It Doesn't, It Won't, It Can't, It's Not, It Is And It Isn't...But, Mostly...It Just Shouldn't....

Sizing up, talking about and summing up Donald Trump should be as simple as it gets.

It isn't.

Given that the person we're talking about was, in theory and, as it turns out, only in theory, thought by, literally, millions to be the "sweeping change" needed to get this country "back on track", saying that this country, at least in modern times, has never been more derailed might be hyperbole, but when it comes to being incorrect?

It isn't.

No winnable argument exists to refute the fact that America has never been as polarized as it's been since the day Trump solemnly swore to faithfully execute the office.

And while there is most certainly a host of wonderful possible punchlines dealing with his "executing the office", it's a mistake to think that this is a good time to go there. 

It's not.

Recently a friend/colleague and I launched The Blab, a vidcast/podcast, that streams live on Facebook Wednesday nights at 7P Eastern. The Blab deals with timely topics, invigorating issues and assorted other features, follies and fun facts to know and tell formatted, theoretically, to cover a wide, deep diverse range of what's happening in our towns, culture, country and world in the year 2019.

It doesn't.

At least, not yet. And it's not for lack of intention or effort. In fact, each week, after the six weeks we've been doing it, at this writing, we do a brief internal review, talk about revising and tweaking and streamlining, working to find those fine lines between entertaining and endless, profound and preachy, thought provoking and mind numbing; engaging, educational, erudite....and exhausting.

For us and the audience. You can easily understand that, even when things are what passes for normal in life, that's a challenging task and, if asked if we ever find that its even close to easy to accomplish that, there's only one honest answer.

It isn't.

Politics plays a primary part in that challenge. Before deciding to give the show a try, we both agreed that we didn't want to be just another sixty minutes of yada yada yammer, world without end, amen of political punditry, but not talking politics at this point in the timeline that is irrefutably not normal, by any standards, would be like having a breezy chat about sports scores and movies we like while outside people were running in a panic to find any kind of shelter as the zombie apocalypse is in full giddy up.

There's an elephant in the room metaphor that's commonly used in situations like this but as to elephants, and/or donkeys, being our favorite metaphors these days?

They're not.

The presence of Donald Trump, meanwhile, both in the Oval Office, and even on planet Earth, for that matter, compounds the complications of talking as much about any and everything else as we talk about politics. Because normal times and normal presidencies would obviously factor into any chat that includes the daily headlines, but that assumes that the Trump occupancy being anything resembling normal is something that can be reasonably said.

It can't.

In reviewing the shows of the first few weeks, I found a common thread in The Blab. Actually, it turns out, common on a couple of fronts.

First, it's a theme that seems to run through each of The Blab shows, to date.But it's also the same theme that runs through talk radio shows, TV cable news shows, generic chit chat radio and/or TV shows and even a lot of every day conversations amongst the masses we sentimentally, if not just a little satirically in these times, refer to as "we, the people."

And there's no denying that it comes down to an unavoidable, and unavoidably catchy, catch phrase.

All Trump. All The Time.

And it's a theme that actually blurs, if not outright blinds us to, the simple truth offered up at the beginning of this piece.

Sizing up, talking about and summing up Donald Trump should be as simple as it gets.

It's not.

But it should be.

And if you're curious as to whether you're correct that that's where this piece is headed.

You are.

It is.

And, unlike almost all of the other debates, discussions, arguments, confrontations, etc, yada, blah blah that this guy generates, all of the "he's this" and "he's that" that fills the conversational air like a foggy day in London town or a smoggy day in Tinseltown, the real heart of the matter has to do with who and/or what....

...it doesn't.....won't.....can't.....and, more critically, one more apostrophe equipped word.

Still to come.

First, a mea culpa is in order.

While I haven't gone completely over, I am guilty of being, too often, seduced into the dark side of the force.

In this case, the force is the precedent shattering tonnage of bad mouthing a single, living, breathing human being.

Donald Trump, through no fault of anyone in this life, except Donald Trump, is the Frank Burns of American politics.

