Trump's Legacy

The Schloss-Blog is looking at what Trump left behind, and what lies ahead, in the eyes and voice of a 23-year old.

Donald Trump left behind NO PLAN for vaccine distribution and administration. Nor resources therefor.

Instead of being COVID problem-solver, he was a COVID-enabler ("It'll go away magically," remember, he told us?).

Amanda Gorman, by contrast, says: "Somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken."

Donald Trump left behind an angry mob, which he inspired, and which ransacked the Capitol, trying to overthrow the Constitution and the election results that were to be sanctioned.

Amanda Gorman, by contrast, says: "We lay down our arms, so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony for all."

Donald Trump left behind 400,000 dead, and climbing, with no hope.

Amanda Gorman, by contrast, says: "That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried."

Donald Trump left behind what he called "enemies of the people" among the reporters who populated the White House Press Corps.

Amanda Gorman, by contrast, says: "Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid."

Donald Trump left behind a broken federal budget, mired in debt that he promised he'd erase. A nation poor and growing poorer all the time.

Amanda Gorman, by contrast, says: "If we're to live up to our own time, then victory won't lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we've made."

And finally, Donald Trump left behind Qanon racists, violent Proud Boys and politicians who pledge to try to keep those beliefs at the forefront of their lawmaking.

I'll let Amanda Gorman, by contrast, take it from here:

"We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy

And this effort very nearly succeeded

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

It can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith, we trust."

The words of a 23-years-old youth American Poet Laureate.

With that, "Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson."

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Or as Joe Biden would say, "God bless the Unites States of America and may God Protect our troops."

 

Free Speech

The Schloss-Blog, emptying out the notebook a little bit today, saw a great social-media post the other day:

When Black people exercise free speech by carrying out a protest, it's called a violent insurrection. When conservative white people carry out a violent insurrection, it's called free speech.

Or at least that's what conservative Republicans would have you believe.

Six Republican Senators voted to overturn all or parts of the electoral college that favored Biden. So did about 140 Republican Congressmen.

They want to keep Trump's loyal base loyal to them, those people who stormed the Capitol. I'd rather have MS-13 loyal to me. They're better organized.

All this time, President Trump would have you believe that the notorious street gang is outside your door, down your street, on your block.

Turns out it was your white, middle-class suburban neighbors, who marched on and then overran the Capitol. MS-13 didn't want any part of that.

These people live in Phoenix. In Seattle. In Miami. In Delaware and Maryland.

They shop alongside you (remember those days?) at Macy's, JC Penney, Costco and WalMart.

They're COVID-deniers but they're trying to jump the line for a COVID-19 vaccination.

Or they're Republican members of Congress who refuse to don facemasks while sequestered from the violent protesters in the Capitol. I guess that's how they knew the protesters wouldn't harm them if they encountered them - if they ain't wearing a mask, they're good guys.

I am registered to receive a vaccination in both Arizona and Illinois, where I have residences. No one has called yet to tell me to come in for an injection.

Maybe it's because Donald F--ing Trump screwed up the vaccine distribution, leaving the American population wondering what happened to his promise of 20 million vaccinations by last Dec. 31. He was about 17 million short. We don't have near enough vaccine to go around. It will be a miracle if America is vaccinated by the end of this year.

Speaking, though, of Republican members of Congress, several are accused of allegedly leading protesters around the Capitol in the days before the riot, showing them the lay of the land in the labyrinth that is the congressional campus.

Republican members of Congress working in concert with the rioters! Seriously. They are captured on videos, identifying them in the words of protest leaders.

What's next - MS-13 outside your door?

No, wait. More likely the National Guard.

Why do I have the feeling Trump has one more card up his sleeve to play before the inauguration he refuses to attend? Either that, or he has a tee time that day. At a club, with his finances drying up, he might not own much longer. 

