The biggest waste of time and energy is our incessant attention to who is in and who is out. Like clockwork in the coffee room or by the water cooler or at lunch, the same conversation happens everywhere. A wonderful near-death speech of Lear to Cordelia refers to this preoccupation. Perhaps it is just the way things are. But it is often sound and fury (aka gossip) signifying nothing.
The revolving Trump team
This morning I learned that a functionary in Trump's West Wing communications group is leaving. It's everyone's breathless big story. Every other day I hear Melania is leaving also.
More power to her. But it is still mostly gossip and if these things happen what difference will it make? Will Trump be less bellicose? Will sweetness and light emerge?
I hear Corey Landowski is on the way back to the center of Trump's life. Is that important? Another gang mentality on board.
Read all about it
White House Communications Director Resigns as Shake-Up Begins https://t.co/6nUvxxFVd3
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) May 30, 2017
Meanwhile
The president has nothing better to do than to Tweet the following.
Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017
Trump's nonsense takes up the another half of media space.
We will spend the day doing exegesis of his tweet. Exegesis is a fancy term for figuring out what words mean. I translate the presidential deliverance as follows. Trump is suggesting he and Russia are on the same page when it comes to laughing at hapless Democrats.
Excuses
The lame excuse refers to the possibility or probability that Russia did, in fact, succeed in influencing voters in the US to reject Hillary Clinton.
In Russia, there is no love lost for her. To top things off, Trump calls this allegation fake news, using his trademark capital letters.
The combination of news about who is in and who is out and Trump's roundabout effort to deflect a very real investigation that he fears is the news of the day.
What is really happening?
Rather like Nero, Trump is tweeting while Rome burns.
Does the media tell us how many people are quietly going crazy because they fear for their health under Trump?
Does the media write about the degree to which Trump's fertile pen is striking down measures meant to preserve and protect children, the elderly, the earth and the waters? Is anyone adding up the harm that is emanating from the ill-conceived acts of Donald Trump?
Underlying issues
Violence in America is not decreasing under Trump. He is stoking it. We badly need a move away from his militarism to nonviolence. Trump's hatred of Barack Obama is not diminishing. Donald Trump's agenda is aimed at reversing every effort Barack Obama made to improve the life of every American.