In an episode of "M.A.S.H.", Hawkeye and Trapper are being unusually more than usual frat boy disrespectful to the weaselly, easy to dislike Major Burns.

Burns, in a moment of frustration, finally finds a little spine between his usually stooped shoulder blades, "why", he whines, "do you both always have to treat me so badly?"

Hawkeye, in an articulate mixture of satire and sincere, replies "...well, you invite abuse, Frank. It would be impolite of us not to ask it in."

Throw in Melania as Hot Lips and you've got a 4077th re-boot just waiting to happen.

Anyone who knows me or any of my work knows I have a finite, specific and exact amount of respect for Donald.

None. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

And, if pressed or confronted with someone who simply won't take zilch for an answer, I can do twenty minutes on why he rates 1001 on the list of 1000 people I think deserve to exist at all.

And that's just twenty minutes without taking a breath. Give me a chance to inhale a fresh batch of oxygen and I can do another half hour with nary a pause for comma, colon or period.

But there's something else that factors into my Trump antipathy.

I fully recognize that the continued hashing and re-hashing and rehashing of the re-hashing of the being, and his morals, character and/or personal existence, and/or complete lack of them, is a waste of time, energy and brain tissue.

Again, pleading guilty to any and all accusations that I'm just as inclined, or more so, to go off on said re-hashing as if it were an instinct.

I am a rattlesnake. I see a fleshy leg and I strike.

I am a boxer. I see someone's hand even beginning to come my way and I dodge, duck and right cross back like a boss.

I am courteous. I see someone inviting abuse and I feel it would be impolite of me not to ask it in.

Donald not only invites abuse, he sends out embossed invitations.

Although it's a safe bet that he buys in bulk, stiffs the stationary store for the bill and has someone else do the licking and stamping.

Cue Susan Ross.

All of that said, and, admittedly, re-said, it's obvious how the re-telling changes minds and offers productive solutions.

It doesn't.

And there's an annoying part rhetorical, part stone cold reality question floating around out there that needs, deserves, even requires answering. If only so that I can say that I gave my very best effort to resist being drawn into yet another yammer about what a crude, rude, blunt tool of a narcissistic sociopathic bully currently occupies the highest, once most prestigious,office in the land.

It's a simple question, really.

And, indulge me, if you will, as I ask myself the question.

And give it my best earnest effort to answer it.

Because I'd really like to know what I've got to say for myself.

What is really my problem with Donald Trump?

By running for the office of President in the first place primarily because he was looking for yet another way to draw media attention, spotlights, lime lights and assorted focuses to himself, he created, endorsed, even encouraged the idea that asking to be given the honor of serving the nation as its president is primarily a self serving headline opportunity just waiting to be exploited.

It isn't.

By consistently, even enthusiastically, replacing the "campaign trail" with a historically "low road", at every opportunity, with cheap talk, childish taunts, obnoxious insults, sexism, misogyny, racially inflammatory spewing, et al, etc, he gave every appearance that his perception of the election of a United States president is nothing more than a cut rate, carnival atmosphere hybrid of a WWE "championship" match, NRA convention meeting and brightly lit Klan rally in a black man's front yard.

It's not.

By mocking women, fellow candidates, even a reporter with a congenital physical affliction, essentially anyone and everyone who failed to worship at his altar not so thinly disguised as a podium, he all but insisted that ridicule and revenge are virtues, even symbolic of courage and valor and worthy of praise.

They are not.

By giving yet another cheap and tasteless campaign speech and calling it an "inaugural address" that reeked of cynicism, fear mongering and self congratulations, he sent the message that "a new kind of leadership" means exhibiting cynicism, fear mongering and self congratulations.

It doesn't.

By denigrating, diminishing, devaluing and demoralizing bedrock American institutions such as the court system, the FBI, the CIA, each and every, any and all, agency, organization and even Cabinet level office when, if, and as, anyone involved with any and/or all of them incur his wrath by simply disagreeing with him, he left, and continues to leave, an unmistakable impression that his belief is America is best, and most effectively, led by autocratic authoritarianism. His autocratic authoritarianism.

