The Trump After Christmas by Paul Lewis

‘Twas the night after Christmas and in the White House
One creature was stirring, an orange-faced louse.
With only four weeks left before he would leave
He still had a thousand mean tweets up his sleeve.

So he took out his cell and all through the night,
Alone in his office, spewed malice and spite.
“They cheated,” “they cheated,” “they cheated,” “they cheated,”
Over and over he tweeted “they cheated…”

But somewhere deep down in his shriveled, cold heart
The Donald’s self-image was coming apart.
 “How could they reject me?” he asked with a sigh,
There’s no one who’s more presidential than I!
 “How could they reject me?” again with a sigh,
As his days with immunity ticked slowly by.

“They say I’m a liar, but that can’t be true.
They say I serve Putin, well what if I do?
They say that I think I know more than the rest
Of the world’s other leaders, well, then I’m the best!
They say that I’m angry, those losers and wussies,
They say that I meant it when I said I grope pussies,
And when I said that some fascists are good,
That’s not what I meant, I’m just misunderstood! 
But wait, who are ‘they,’ these fake network hosts,
How could I forget I’m in charge, I can boast,
And, Diet Cokes guzzling, make this final toast:

 “To trolling the Dems and their socialist backers,
 To Russia and Wikileaks, the best of the hackers.
 To pardoning everyone who knows what I’ve done,
 And to keep tweeting twaddle till Biden’s undone.”

Dawn was just breaking when Trump fell asleep,
His sore twitter finger in need of relief.
Alone in his nightmare, reflections appeared
Of the post-POTUS life he most cravenly feared.
In a time-shifting mirror, he saw his fat face
Turn from orange to gray and then float off in space.
His hair, now in ruins, was stringy and white,
And waved in the wind till it faded from sight.
In the swirl of dark dreaming a vision he glanced
Of debts and indictments, L. James and Cy Vance.
So he woke in a sweat and, trembling in fear,
Knew what life would be like in the dawning new year.

Photo | theweek.com

Paul Lewis is the author of A Is for Asteroids, Z Is for Zombies: A Bedtime Book about the Coming Apocalypse (illustrated by Ken Lamug).

http://www.asteroidszombies.com/

Guest post courtesy of David Dutkowski:

Given the Trump Administration’s expressed desire to govern without checks and without balance, there’s only one thing to do. Give them Washington D.C. to rule as they wish and let the rest of the nation withdraw and reunite as a new country: “The Re-United States of America” (RSA).

The advantages of this are overwhelming for both the Administration and the rest of the nation.

The first advantage for the Trump Administration is that a smaller area is easier to occupy. A wall (a really, really great wall) can more easily be built around a city than across a long national border. And it’s a pretty good bet that Trump really will be able to get the neighboring country to “pay for that wall!”. It will be worth it!

They can have all the buildings and monuments that formerly symbolized our Democracy, Steadfastness, and Freedom, and repurpose them as they see fit. The Washington Monument can become the “Trump Monument”, although I don’t see how he’s going to get those big Trump letters to fit across such a skinny peak. The Lincoln Memorial can likewise become the Trump Memorial, switching out Lincoln’s head and hands for Trump’s. As a tribute to Steve Bannon, the “White” House can remain as is.

They can make their own rules and not have to worry about inconveniences such as States having to ratify or consent to them. They can appoint not just one, not just two, but all nine Supreme Court Justices. And as far as I’m concerned, they can have both Houses of Congress thrown in on the deal.

The advantages for the “Re-United States of America” are also compelling.

We can keep the old Constitution since the Administration obviously has no use for it. We can have a new fiscal start, since our old obligations will remain in Washington. Trump is used to being in a huge amount of debt, so this shouldn’t be a problem for him…

Also, there are no nukes in Washington D.C. Trump can have his finger on the button and it won’t matter to the rest of us at all.

By getting a fresh start and having seen what happens when we veer off course, we should be able to establish new policies, energy, and direction to get America back on track again.

Unfortunately, this means that the States will all have to secede from the old nation. The good news is that California already has this process started, and the Southern States are already experienced in this matter. The rest of us will have to catch up.

