I’ve been having apocalyptic dreams. For example, I’m on a beach when the sky darkens suddenly. At first I think it’s going to rain, but then it feels like night has fallen. I ask some people sitting on the beach if they’ve heard any news of something happening elsewhere in the world, like a volcanic eruption. Before they can answer me, white stuff, ashes maybe, starts falling from the sky and coating everyone.
I blame the president for these nightmares. He is turning me into a nervous wreck.
Yes, it would be helpful if I could master the art of not letting others control my emotions. I think I do a good job of that in general . . . at least until I fall asleep.
Besides, there’s too much at stake. I can’t calm down. I dislike the man, but that’s almost beside the point. He is, I believe, mentally unstable, and that’s a scary thought considering how much power he has at his fingertips.
I don’t walk around all day muttering about President Donald Trump. (Although I do post many memes, news stories and columns about him on Facebook. I need to share the angst.) Rather, the thought of his hapless, yet frightening, administration is always simmering on my back burner. I guess it boils over at night, when I’m helpless in my bed.
Last week was a bad one for the president. The so-called health care plan went down in flames, Trump made a horrifyingly inappropriate speech to 400,000 Boy Scouts and later told a group of police officers “not to be too nice” when handling suspects. His new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, called The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza to complain about now-former Chief of Staff Reince Preibus, using exceptionally foul language. Surprise! Lizza is a journalist, Scaramucci never went off the record, and this was a story too good to pass up. Not an auspicious start for a “communications” director.
Oh, wait. I wrote those lines this morning, and now it is afternoon. “The Mooch” is out. Amazing. He only lasted 10 days, but as Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank noted, “He wasn’t officially supposed to start until Aug. 15, so his tenure, technically, was minus 16 days.”
This week started off with that bang. Tuesday’s news is that the president dictated Donald Jr.’s misleading statement about junior’s meeting with a Russian lawyer. I guess this isn’t so surprising. The cover-up story, that the meeting was about American adoptions of Russian children, was pathetic. Of course, the fact that the president of the United States endeavored to mislead us puts him on the edge of a slippery slope indeed.
Revelation after revelation. Hirings and firings. North Korea itching to destroy us. Global warming deniers in the White House. The president tweets: “No WH chaos.” In what universe is he living?
Ah, the tweeting. I cannot stress enough how inappropriate it is for a president to tweet about policy. When Trump began tweeting about banning transgenders in the military, there was a nine minute gap between the first and second tweets. During that gap, the Pentagon thought he was going to declare war on North Korea. You can’t make this stuff up.
Thank goodness we have the scientific knowledge to understand the solar eclipse coming on August 21st. Otherwise, we’d be convinced the world was ending, or we were being punished for electing Trump.
Ah, science. That’s under fire by this administration as well.
Luckily, there have been some bright spots. General John Kelly, the new White House chief of staff, may be able to manage the madness. His first order of business was getting rid of The Mooch. Sen. Susan Collins stood up to Trump and voted no on the health care bill. I have many friends who share my views. Other Republicans are starting to speak out about the haplessness of this administration.
If Trump was just a buffoon, that would be bad enough. But he is wreaking havoc without getting anything legitimate done. Americans are worried about their health care. Transgender military personnel are worried about their futures. Everyone else in the world sees us as one big joke. Our children are subjected to inappropriate language coming from people in power.
These are the furies unleashed from their box. They cannot be put back. Damage control is all we can do.
In my nightmare, I invited people into my house. They went upstairs, so many of them that they filled the second floor. I stayed downstairs and tried to call 911. Too bad I didn’t dream up a better way to deal with our national disaster — the Trump presidency.
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