Trump evicted. Wouldn't that be something. Although he's already been evicted from the White House.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Burnt Orange

 And so the racists and White

Nationalists gathered

They lost the election

Their hopes were shattered

 

And so their leader

Looked down on them and smiled

He knew with little prompting

For him, they’d go that extra mile

 

And so with their bats and bombs

And ill intent

Down to the Capitol

They took their discontent

 

The police they overpowered

The building they did smash

And they wandered through the halls

The Capitol now in need of a real-life MASH

 

The National Guard

They’ll surely come to their aid

But nobody called

So at their base they stayed

 

Senators, congressmen fleeing in fear

Surely their cries the president will hear

But as a Capitol police officer lie dead

From the White House, nothing was said

 

The president watched

Smiling in glee

Those evil legislators

He’ll rattle their tree

 

But they won’t overturn

The electoral college

So he’ll have to go home

To his remodeled Florida cottage

 

And so he put out

A call for calm

Go home, my fair warriors, he said

Until, that is, I need you again

 

And now as the insurrectionists

Boast online of their sedition

Slowly, surely

The FBI finds them with facial recognition

 

As their orange-haired leader

Counts the money he stole from them

He won’t spend a dime of it

In mounting a legal defense for them

 

Will he be impeached

Will he resign

Maybe Congress will act

But it will it be in time

 

Ivanka and Jared

Seen packing up to move

No one will talk to them

They seem such big fools

 

The president’s inner circle

Getting smaller and tighter

They’re abandoning a little man

Who is a coward, not a fighter

 

But stand down, stand by

He’s telling his troop

There’s still one more shot

For a January 17 coup

 

Maybe it’ll happen

Maybe it won’t

But if you voted for Trump

You are a f--kin’ dope

 

And as he rides off into the sunset

He looks back at Fun City

Where Cy Vance and Letitia James

Will show him no pity

 

And as we sit here

Examining what has just passed

Somewhere in Hollywood

The movie version is being cast

 

Not sure what they’ll call it

Maybe “The Passage of Trump,”

He came in with a roar

And went out on his rump.

 

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

What Is And What Will Never Be

The Schloss-Blog is looking ahead to its crystal ball and seeing a year of resiliency approaching and a year of disbelief fading.

We're in a year of hope - we will conquer the coronavirus before it conquers us, at a rate of 4,000 per day.

We're in a year of honesty in government - Biden will tell us the truth, no matter how painful. And it will be painful.

We're in a year where Donald Trump fades away, his credibility destroyed. His neighbors in Florida don't even want him living in the community.

Even though they voted for him for president.

We're living in a year of women. Biden has stocked his Cabinet and his administration with more women than ever. It's about time. We need that women's touch now more than ever before.

Yet, we're living in a year where Republicans in Congress not only fruitlessly keep trying to overturn the presidential election results, but as the "Unmasked Singers." Research shows they are 3 times more likely than Democrats to NOT wear a mask in Congress. How wonderful.

But speaking of the year of women, we are in a year where a woman, for the first time, scored points in an NCAA Division-I football game (Sarah Fuller, placekicker for Vanderbilt). And a woman, her head coach tossed out of the game, took over as head coach in an NBA game (Becky Hamann, San Antonio Spurs).

Beyond overdue.

Yet, we're in a year where almost 350,000 of our fellow Americans died from the coronavirus, or almost 4,000 a day now. The score of that game is still COVID-19, America-0.

We're practically at a point where some of us, maybe most of us, know someone who had COVID, or maybe even passed from it.

Sad.

Yet, we're in a year where our kids and grandkids continue to show the resiliency which will become the signature of their generation.

They've shown it in school. And out. In doing schoolwork in a living room, a kitchen, a den, a basement. Could not be prouder.

We're in a year where my family, God bless them, has shown the kind of stick-to-it-iveness that has kept us together, coast to coast, communicating as best we can, sharing memories, old pictures and videos and using new software to share these old memories.

I imagine your family has too.

And we're in a year where my fraternity brothers refuse to let go of our college daze - uh, college days. Our monthly Zoom calls are a reminder of the camaraderie we shared. And maintain.

We're in a year where college athletes continue, without compensation, to risk their lives and those of their friends and families by continuing to compete, COVID notwithstanding. They should be paid, at the very least, for helping their schools collect TV revenue while they collect concussions and exposure to the coronavirus.

We're in a year where we learned to work from our new offices. In our basements. Our kitchens. Our dens. Sacrificing our in-person companionship.

So we could watch over our kids as they did their schoolwork while we did our work.

We will likely never get back to whatever is considered normal.

But I can't wait to try.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Happy New Year, everybody. (Please note, the name of the President of the United States is not mentioned here, but his initials are S.O.B.)