With such a huge, really huge wall, they will be able to control their borders and keep out those refugees whose suffering inconveniences them so. There will be no more of those nasty women’s marches on D.C. either when there’s a wall that keeps them from getting in.

The wall should be built with doors that easily let people out. That way, residents who want to flee the swamp can freely do so. The “The Re-United States of America” will recognize them as the refugees that they are and will welcome them with open arms, freely offering Opportunity, Liberty, and Justice for All.

RSA!… RSA!… RSA!

Photo | twitter.com, fakingnews.firstpost.com

We are living through a tragic time in American history. Sorry world, we plead temporary insanity.

Below is a “letter to the world” written by John Pavlovitz. Please read:

Dear World,

We felt we needed to say something while saying something is still allowed.

We know many of you have lived under malevolent, unhinged Dictators before, but this is new for us. For its history our nation has been led by men who, despite their varying flaws and deficiencies, some of which were quite disturbing—were by and large, normal human beings. Whatever darkness in them, they had at the very least, a baseline of humanity and decency that more often than not insured rational behavior.

This man is not normal.

He is unstable, malignant, devoid of integrity—and he does not speak for us.

Please understand that nearly three million more people voted for his opponent Hillary Clinton than for him. (Yes, we realize this is completely screwed-up). Millions more voted for other candidates, and sadly nearly 90 million of our people did not vote at all. The point is, the vast majority of Americans are not with him. He does not speak for us. His America is not our America.

Over the past week, we’ve watched long erected pillars of our Republic bulldozed in the stroke of a madman’s pen. We’ve seen the very hallmarks of who we are as a nation tossed in the garbage; the celebration of diverse coexistence, the open welcome to the oppressed, the guarantee of unalienable rights for every person, the same access to health and opportunity and safety afforded to everyone, the freedom to speak without censor or restraint. At this moment these are all in great jeopardy.

Things we took for granted in our leadership: things like goodness, wisdom, and basic truthfulness are no longer in play, and as things are eroding quickly we wanted to let you know that we’re sorry.

We’re sorry that our apathy and laziness have yielded such a reckless, impulsive, small man to steward this nation.

We’re sorry for the jagged, bitter ugliness that is characterizing us in these moments.

We’re sorry to those suffering greatly, who have braved such peril to seek refuge here and who’ve now been turned away based on the faith they profess.

We’re sorry to our Mexican neighbors who’ve been fashioned into convenient villains for erecting a grandiose, wasteful display of false protection that we do not want.

We’re sorry to Muslims everywhere who’ve been used as pawns to generate irrational fear among those already susceptible to bigotry and discrimination.

We’re sorry to the leaders of the world, who instead of being met by level-headed, measured, intelligent dialogue, are now greeted with the social media rantings of a furious child.

We’re sorry to those who now experience the Christian faith as a racist, Nationalistic bully pulpit wielded with malice toward the very diverse Humanity Jesus lived and died for.

We’re sorry to people everywhere whose lives are made more tenuous, more violent, less safe, less secure than it has been before.

We want you to know that this is not who we are. It may be who this man is. It may be who those sharing power with him are. It may even be the tens of millions who originally voted for him (though that support is vanishing quickly among those who not among the religious zealots and extremists).

But this is not America. It is not the steady, strong beacon of freedom that it was intended to be. It is not the America our people have fought and died for. It is not the one first formed in the crucible of oppression and cast into the words of our ever-disregarded Constitution.

This is not our America. Our America affirms the inherent, priceless beauty of every human being. Our America declares that no person is ascribed less value because of their skin color, religion, gender, financial means, sexual orientation, nation of origin, or any other variable. Our America is home for those seeking hope and joy and rest.

And we are going to fight for this America. Through political channels and through grassroots activism, through the use of our Press and of our personal voices, we’re going to expose this man’s incompetence, call out his heart sickness, and condemn every violent, reckless, vicious act when it does not reflect our hearts and our will. Please do your best to disregard anything that comes from his mouth or those loudly and continually parroting his propaganda. They have proven themselves mortally allergic to the truth.

