I watched the inauguration of Donald Trump for the same reason I glance at an intersection accident as I drive by. Can’t help it.
Also, as someone who in previous incarnations has written speeches for others, there was also a professional curiosity.
Whether it’s the president of USF or the president of the USA, there are basics to consider. There’s the occasion. The audience. The speaker’s agenda. Usually in that order. And some well-turned, alliterative phrases for publication, if not posterity.
In the case of the inaugural speech of any incoming president, nothing transcends the priority of the occasion. It’s sacrosanct. And the words should reflect the moment. Aspirational, visionary, conciliatory. Soaring rhetoric. If not now, then when?
Last Friday, it was apparent that no one has replaced Ted Sorensen. “Ask not …” has given way to “… this American carnage.” There’s a stark difference between inaugural eloquence and confrontational, campaign rally rants. We shouldn’t be reminded so soon after the swearing in.
It spoke volumes.
Trump is Trump. He doesn’t practice with a Teleprompter, even though he needs to. He didn’t need to double down on America first nationalism and isolationism, but he did. He didn’t need to deride previous leadership with four ex-presidents and first ladies in polite attendance, but he did. In short, he needed to remember that he’s a minority–not even a plurality–president. Being elected by a quarter of the eligible electorate is not a mandate. It underscores that he has a fan base.
This was his potential unifying moment–there are no mulligans on inaugurals–to try and connect with everyone who didn’t channel him as a cult-figure savior. He missed it. Big league.
* The inauguration speech, CIA drop-in and overall POTUS deportment confirmed what we already knew. We’ve replaced a presidential president with a narcissistic brand. We do deserve better.
* Those periodic shots of Michelle Obama during the Trump inauguration seemed telling. She had that look of: “God, Barack’s so good at this. Grace under pressure. Me, I just want to get away from these imposters. I hope it isn’t too obvious.”
* America is no banana republic, but we do have a Banana Republican for president.
* How does a “dishonest” press cover a lying, duplicitous, bombastic president who practices malleable truth? Double down on well-sourced information–not grandstanding opposition. The former is your raison d’être, the latter your ticket to tabloid damnation. Stay skeptical–not cynical.
* Peter Wehner, a Republican and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, poses a pertinent question for the GOP establishment. “They need to ask themselves a simple, searching question: ‘If Barack Obama did this very thing, what would I be saying and doing now?’–and then say and do it.”
* Last Saturday’s women’s march in Washington didn’t disappoint. From massive, indeed factual, turnout–to inspired signage. Speaking of the latter, they ranged from “Viva la Vulva” and “Support a Utopia For Our Fallopia” to “Super Callous Fascist Racist Extra Braggadocious” and “American Taliban: Trump, Pence, Price, Ryan.” Plus, “We Shall Overcomb” and even “Adolph Twittler.” And my personal favorite: “Now You’ve Pissed Off Granny.”
If you can’t laugh, you only make it worse.
* It can’t be a good sign when the public is familiar with the Constitution’s emoluments clause.
* Newly-elected President Trump wasted no time in announcing that the U.S. was pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The economic and geopolitical issues–and bilateral relations with TPP members and China–will remain scenarios in flux and ripe for debate. The decision is certainly grist for the criticism mill, but we need to remember this. Hillary Clinton was not in favor of TPP either–although she once characterized it as the “gold standard” of trade deals.
* It’s only an anecdotal reference, but it’s still telling about the times we’re entering. The Sunday after the inauguration, the Rev. Roger Fritts of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota spoke to his congregants of his hope that President Trump would be impeached. It came in the context of his “Narcissism and Leadership” sermon.