Uniom? The tickets for tonight’s State of the Union address by Don the Con contained a spelling error. Obviously this allowed at least half our nation of armchair pundits to pile on, saying something along the lines of, “no surprise…this administration can’t do anything right.”
But for IDROS, the mistake is glaring in that it highlights perhaps the biggest problem with our nation. Our country is no longer a union. I am not implying it ever truly was the perfect union glorified in the Preamble to our Constitution, but America certainly masked its divides much better at various times in our questionable past.
IDROS found Trump’s motto, Make America Great Again, to be complete BS from the get go…actually worse than BS…insulting on pretty much every level. America’s historical greatness only exists from one paradigm…that of a white, Christian male. Sure, America is and has been a beacon of light, on an awful scale of relativity, in a world of tyrants, despots, oppression, incessant war, famine, unimaginable poverty and general fear and insecurity. It has stood, pretty much since its creation, as a bastion of freedom in a pool of shit and misery. So it is, and has been, easy for many of us and our ancestors to puff out our chests and wave our flag at the rest of the world from on high.
But just because the US of A isn’t as awful as other nations and fiefdoms, doesn’t mean our societal fabric isn’t rife with its own warts, horrific history and ubiquitous problems. And many of these historic issues are currently boiling over the cauldron of Trump, and are poised to engulf us in something pretty terrible (and by that, IDROS means something more terrible than this first year of the House of Orange administration has already been).
So the error on the SOTU tickets…UNIOM…pretty much says it all. Our union has all but dissolved in the 16+ short years since 9/11, just after which IDROS would argue, our nation was as united as it ever has been, with the exception perhaps of the time just after the attack on Pearl Harbor (though at that time, our nation was still segregated in many places, Asian Americans were put in camps, and women were treated like second class citizens).
Trump has not succeeded in “Draining the proverbial Swamp.” He has flooded it, and the sewage has risen above the banks, destroyed the levees and is threatening to drown us all. I don’t mean to be such a Debbie Downer…hey, look…the Stock Market is soaring. Maybe we will all be rich in retirement. Oh right, by we all, IDROS means only those of us who had enough money before this incredible bull market to sock some away for the future without eating into our savings and retirement accounts during the bad times. So probably like 25% of us, more or less. Too high?
Unemployment is at historic lows…that’s good, right?
On second thought…IDROS has reconsidered. Stop with the politics! Now! Need air. Panic attack setting in. Bear with me for a sec. Deep breath. Second deep breath. Ok. Where were we?
Let’s talk about some other stuff.
Here are some brief comments on some other current events to distract your author and all of you from further ruminations on our comic book character in chief:
Super Bowl – Fly Eagles Fly. IDROS likes them and wants to put a ring on them.
Grammys – Not a great awards show…not that any of them are. IDROS particularly liked that Lorde didn’t get to perform after her ridiculous anti-Semitic decision to cancel a show in Israel. Really liked Ke$ha’s performance with Cindy et al…found that the choir eerily resembled the cult in the show The Leftovers. In Memoriam confirmed that way too many of IDROS’ musical heroes left us this past year…many of them way too soon.
Michigan State – Seems in line with the nightmare that was Penn State. It is clear, following scandals that have rocked pretty much every institution and organization that involves children, that children have been horrifically abused, and then neglected and ignored throughout our history…and most times, even after some brave souls have found the courage to come forward and attempt to end the abuse, the machine (i.e. whatever institution that has so much to lose, be it money, credibility, power, enrollment, attendance, endowment funds, recruits, prestige, image, etc.) uses its vast resources to quash the complaint and/or cover it up. IDROS threw up in his mouth a little just thinking about this.
USA Gymnastics – See above.
Aziz Ansari – If women believe his behavior warrants this public thrashing, we should listen. No, what he did doesn’t deserve his career to end, nor is it on a level even close to what Harvey and others have done. And it is incredibly unfortunate that a minority celebrity, someone who champions minorities in his show and in his writing room, who tackles minority issues and who brings things to light that, to be frank, White America needs to see and hear, is the one being dragged through the mud over this type of behavior. BUT, this should be a learning moment for all of us, because our misogynistic rape culture will improve if and only if all behaviors that are inappropriate are highlighted as such, AND we all learn them ourselves and teach them to our children.
Tennis – Congrats Roger. Mazel Tov and Siman Tov!
Poland – In the friggin’ face of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Poland is allegedly passing a law making it a jailable offense to associate Poland or Polish people with any culpability vis a vis the Holocaust. While IDROS agrees that Poland and many Poles were also victims of the Nazis, Poland and its citizens played an enormous and horrific role in the perpetration of the Final Solution. I am not sure people understand what it takes to murder six million people. A majority of Death Camps were located in Poland for a number of reasons. Sure, one of those reasons was that the largest Jewish population in Europe was living in Poland at the time. But to murder that unfathomable number of people, you need a lot of help. The Nazis had it. Many willing Poles. Nazis oversaw many of the camps, but the day to day workers executing the Nazi directives, in large part were Poles. Poles also ran the ghettos, and facilitated the transport of Jews from the many ghettos to the extermination camps. Please join IDROS in raising a middle finger and pointing it in Poland’s general direction.
People Complaining About the Judge’s Verdict In the Larry Nassar Trial – IDROS believes Judge Rosemarie Aquilina showed a lot of restraint. Sure, the judge probably knew millions of eyes and ears were on her in such a high profile trial, and so she wanted to milk her moment to shine for all it was worth…maybe even parlay it into a book deal and/or a television gig. But who could blame her? And as for the scum she sentenced, he deserved much worse. Settle down trolls. Save the venom for people who actually deserve it….like the sub-human she addressed.
The Golden Globes – Pretty unwatchable. But the winner for best television drama, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, totally deserved its prize. IDROS highly recommends the Amazon offering. Do it!
Anyway…that’s my four cents.
Let me know your thoughts on any of the above, or anything else you believe IDROS should address.
Hope 2018 is off to a great start for all of you. And for those of my faithful living in Northern climes, just think…only 50 days till SPRING!
Thanks for reading.
All the best,
IDROS
idontrollonshabbas 