Dec. 8, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. CST
In the film version of Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons,” the most memorable scene features the pope’s camerlengo, or right-hand man, hijacking a helicopter from St. Peter’s Square, along with, implausibly, a vessel containing antimatter.
The camerlengo ostensibly intends to save the Vatican from an antimatter attack plotted by various church conspirators. In fact, the plotter is the camerlengo himself. What matters today is that the camerlengo bails out just before the chopper explodes and, wearing a parachute, floats celestially to the basilica roof, where he kneels in prayer and is proclaimed a hero-savior.
I’ve ruined the movie if you haven’t seen it, but stand by: Another movie about getaways is in the making, starring President Trump, who is said to be plotting a dramatic exit from the White House — aboard Marine One in his last government-subsidized chopper ride, followed by a flight to Florida for a rally timed opposite the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Joe Biden.
What a sad little man.
Of course, Trump might have based his fantasy escape from any of several action flicks, but “Angels and Demons” offers several obvious parallels: Trump’s messianic self-regard, his acute narcissism, his need for maximum attention and cinematic diversion.
He’s a legend in his own mind, and a reality-TV celebrity to boot. Nothing so ordinary as acquiescence or participation in the inauguration would suit his supreme ridiculousness. Not only has Trump refused to concede to Biden, but he has also declined to invite him to the White House, as is customary, much less signal he’ll attend the inauguration.
As we’ve long known, he’s a brat. A big,
bawling baby who wants his paci. It’s little wonder that Trump
was so attracted to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, the man-boy whose
people’s coerced loyalty Trump envied. If only Trump could have
commanded such devotion from His People, he said
in
so many words.
They say , and this is certainly true when it comes to the rules. Born to wealth and privilege, little-boy Trump has never had to play by the regular rules of conduct: personal, business or otherwise. His talent for making deals at the expense of lesser mortals — combined with his strategic use of bankruptcy as a money-making instrument — has basically allowed him to proclaim victory on the backs of the screwed.
Today, those backs belong to the American voters who decided he should no longer win. The guy who can’t stop talking about winning has lost and simply can’t, or refuses to, believe it. This is the man who said dead and wounded troops were losers — and that the late Sen. John McCain was a hero only because he was captured. He of the silver spoon and heel spurs said he preferred heroes who weren’t captured.
I can
think of few who so richly deserved losing as Donald J. Trump
— for his lack of character alone. If he managed some things
well during his four years in the White House, he should get
credit, possibly for removing barriers to the speedy
development of the coronavirus vaccine. But he likely won’t
be remembered for what little good he did. His poor
sportsmanship upon losing fair and square has overwhelmed any
public sympathy or the fare-thee-well extended to those who
accept defeat gracefully.
Trump doesn’t just make himself look bad; he makes the country look bad. For this, he should be shuttled out of town riding a jackass backward, wearing a clown suit. He might take a few Republicans with him.
Although Trump’s bogus, conspiratorial claims — from faulty Dominion voting systems to widespread voter fraud — have been repeatedly debunked, only 27 House and Senate Republicans acknowledge that Biden won, according to exhaustive reporting by The Post.
By attaching themselves to Trump’s lies and fallacies, these Republicans in denial are captives themselves, prisoners of the president’s madness and nothing like heroes. The ultimate irony is that Trump despises people like them. He may demand submission, but he is contemptuous of their weakness. He knows he’s selling snake oil, but he also knows that people need to believe in snake oil.
Kathleen Parker column out of bounds
On Dec. 10 there appeared an article in your newspaper submitted by the Washington Post entitled "Time for the Brat's Great Escape from White House.”
This article took up almost half of page 3 and was an incredibly degrading, vicious, vile and disgusting attack on the President of the United States.Public Forum
Decdember 18, 2020
But first, let’s straighten out a misconception contained in the Nickells’ letter. Look at the top of this page. Is the title News? No, it is Opinion. This is the page where people tell you what they think. The writers who appear on this page are not acting as non-partisan and unbiased reporters. They are telling you their opinion. News appears on other pages. Opinion happens here. Several columnists appear here regularly, telling you what they think, not reporting. The liberal Leonard Pitts and the conservative Kathleen Parker are the best of the lot. They both have a gift for the felicitous phrase. That Parker is a conservative who has not drunk the Kool-aid of the Trump cult is greatly to her credit.
In my not-so-humble opinion Parker went too easy on His Lardship. His striking combination of menace, mendacity, supreme ridiculousness, and feckless incompetence make him uniquely unfit for the office he has infested for the past four years, and the remaining thirty-odd days cannot pass quickly enough.
When Kinky Friedman was running for governor of Texas an old man stopped him on the steps of the capitol in Austin, shook his hand, and said, “You may not be worth a damn, but you’ll be better than what we’ve got.” Updating that to the current situation, Joe Biden may not be worth a damn, but he’ll be better than what we’ve got.