It isn't.

By viciously, unarguably and irrefutably, spitting in the face of the rule of law, he makes it unarguably and irrefutably clear that he believes himself to be above that law and America should be grateful for every drop of spittle.

It's not.

By always inciting, never inspiring, inflaming never enlightening, pandering never compelling, agitating never awakening, by exploiting people's fears never showing a way out of darkness and despair,  he reduces, even dissolves, the indescribable power and potential of the office he holds, pissing away a thousand opportunities to move a nation in the direction of greatness, at a time in history when that nation should be lighting a path for the rest of the world and not showing every sign of spending the next five or ten or fifty years falling farther and farther...and farther behind.

Because he foolishly, pitifully, embarrassingly, tragically, even, possibly, dangerously mistakes bullying for strength, denigration for critique, demolition for construction, belittling for authority, blind loyalty for respect, preaching to a sad, uneducated choir for speaking to better angels, leading a lynch mob for magnificently moving the masses.

Donald Trump needs people, for reasons that will fill psychology textbooks of the future, to believe that his way is the "new American way" and that way works better than any other way that has come before it.

It doesn't.

It can't

It won't.

Because Donald Trump's new American way is bullying, denigrating, demolishing, belittling, inciting, inflaming, pandering, agitating, cheapening, humiliating, embarrassing.

He doesn't spend a minute of his day not convinced that his way is going to succeed.

It isn't.

And here's some pretty reliable history regarding how well that way works.

It doesn't.

It can't

It won't.

Partly, again, as history has taught us, because it never has.

But, more importantly...and fundamentally.

Because it shouldn't.

And that's as it should be.

There She Is, Myth America....

Col. Nathan Jessup got it absolutely right.

Actually, in the interest of accuracy, it was Jack Nicholson who got it absolutely right.

Well, actually, in the interest of irrefutable accuracy, it was Aaron Sorkin.

Because it was Sorkin who, in writing the award winning play and, later, movie "A Few Good Men", put the words into the mouth of Col. Nathan Jessup, portrayed in the movie by Nicholson, words that became a catchphrase that has taken its place in the "hall of catchphrases" that include such iconics as "frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn", "here's lookin at you, kid" and the more contemporary, still timely and topical "go ahead, make my day".....a catchphrase still in use as we speak, by average Janes and Joes to the always eloquent and articulate George Costanza.

You can't handle the truth.          

Americans, particularly Americans in the year of our discontents 2019, have what can fairly be described as a love hate relationship with the truth.  

We love to think that we value it, respect it and honor it by telling it whenever we are faced with the choice of using it or not.

And we hate hearing it when it wanders even a skosh off the road leading to what we want the truth to actually be.

Again, to paraphrase Sorkin via Nicholson via Jessup.....

We want to hear that truth, we need to hear that truth....but we, very often, far too often.....say it with me.....

...can't handle the truth.

Then, we come to the truth's mischievous second, very possibly inbred, cousin....the myth.

Dictionary def: a widely held but false belief or idea.

The more popular pop culture myths include the continued belief that the Earth is flat, that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree, that Marie Antoinette ever said "let them eat cake" (that, actually, came from one of those folks at Entemanns), then, of course, there are your more high wattage myths like the Loch Ness Monster,, the Sasquatch and the belief that Trump will ever do anything, ever, that isn't about self gratification, glorification and/or a pathetic attempt to generate praise, worship and adoration.

Well, actually, that's not fair because I exaggerated a little bit.

There's some pretty good evidence that Sasquatch really does exist.

By the way, the dictionary definition of "truth" is worth mentioning here, if only for the irony present and accounted for.

A fact or belief that is accepted as true.

Ah. The old "accepted" disclaimer. That little asterisk has been getting a bigly, yuuuge work out in the past three or four years.

And proven to be especially useful, and used, by those who Sorkin was describing with the rhetorical plural edition of "you".

As in "can't handle the truth, you."

