By sheer coincidence, I will be in New York on days 86 through 99 of the Trump presidency, the countdown to the all-important first 100 days in government. I’ll be curious to see if he delivers on his ‘Contract with the American Voter‘ via the ‘Track Trump’ website; when he doesn’t, I will read with distant but genuine interest what artful excuses his PR team concoct. In Australia, they trot out the standard ‘budget black hole’ excuse for not delivering the costly bribes they offered during the campaign. Different problem in Britain where, with the Chancellor announcing a looming £100 billion deficit mostly due to Brexit, the new PM Theresa May has used her maiden speech to placate the so-called JAMs (people who are ‘just-about managing’) that everything will be okay. Nobody believes her, of course. But why should she give a sh*t what happens to the peasants, after all, the dumbasses asked for it.
Same goes for the US. Why should anybody, American or not, care. We’ve wasted thousands of ‘column inches’ (hah, remember those?) gloating over the number of people who didn’t come to see them pin a sheriff’s badge on Donny’s chest. We’ve wasted even more time admiring Scarlett Johansson in the cute puffer jacket (Canada Goose, yeah?) she wore while addressing the Women’s March in Washington infront of a hundred-million-billion-gazillion peeps. Some of whom would not have voted to prevent Donald Trump from becoming President. Guilt-rally? The point wasn’t lost on The Donald either: “Stiff shit assholes, I’m in here signing executive orders and you’re out there in the rain!” he seemed to say. And I hate to echo, but he isn’t wrong. Does anybody think three million people in pink hats will change the course of history? If you do, then you aren’t a student of history. I’m sure it felt good, though. I imagine the Twitterverse was flooded with ‘Lookit me in DC!’ selfies…
It’s telling that everybody who mounted the podium in DC appeared to be a celebrity, which confused me a little. The celebrity dis-endorsement of Trump during the campaign actually backfired, didn’t it? Hillary schmoozing with the stars was a total boner-killer. Can’t we accept already that a lot of Americans are sick of living in a country where the rich and famous seem to call the shots? Does anyone really think that Skeeter Jr. cares, pumping gas in Jacksonville Texas for seven bucks an hour, if Johansson (nett worth $80M USD) is pro-abortion or not? Her views are as useful to Skeeter Jr. as tits on a boar. But he has one thing up his flannel shirt-sleeve that makes him as rich as any celebrity — even purdy Ms Johansson up there on thet there soapbox — his vote. And don’t it upset folk some when he uses it, by god!
So what’s the answer?
Should ‘the right people’ be granted exclusive privilege to steer the course of an entire nation (oh, hang on…), or do we trust in the democratic process we pretend to have and leave it to the majority? Bear in mind that the majority thought ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ (2010) was a good movie; that ‘Gangnam Style’ (2012) was a good song; and that ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara was anything but a pretentious failure. Who and what these ‘elites’ are is a topic for another post. For now, with dread, what choice is there except to accept the result and respect the will of the people.
But don’t throw that sign away, you’ll need it again next time.