And we hope that in whatever way you can, that you will stand with us. We know that we have made this mess ourselves. We understand that you have your own problems to contend with, some far more urgent and pressing than this, but we believe that we are a single community; that we are tethered together in our Humanity, that we are in real-time crafting the life our children and their children will inherit.

Dear World, we’re sorry and we hope you’ll endure these days with us.

With Despair and Hope in equal measure, in Peace and Unity with you,

The American Majority

From JohnPavlovitz.com

Photo | americaniconstemple.wordpress.com

Articles on this site generate a variety of comments. While some are ill informed, cringeworthy and even downright nasty, the majority are positive and constructive.

Occasionally, a well-written, well thought-out comment comes along like the one below by Will A Kelly. I have taken the liberty of posting it in its entirely. No editing. I believe it is worth the read:

Dear Mr. Trump,

It’s taken me a while to realize this and to admit it, but I’m grateful to you.

For the past few months, I’ve spent a good deal of time lamenting your campaign and the poison it has so effortlessly generated. I’ve watched our country imploding, our public discourse become polluted, our political climate grows ever more corrosive, and wrongly assumed you were to blame.

It’s only lately I’ve come to understand that you haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness—you’ve simply revealed it.

By saying the irresponsible, mean-spirited, ignorant things you say so freely and so frequently, you’ve given other like-minded people license to do the same. You’ve opened up the floodgates for our corporate sewage to flow fully. People no longer conceal their vile mess, they now revel in it, they broadcast it and retweet it.

You’ve made bigotry and racism socially acceptable again and that has been a kind of twisted gift because it’s allowed me to really see people; not as they pretend to be on the surface—but in the very depths of their wounded, weaponized hearts.

Over and over as your campaign has persisted, your supporters would tell me that they like you because you “speak your mind”. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve realized that you speak their minds. You’ve given credence to their prejudices and made those prejudices go mainstream.

Thanks to the terrible ground you’ve broken, politicians, pastors, friends, and strangers, both in person and on social media now regularly out themselves as hateful, intolerant, and malicious—and they remind me just how close they are to me, just how deep the sickness in us runs, and just how far we have to go together.

You’ve emboldened people to be open about things they used to conceal for the sake of decorum, and though it turns my stomach, I know that this is the only way we can move forward; to have that cancerous stuff exposed fully so that it can be dealt with. Our progress as a nation is predicated on authentic dialogue, no matter how brutal and disheartening that dialogue is.

In other words, you’ve let us know what we’re really dealing with here and while it’s been rightly disturbing, it’s also been revelatory. That’s the thing about that kind of harsh light: you’re forced to see everything. Beauty and monstrosity equally illuminated.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think you’re the least qualified, least knowledgeable Presidential candidate we may ever have had participate this far into the process, and if you somehow were elected I’d fear gravely for the world my children would inherit—should it survive your Presidency at all. I believe you’re reckless, bitter, and completely reprehensible; the very worst kind of bully.

But whether you win or lose, you’ve already allowed me the blessing of Truth; about me, about you, about other candidates, about our nation.

And in the process, you’ve also shown me that I am not alone in resisting you and this ugly thing you’ve revealed about us.

You’ve generated an equally loud, equally passionate response to it and this is where I find my hope these days.

I find it in those for whom equality isn’t just a cheap buzzword, it’s the most precious of hills to die on.

I find it in those people who refuse to be silent in the face of our impending shared regression.

I find it in those willing to be bolder in defending the inherent value of all people.

I find it in the growing army of those who will not tolerate hatred as a core American value.

I find it in those who reject violence as our default response to dissension.

I find it in the ever rising voice of people who will not let malice and bitterness represent them in the world.

Today I find my hope in those who, like me, will not be complicit in allowing bigotry and intolerance to become a source of national pride because we’ve seen where that leads.

Yes, Mr. Trump, you’ve unearthed our hidden sickness and you’ve allowed it to go viral.

You brought every awful thing about us out into the open.

You will NEVER Get My Vote!

Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net