Well, here's some bad news for you who fall in line behind those who get in line at the sign marked "can't handle the truth line starts here."

There's a myth in our midst that is so massive as to be fairly described as monstrous.

And you'll just have to take on faith that I'm telling you the truth that I'm going to make public that misconception.

Momentarily.

Scott Jennings is a former assistant to George W. Bush, a former campaign adviser to Mitch McConnell and partners a public relations firm in Louisville.

He shares, in a recent online op/ed, his considered op that there's already, at least, one state out of the fifty which the Democrats can pretty much check the box labled "lost cause in 2020."

And, no, it's not a deep South, "hey, where yore red cap, yew ain't from around here, is ya, boy?" one out of the fifty either.

Here's an obscure, pop culture pop quiz hint as to this particular state's ID.

Tin soldiers / and Nixon's comin'.

For those not up to date with their total recall of the seminal protest songs of the 70's and/or their trivial expertise on the work of Crosby, Stills, Nash and/or Young, the song and the one out of fifty that Jennings suggests the Democrats should know they should fold em', are both entitled....

Ohio.

And Jennings' conclusion is drawn not from a long, windy wonk's delight of facts, figures, factoids, ruminations, theories nor does he require any bar graph, pie chart or polling analysis data stream to make his case or his point.

He boils the reason why down to two very easy to understand numbers.

450.

700 million.

Donald tweeted this past week that General Motors has agreed to invest 700 million dollars in Ohio and, as a result, 450 new jobs will be created around the state.

The tweet ended in the predictable, bombastic blowing hard.

"THE USA IS BOOMING!" (his caps, not mine)

Jennings predicts, not implausibly, that act will pretty much also seal the deal for Donald on a renewal of the lease at 1600 Pennsylvania.

Now, as promised earlier, here's that massive, monstrous myth.

America.

Doesn't exist.

Maybe, at one time, it did. Like dinosaurs.And drive in theaters. And dial up internet. And that rousing, but, ultimately, bromidic battle cry...E Pluribus Unum.

But, today, in the season of our discontent, 2019....

Naah.

America, as most of us are conditioned by upbringing and tradition to define it, is a nation, again, I'll direct you to the dictionary, "a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.

A quick check list seems appropriate here.

Large body of people. Check.
Inhabiting a particular country or territory. Check.
Common descent, history, culture, language,etc. Uh, check with a little asterisk here and there.

Uhhp. Hang on.

Here's where we get hung up.

United.

Uhhh.

No.

And without wandering off into a half hour on the sociological, philosophical, psychological and, hey, let's not kid ourselves, basically illogical sidebars we could wander off into being the complex, multi layered, hey, let's not kid ourselves, basically illogical creatures we are, here in the bleachers marked "human beings", let me just simplify this particular testify thusly.

Put five people in a room and ask where everybody wants to go for lunch.

There you go.

And that's merely the decision required to determine lunch.

As opposed to the future of mankind.

America, as an abstract concept of a large, powerful nation, is, has been, and will always be, alive and well in imaginations from coast to coast to sea to shining sea.

But America, as a reality of that concept, is, if nothing more than the stuff that dreams are made of, then, most certainly, a myth.

America, as it exists in the year 2019, is an assortment of groups, clusters, cultures and sub-cultures and sub-sub-cultures (and the subs could go on forever and ever with liberty and justice for all).

Again, by way of simplifying the testifying, let's once again call upon Mr. Webster.

A social division in a society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious and/or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.

The password is......tribe.

But, there's a more conventional, less ethnically evocative term for what we're talking about here.

State.

America is chock a block full of those suckers.

Fifty at the last count.

And coming in at number 35 on the How Big Are Ya Top 50 but bubbling up to number 17 on the When Were You Admitted To The Union Top 50.......

Ohio.

The musical muse of Neil Young. And, for those a little less politically involved, the inspiration for what become the theme for Drew Carey's sitcom more than a few years ago.

Cleveland Rocks.

Ohio.

