking a predictable, and, frankly, pretty unoriginal pot shot at Barack Obama.
Qualifying it, of course, as usage of the three word oration that's sweeping the nation.
In this case, mapped out for those who need a little mapping out of these kinds of things, it would read like this:
Donald Trump tweeted, once again, like a five year old about how smart and stable he is, giving those who are concerned about his intelligence and stability all the proof that they need that he is neither smart nor stable.....but what about when Barack Obama messed up on that healthcare thing, huh? what about that? Huh?
Uh, yeah.
You know what?
The temptation from this side of the ideology line would be to take a swing at sending that bombastic birdie back over the net.
But, truth be told, those of us with a relatively functioning oblongata are pretty much tired of playing.
And, yes, its only been a year of what is theoretically going to be four years, but, again, you know what?
We're just tired of playing.
So, let's try this approach in this new year.
First, if all you've got when your boy is critiqued for his flamboyant flaws and failings is a candy ass attempt to fill in the blank at the end of the phrase "but...what about...", then do us both, and all, a favor and save your breath. Or your typing fingers. Or whatever you use to peck out your pointless prattle.
Because we don't want to play anymore.
Time for the grown ups to get back to work finding and supporting someone who will restore the office of the Presidency of the United States to its rightful owner.
Another grown up.
But, by way of helping out our fellow grown ups who are tired of your silly "but what about-ing", here's a 128 word phrase that they are free to use, cut and paste, post as audio, do whatever you like to save them the time and trouble, and freeing them of the temptation, of taking a swipe at that birdie the next time you send it over the net.
Cause we all know there will be a next time. And a next. And a next.
Here you go.....
"But what about? But WHAT about?.....you know what? YES, Bill Clinton got blowjobs from Monica Lewinsky...YES, Ronald Reagan funded the Contras...YES, Richard Nixon tried to cover up Watergate...YES, Lyndon Johnson fucked up spectacularly when it came to Vietnam policy...YES, JFK totally blew it with the Bay Of Pigs....YES, Warren G Harding's presidency was filled with kickbacks and scandals...YES, Grover Cleveland fathered an illegitimate child...YES, Andrew Jackson supported an adulterer in his Cabinet...YES, Thomas Jefferson fathered children with one of his own slaves....but NONE of that....absolutely NONE of that has ANYTHING to do with or ALTERS, for a second, THE FACT that Donald Trump is an incompetent, infantile narcissistic sociopathic man child, unfit, incapable and unqualified to be President of the United States....NONE of it. NOTHING. Zip. Zero. Nada."
We got yer birdie.
Set.
Game.
Match.
