“I haven’t heard the word clown in a while.”
Donald Trump, after winning the nomination
Everyone thought Trump was a clown. The media just loved him—he made good television and boosted ratings, so they covered the hell out of him; you know, for the money, and the laugh. Except this clown never made you laugh, only shudder, as he laid waste to environmental regulations of air and water; appointed conservative judges at a pace more vigorous than any president in history, 158 of them to date; twisted himself into a pretzel to kiss Putin’s ass on the world stage, and so much more. Those were political moves whose full-blown effects we have yet to realize at the present time. But as the Coronavirus pandemic unfolds, and the The Great White Dope’s decisions, or lack thereof, play out in real time, it feels a lot less political and lot more personal. A lot more deadly, as day in and day out, we watch the metamorphosis from Clown to Joker manifest before our very eyes.
—In early January the “wartime president” was told that he needed to act immediately to avert catastrophic numbers of Covid-19 deaths. He waited until mid-March to move his orange ass on the subject and admit publicly that something deadly was afoot. His toothless ban on travelers from china still allowed 40,000 people into the U.S. That’s what I call efficiency!
—10 days ago, the man with the self-crowned natural ability to understand the outbreak made it clear he and his accomplices would prefer Americans stand in line for hours during a pandemic, risking infection and death rather than create a national vote-by-mail system. As of this writing, seven voters who braved the lines in Wisconsin have tested positive.
—Just last week, the sitting president of the United States incited citizens to insurrection against the governors of their states so that Covid-19 can go unchecked, killing more people than the 40,000 + Americans who have already perished. Today, the attorney general is threatening to sue the states if the WH feels their social distancing measures go too far.
Somehow, Hair Fuhrer thinks people dying will get him re-elected. Insane, right? Well not if you’re a homicidal maniac! In my book his hijinks qualify as blatant and transparent conspiracy to commit a crime, as in murder. Why is he not in handcuffs? Gotham City is being run by the mentally addled Joker, and since he’s so in over his head, what he’s got on his mind is mayhem. And, though he may laugh all the way to re-election because of, um, Americans, the scariest part is that he doesn’t even know how to laugh.
Have you ever seen him laugh? No, you haven’t.
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In an unfortunate email conversation with a Trump-supporting family member, I was told the spiritual values I hold dear were inconsistent with the hatred I have in my heart for the president. I couldn’t take the accusation seriously because he was slinging the taunt instead of responding to a specific yes or no question about a recent Tweet by The Twit (this is par for the course). But it made me stop to consider. Was he right? Because hating someone only leads to being stuck with the hatred inside of you, while the recipient of your simmering gaze could give a damn. So, is there ever a right time to hate someone? No. Do I hate that Talking Yam? Yes, a thousand times, yes! Alright, so I’m not a spiritual person. Or am I?
First off, let me say that I could care less about that label, and more to the point, how I am characterized by someone whose moral positions are diametrically opposed to mine. I used to care a lot about how people perceived me; and by people, I mean everyone. But that was back in high school. Now I just don’t care. But back to the question at hand about hate and hatred and hating. Is it hatred when you experience and express outrage at indecent, vengeful, and criminal behavior, which directly impacts your life and the lives of human beings in general? Or is it something else? Like, well, outrage, which is labeled as hatred. And then you buy into it.
If this seems like a useless exercise in semantics, it’s not. Because Adolf Twitler and his enablers are experts at this game. It is their special gift. Taking the obvious, turning it on its head, and then introducing doubt in your mind as to the veracity of the thing to begin with. Democrats have a political history of being as wobbly and weak-kneed as Biden feels right now. While Trump, et al have no trouble with below-the-belt blows to facts, democratic ideals and the constitution, Democrats are still having the “when they go low, we go high” conversation. Hello?? AOC and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have it completely right in terms of tone. Fine, so we’ve got a candidate that a majority of Americans finds palatable. That doesn’t mean they don’t want someone who’ll fight just as dirty as Republicans do to win this election (hello, Michael Bloomberg and all your billions, where are you?).
So, listen up, Joe. You get better at defining your policy prescriptions and then set the appropriate raging bulldogs loose on the lies, crimes, failures and perversions of this administration. In the mid-term elections, then in the South, then more recently in Wisconsin, Democrats won by focusing on policy. So yes, we should focus on policy, while at the same time staying laser-focused on bludgeoning the shit out of the ugly and malignant egomaniac in the ring. Because while he may have started out as a clown, Fuckface Von Clownstick is now a full-fledged, fully fleshed out Joker with death and destruction on his mind.