Also the state to which Scott Jennings is referring when he tells Democrats "move along....nothing to see here."

And, to the point today, a quality example of the sure to break the Internet assertion here that America is a myth.

One state.

Out of fifty.

Pretty much, most likely, having made up its mind eighteen months before the next presidential election about who it will choose as their favorite to become, in this case, remain, President of the United States.

Without giving much if any at all, thought to what the needs of a nation might be. And who might be in the best position, be possessed of the skills, be blessed with the talent, wisdom and vision required to meet many, if not all, of the nation's needs.

Hey, we're getting 700 million bucks.

And 450 of our 11.7 million fellow Ohioans are going to get a job, baby.

E Pluribus Unum?

Yeah, okay, whatever.

Around here, we're thinking about going with "Surrexit Autem Vos Adepto Nostrum Tuum"

We got ours...you get yours.

One of the most oft heard slap backs when conversations about abolishing the Electoral College rears it's ugly is one form or another of this articulate analysis.....

"...uh, yeah, well, uh, we don't want those libtard Obummer snoflakes in California and New York deciding who our president is gonna be...."

Uh.

Yeah.

That notion, itself, actually qualifies for inclusion in our list of myths, but that point has already been made, so indulge me a retort from another angle.

It's not necessarily California or New York that you have to worry about "hijacking" the decision.

Take, for example, the state that's only 35th in size.

A state with 18 of those Electoral votes.

Electoral votes that have played, and can always play, a yuuuge part in the outcome of the election.

Eighteen months out, they're already ready to cast those votes.

With nary a primary or debate or even much in the way of speeches having occurred to give them the opportunity to listen and think and reflect and make the best decision they can in terms of what would be best for the nation, one nation, under God, indivisible.....

Uhhp. Hang on.

One nation?

That's a myth.

America is an assortment of tribes.

Also called states.

And some of those states can be bought for a song.

Take that state that's only 35th in size.

They're selling their power to decide what's best for the entire nation for the low, low....low price....of...

...450.

Jennings' predictions fall into the "time will tell" category.

Here's a prediction that's falls into the category labeled "bet the farm".

My prediction.

Lot of people are going to be unhappy about my assertion that Ohio is un-American.

That's not what I said and that's not what I'm saying, but that won't matter.

That's what they're going to hear or, at least, read into what my point of view here.

I'm pretty busy, though.

So, to save time, let me just say to all of those folks, thanks for reading, enjoy your day and as to the point of view itself?

I'd refer you to an acquaintance of mine.

Ohio.....

meet Col. Nathan Jessup.

Saving The Soul....Not So Simple Economics...

Breaking up may be hard to do.

But growing up can be a real bitch.

Mostly because, as we head on down that highway of life, we find ourselves not only evolving physically and, ideally, mentally, but we inevitably find little pit stops along the ride, where the impressions, opinions, even beliefs that we form as children find themselves, often abruptly, sometimes even harshly, replaced by that most paradoxical, and not just a little annoying, unavoidable party crasher.

The truth.

Or, put less philosophically....    

The facts.

Came across a fun list, the other day, of facts that play a large factor in seeing our childhood bubbles get popped.

The article, cleverly enough, is entitled "Things We Learn As Kids That Aren't Actually True."

Here's a little sampling of the aforementioned bubbles and, where necessary, the applicable bubble popping facts.

Just the facts, ma'am.

