Trump’s extremism leaves a lingering rot across the US
Following years of using social media to spread misleading information and conspiracy theories, attack and abuse journalists and make attempts to amplify bias and bigotry (even trying to provoke arguments with other country’s leaders), Twitter has finally ‘permanently suspended’ outgoing US President Donald Trump’s account. However, unless he’s removed from office before his tenure ends next Wednesday (at the time of writing he’s still clinging on), Putin’s pet (despite having no social media platform) will still manage to hold onto America’s nuclear codes… how spine-chilling is that?
I will admit that as a columnist, Donald Trump’s actions and tweets have, for me, (rightly or wrongly) served as media gold! And while many may insist his rantings have radicalised and united his disciples (sorry, followers) to flock together, it must also be said he’s done this without ever appearing to give one iota of concern to the long-term effects or the potential damage he may have/has caused.
Due to this, it’s my opinion that while Trump is vacating the White House, he’s never, ever going to vacate our lives. Nay, I think it’s the mark of this megalomaniac to become even more extreme, meaning he’ll goad his band of devotees to descend deeper down that rabbit hole, thus intensifying those Make America Great Again (MAGA) hoodlums’ ever-increasing lust for causing damage and destruction.
We only have to look at last week’s shenanigans whereby, having failed to secure a second term as POTUS, even launching an embarrassing legal bid to try and overturn that loss to Irish-American Joe Biden, Trump, through his incendiary speech, initiated a full-scale riot. Indeed, as I watched the scenes unfold at the US’s most powerful symbol of the country’s democracy, the Capitol, two questions entered my head. One – is America experiencing a Prozac shortage? Two – can the world get any more weird?
I’ll tell you folks, this intellectually immature Toddler-in-Chief will not lick his wounds and quietly slither away next week. Nope, he’ll continue to manipulate, provoke and incite aggression, some of which could (if there are no adults in the room) possibly trigger a damaging international incident. On what do I base those thoughts? Well Trump did hint there was something in the pipeline when he said, “our incredible journey is only just beginning”.
On the other hand, it’s likely Trump will have some legal issues to keep him busy when he leaves the White House. For one, he’s facing a probe regarding alleged ‘hush’ payments made to two women (prior to his 2016 election) who claim to have engaged in, let’s say, ‘sexual relations’ with him. Trump denies these claims. However, as he’ll no longer be a sitting president, he’ll have lost the legal protections related to that role, meaning his luck will have run out and the threat of facing prosecution will now become real. This may keep this self-obsessed ‘loser’ (as he has called many people) occupied.
Then again, it may not. Even as the carnage mushroomed last week, Trump, fuming and seething, addressed his mob and instructed them to ‘remember this day forever’. I have absolutely no doubt that nobody – including right-thinking people – will ever forget it. Neither will anyone forget the four years that this numpty has spent cultivating a class of extremism so contagious it has left a lingering rot, not just within Trump’s own party, but on the US as a whole. Joe Biden has a difficult term ahead of him; I wish him all the luck of the Oirish… he’s gonna need it.
Why I respect and admire home-schoolers
Readers who are parents may, I’d imagine, be finding home schooling stressful and challenging – especially those trying to hold down a full-time job from a makeshift home-office in a cubbyhole under the stairs.
Mind you, the government’s constant schools-will-open-oh-no-they-won’t-oh-yes-they-will u-turns won’t help what’s clearly an already fraught situation. Indeed, as many of us grapple with coronavirus-related fears around job losses, paying bills, keeping safe and staying sane, I’d imagine that for those who also have school-age kids to contend with, life right now must be like balancing on a cliff-edge.
Suddenly the situation the country finds itself in has forced these poor parents to become amateur mathematicians, Gaeilgeoirí and history buffs; and I have to tell you folks, I salute every one of you. I could never home-school, for the simple reason my lack of patience would not only traumatise the poor kids, it would also psychologically wound me to the extent that I’d probably end up running screaming from the house, eyes wild, hair standing on end… oh, and a bottle of vodka clutched in my hand. Believe me; I’d need some manner of intoxication to dilute those tween-age dramas!
In addition, I could never cope with only having small children to chat to every single day. Every. Single. Day!!!
Nor could I do all the prep-work needed to satisfy several different levels, i.e. primary, junior cert and leaving cert, all while trying to meet work deadlines, care for our dogs, keep the house clean (I cannot endure untidiness), and cook meals, all whilst explaining Pythagoras Theorem and breaking up a sibling argument.
Nope, the logistical and psychological nightmare of home schooling is defo not for me – I’ll stick to lecturing adults. However, those who are attempting it have my unyielding respect and admiration.
I thought Kimye’s marriage was as solid as her boob implants!
It seemed like their marriage was a match made in heaven. She was happy to tolerate his knee-jerk outbursts, his pie-in-the-sky presidential ambitions, his bizarre behaviour, (in fairness, he has stated he was experiencing ‘bipolar episodes’, which he described as making him ‘hyper-paranoid’), and his ridiculous fashion design creations. He was happy to turn a blind eye when she posed naked to flog her latest fragrance, oh and her farcical attempts to break the Internet.
So what went wrong with the union between Kim and Kanye Kardashian-West, the world’s most cosmetically enhanced, photoshopped, disgustingly rich, attention-seeking, posturing peacocks? Personally, I thought this pair was about as solid as her boob implants. But no, as I write, brand Kimye’s lawyers are busy negotiating how they’ll dole out the pair’s billons!
Now while I know this imposed lockdown hasn’t been easy on many marriages (even that of a woman whose butt has its own gravitational pull and a wannabe president), but couldn’t this over-privileged pair have migrated to separate mansions for the duration? It’s not as if they’re like the rest of us poor sods, locked-down in houses so small, we’re never, ever, out of each other’s eye line! Eeeevvveeerrrr!!!