Thanks to Allan Ishac for all those great nicknames for Darth Hater!
Doctored Time Magazine photo courtesy of Twitter.
Oh Carine you so nailed it. Yes, Cloud turned into Joker. Nothing remotely funny about it. He is a murderer. And outrage is not the same thing as hatred. And Hair Fuhrer, yes! And what a great fabulous sobriquet for Monsieur Monster Fuckface von Clownstick, Twit in chief, Agent Orange. He whose name shall not be uttered.
As for your family member who doesn’t get it, condolences. I have one, too. denial is widespread and delusion even more so. As spiritual beings I guess we must send out prayers for enlightenment in between bouts of unbearable outrage…
Carine,
Wonderful set of comments! I’m with you all the way!
Nice rant Princess. Love the jibes. But hating is never beneficial however justified it may seem. It’s a primal response that was useful when we were… primates. But humans have the ability to have compassion for all, without discrimination, even for monsters. Did Gandhi “hate” the British? Although it was richly deserved, It was precisely his compassionate leadership which caused the British to voluntarily leave. I work in conflict resolution and can say with certainty that hatred fuels conflict – and that seeing the humanity in the “other side” – working from that intention – is the path to durable resolution.
I totally agree. The point I was making was about how my outrage was labeled hatred, and that I bought into it for a minute, until I didn’t!
Right on, I understand the dilemma. Though we all have hate within us, it should not be directed towards people. We should only have love towards other humans, sometimes more and other times less. Hate should be reserved for how they sometimes act. This Talking Yam fascist in chief impersonates hate, which requires of us to hate him.
Also, I am wondering how long it will take for his fascist minions who had germ-spewing parties at our city halls to drop dead of covid-19. Is there any reliable math on incubation we can count on?
Hey Carine,
You are so dead on! Thank you for all the very comical(and serious) sobriquets! Keep on truckin’!
Thanks, Edouard. Nice to know you’re reading!
Where are the good citizens, these rugged individualist cowboys, Texas style, when it comes to running a snake oil peddler–the modern version being Lysol–out of town on a railroad after being tarred an feathered?
PS: according to Wikipedia, a favorite way to commit suicide in New York 100 years ago was to ingest Lysol. The stable Genius strikes again!
Outrage is an emotion, a close relative of Hatred. Outrage has a primal function revving up our defenses, of alerting others in our group to a threat and the one threatening that there is a problem. It is popular to hear that Outrage is “necessary” to get proper attention to the subject, that it works to get people involved, etc. But it ultimately has the same flavor and disfunction as Hatred. Let go of Hatred in all of its forms. We can be steadfastly compassionate in exactly the same situations. We feel better doing it; it greatly increases the likelihood of beneficial action.
I don’t know that outrage is “necessary” to spur people to action, but it often does. I think it’s unrealistic and idealistic to say that all reactions should be based on compassion. That’s tantamount to saying you should repress your emotions if they’re not spiritually correct. I say feel your feelings–whether they be anger, hatred, fear, grief–embrace them fully. And then work like hell to let them go so you can pivot to action.
Misplaced compassion is what keeps people in abusive relationships, as an example.
What are “emotions”? Current science tells us: they are physiological responses to stimulus, which arise in the amygdala (“mammal brain”) the primary function of which is to allow us to quickly react to threats and opportunities. I think all developed spiritual paths precisely teach us to control our emotional reactions – for the benefit of all. Its not about repression – its about noticing and choosing to respond rather than react, letting go of that which does not serve us or others. Unchecked emotions lead to road rage, bar fights, family members killing each other, etc. Indeed, compassion at all times is an ideal – one worth striving for. Imagine a world guided by compassion.
I recently stumbled upon an NPR program that was called “the Dictator’s Hanbook”, and I happened to see the segment on Mussolini and the tactics he used to gain power in Italy.Trump is using each!
They Were(1) Create and Enemy,”Democrats are evil people” (2)Vilonce and Intimidation, Just look at his rallies, (3) Create a Cult, He could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his crowd would say that it is justified, (5) Supression of the press, he marginalzies the press (6) Start a War, that he has not done— Yet.
Folks, this is a very dangerous man!
Vote and work to defeat him, while we can.
Have you noticed that the POS POTUS also thrusts his chin out like Mussolini? Too many coincidences!
I registered to vote by mail, and I hope everyone else does, too.
Carine, this is an excellent and concise piece. I love how you imbed the links to back up your insights. Thank you for being a voice of reason (and humor) in a dark, dark time.
I love this piece, what a great analogy. But its scary as hell. I know Im getting to it a bit late, but its still relevant.