• Babies are delivered by storks---obviously, every one discovers, by around the age of seven or eight, that the whole charming stork story turns out to have been nothing more than a diabolical ruse to prevent having to explain to five year olds what Sheldon puritanically referred to as "coitus" and whatever impregnation might result. Of course, today, thanks to WeTV and pretty much everything Seth McFarlane has ever contributed to the culture, the whole stork thing is pretty much dead in the water before it ever takes flight in the first place. And those parents who still take a shot at it, most often, find that, again thanks to Seth and all things bearing a resemblance to all things Seth, those same five year olds react to Mommy and Daddy's stork saga with another skill kids are learning earlier and earlier in life....the eye roll.
• Christopher Columbus discovered America---in the olden days, shortly after kids learned to sing their ABC's, they were be-bopping that "in fourteen hundred and ninety two / Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Today, of course, not only has that little ditty long ago dropped off the Billboard Top 100, the whole sordid story of Columbus and his three ships has been rebooted to include the previously redacted, but irrefutably essential, details about, first, his being, not first, but, at best, second to find what would become the America in need of becoming great again, Leif Erickson being the discovery dude some 500 years before fourteen hundred and ninety two. Of course Chris' PR people now also have the daunting task of trying to spin the replacement of the friendly corn dinner shared with locals when he arrived myth with the less savory history of rape and pillage and murder that's a whole lot less ocean blue and whole lot more black and blue. Had all that come to light in the 1400's, even Kellyanne Conway would have had a hell of a time putting a twinkle on that turd.
• We have only five senses---as you will recall from your cherished, if not checkered, childhood, the conventional wisdom was that the human body has five, count em, five senses: smell, sight, taste, touch and hearing. Not to be confused, of course, with the seven words you can't say on television. Now, in the database of America 2019.0, science offers that we should be including hunger, balance, thirst and almost a dozen more "senses" to the list. And, again, that's senses, not to be confused with "sense" which, judging from what we smell, see, taste, touch and hear on TV, radio, social media and on any given election night, has now moved from the endangered species list to the big tally marked "extinct". The upside, of course, being that the next time you find yourself muttering "this makes no sense", the cause of your distress is easily answered. There is no sense.
• Coke and Pop Rocks will make your head explode---just a silly urban legend, mischievous myth. You might foam like a fool, but your cranium will remain complete. Word of caution, though, for relatively intelligent people in our audience....head explosion is not completely a myth and should be taken very seriously, the most frequent cause in current culture being exposed to any thing spoken, at any time, by the aforementioned Kellyanne Conway.

The list, like life, if you're lucky and don't actually ever need healthcare, goes on.

But, after doing a little research on the topic, I found one glaring omission from the ongoing list that included such revelation as Napoleon actually not being all that short, George Washington not actually having wooden teeth, Salem witches not actually being burned and, of course, that total buzzkill about Santa...no matter what shuck and jive Virginia naively bought...

One very disappointing and, at the same time, enlightening omission, as a matter of fact.

The truth. The whole truth.

Momentarily.

Chris Cillizza writes for CNN.com.

Here's the first few words of a piece recently published there.

"Here's a great headline for Donald Trump as he turns toward his 2020 re-election bid.: 'CNN Poll: Trump's approval rating on the economy hits a new high'. And the story which accompanies the poll numbers is equally good news for Trump.... 

"The result comes on the heels of the announcement that the US economy grew at a much better rate than expected in the first quarter, and Trump's performance on the economy becomes one of his prime selling points for next year's general election"

Cillizza's story goes on to compare and contrast the approval rating when the economy is factored in and the simple, unadorned approval rating.

The difference between the two is both obvious and predictable.

Regardless of what people think of the state of the union's financial condition, the overall approval of the state of the union in general is pretty much where it has been since Trump solemnly swore. Solemnly, maybe, but, clearly to everyone by now, not even close to seriously.

And forget about sincerely.

Three, sometimes four, out of ten people think Donald is the dude.

The other seven, sometimes six, are thinking they'd like to vote Donald off the island.

In November next year, for sure.

Later today, if at all possible.

One of the challenges, at this point in the space/time continuum, in talking about Trump, at all, is trying to avoid falling into the same old riffs about the same old shit that we've been riffing and shitting since the day that Donald solemnly, but not seriously, or sincerely, swore.

Put simply, there's only so many ways, and times, one can say "the house is on fire" before it becomes clear that the conversation should have long ago moved on to something along the lines of "a) shut up b) grab a hose..."

Because, also at this point in the space/time continuum, we, the people, both the people who think Donald is the dude and those who would not only vote him off the island today if at all possible but would break the Internet donating to the Go Fund Me page devoted to paying his moving expenses, all know all we need to know about Donald.

There's nothing new coming. What we see is what we get.

And what we get is who, and what, he is.

To paraphrase Sam Cooke, "change ain't gonna come.....you know it won't..."

Sure, there's surely prosecutable tax returns and how much of America has he sold to Putin and how does he continue to eat junk food and not experience an IMax 3D coronary thrombosis, but those are just little bullet points, even bits of trivia that aren't going to ever influence the quick summation.

Love him, leave him, adore him, hate him, genuflect and declare him dude, light a dozen candles, couple dozen tiki torches and send him sailing away, he is what he is.

Petty. Infantile. Abusive. Dishonest. Dishonorable. Ignorant. Pea-brained. Sociopathic. Narcissist.

Dissing his physical appearance, though, would be a cheap shot. Although the comedic temptation screams out to do something with calling attention to him not being in "tippy top" shape.

And here's a thing.

At this point in the aforementioned space/time continuum, dissing Donald misses the point.

Which will bring us back to do-re-mi...but, mostly, you.

If you happen to be one of those three or four people who think Donald is the dude.

In large measure, because of two words that onomatopoetically create a yuuge distraction to the real dilemma.

Booming. Economy.

And their kissin' cousins.

Low unemployment.

New jobs.

Yeah.

Never mind the buzzkill realization that the "wave of new jobs" consists, largely, of low paying, service type jobs. Meaning for every three new jobs, there's only one person benefiting because that one person has to work those three jobs just to stay afloat on the ocean of MAGA paradise.

But, yeah.

New jobs.

Whup comma big.

Under ordinary circumstances, the whup would, indeed, be big. And worthy of both praise and appreciation.

I started to use the word "normal" there in place of "ordinary", but it genuinely seems like "normal" has been filed away in the same folder with the word "sense".

Current circumstances are neither normal nor ordinary.

And, full disclosure, this isn't the first time I've boarded this particular train of thought. Memory serves, last time it left the station, I livened up the chit chat in the club car with a little old time religion.

Matthew 16:26.

"...for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world...and forfeits his soul?..."


For the parable/metaphor challenged amongst us, here's a translation.

"....for what will (America) profit if (it) has a booming economy...and (loses its democracy, allowing it to crumble and tumble into irreparable rubble)?".....

The Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan is on life support, if not already clinically dead and gone.

The United States Senate, at this writing, under the sycophantic allegiance to the King, of Mitch McConnell is an means to serve the ends of Mitch McConnell, disguised as the ends of Donald Trump....America's needs have been taken off the to-do list.

America's relationships, friendships and, more critically, alliances with neighbor nations have been diminished, seriously, if not irreparably, damaged...crashed against the rocks because a spoiled man-child with no nautical experience whatsoever is steering the ship of state.....afflicted with an often fatal combination of character flaws....the inability to have a clue about steering the ship...and the ego that won't allow him to listen to anyone who knows how.....

America's fundamental, and foundational, institutions are under attack....the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, the district, regional and state courts, the Constitutionally guaranteed free press and other media, including news organizations, radio and television programs and none of those attacks....none....are coming from foreign enemies....they are all coming from the spoiled man-child who has never known a day in his life where he didn't think of himself as infallible.

And....just like that, the same old riffs on the same old shit about the entire psychology textbook waiting to be written in human form named Donald John Trump.

But none of that seems to matter.

Because of two words that three, sometimes four, out of ten people hold up as reason, cause, excuse, rationalization, even justification for ignoring the huge pile of shit sitting smack dab in the middle of what they see to be a magnificent banquet table.

Booming.

Economy.

One glaring omission from that list of things that we learn as kids that aren't actually true.

Money isn't everything.

Yeah. Turns out....that's not true at all.

Turns out....it is everything.

At least in three, sometimes four, even, at times, five out of ten houses in America 2019.

Soul? We don't need no stinking soul.

What kind of profit is there in that?

Cue Randy Newman.

It's money that matters / hear what I say

It's money that matters / in the U.S.A.