Not too long ago, I responded to somebody who criticized what he felt were excessive criticisms of then President Donald Trump. Despite us not having seen, much less really talked, to one another for almost 30 years, he took the liberty of presuming that my life must truly be filled with unhappiness. According to him, that must be the reason for all of the anti-Trump posts on my Facebook page. He then explained that he hoped I would find happiness.
Admittedly, I responded angrily, which likely fed into his nonsense. What I should have said instead should have been more moderate. The presumption on his part, despite not really even knowing me - and he barely knew me back when we were in high school together, anyway - just outraged me at the time, and so I responded with anger.
In truth, I have actually never been happier with my own life on a personal level. The older I get, the more it becomes obvious that the emphasis really should be on gratitude. And I have been blessed with much to have gratitude for. My health, despite some issues, is fairly good, as is the health of most of the people close to me. My son in particular seems well, and fairly content. My girlfriend and I are in a long-term, stable relationship, and there have been enough unstable situations in my past for me to appreciate that. Plus, there is a roof over my head, and plenty to keep my rather busy mind occupied and entertained. So yeah, in fact, I feel happier, more content, and more fulfilled than likely ever before in my adult life.
That said, it is hard not to feel some real despair when I look around and see the state of things in this world, and particularly in this country. When tens of millions of Americans look to a fraud, an obvious con man like Donald Trump for answers and to solve this nation's problems, then we are in serious trouble. And as someone who feels that patriotism means more than mere symbolic flag waving and beating of our chests, but to actually speak out when things are going wrong, it felt like my duty as an American citizen to speak out to the extent that I could. As such, yes, more than occasional Facebook posts and blog entries here that addressed my own outrage were part of the deal.
This former high school classmate asked my, rather cynically, what I thought I was accomplishing with all of those anti-Trump posts. On some level, I was trying to get a rise out of people just like him, to remind them that hardly everybody, or even a majority, accepted this nonsense at face value as he apparently did, and perhaps - this might be my naivete and idealism revealed here - in hopes that Trump supporters like him might have pause for thought about some of the obvious absurdities. Mostly, though, it is because I sometimes feel alone in feeling outrage, sadness, and sometimes close to despair over all of the nonsense, and I wanted to reach out to anyone and everyone else I could reach who was likeminded and perhaps felt isolated. Because it is important to remind each other, every now and then, that people opposed to this Trump bullshit are in fact the majority. Biden won the 2020 election not so much because he is such a beloved politician or leader, but because so many people could not stand what Trump and his mindless mass of loyal morons were doing to this country.
Yet, it seemed to me that this had to be approached with caution. Trump may be a lot of things, and his political rise did dredge a bit of despair. Again, it remains a mystery to me, even to this day, how people can be taken in by such an obvious scam artist. But another thing that all of this ridiculous nonsense can bring is the need to laugh, because of just how absurd it all is. There have been portrayals of presidents and other politicians who I loved to laugh at in the past. Those include the portrayals of both President George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot by Dana Carver, Michael Dukakis by Jon Lovitz, Bill Clinton by both Phil Hartman and Darrell Hammond, of George W. Bush by Will Farrell, of Sarah Palin by Tina Fey, and of Barack Obama by Key and Peele.
However, none of them - either the real politicians or, incredibly, the comedic actors portraying them - have approached the utterly levels of ridiculousness and absurdity of the actual Donald Trump. Yes, I enjoyed Alec Baldwin's impersonation of him, as well as some others. And yes, there were some other mockeries that made me laugh, as well. All of it seemed to pale by way of comparison to the real person behind all of that fake imagery that he hides behind. The "real" Donald Trump is the most absurd caricature imaginable. Sometimes, it is hard to believe that he is who he is, or that so many people could view him as someone to admire, of all things.
But you have to be careful, because part of the problem, and more than a little of the outrage, that people who support him feel is precisely due to that seemingly playful mockery. There is this perception that people who engage in such behavior are the "liberal elites." Moreover, there is this perception - justified or not - that these elites are looking down their noses at the rest of us. Frankly, when you look at some of the supposed champions that so-called liberals look up to - including but not limited to the Clintons, the Obamas, and the Bidens - you can begin to understand why some people might feel this way. After all, Hillary Clinton herself gave justification to this herself, with her infamous "basket of deplorables" comment. What in the hell is a "basket of deplorables," anyway? Something made up and used for political expediency by a seasoned politician infamous weighing her every word for maximum political benefit, of course.
In any case, laughter is, nevertheless, not only useful in combatting someone as absurd as Trump and those millions who mindless and unconditionally support him and everything he does so uncritically, but it also helps to keep ourselves sane during these insane times. So it seems necessary to joke and let out some laughter, even if many people who support him will feed on this outrage. Nothing helps us get over the dangers of taking ourselves too seriously quite like humor, even some mockery. And never before in American history has anyone so desperately been in need of mockery as Trump. Frankly, he is not merely asking for it, he is begging for it. So let's give it to him, and by extension his mindless mass of supporters every now and then.
It is in this spirit that I am sharing this recent Twitter post by Jeff Tiedrich. Tiedrich has had some very poignant and humorous criticisms of Trump over the last five or six years now. Many of these have gone viral. But this latest one felt like it stood out in my mind, because it felt so true. True enough, in fact, that I felt a need to share it here.
So without further ado, here is the post that got me on this topic. It is from yesterday, and is in response to the recent news story that the Trump team tried to pass fake Electoral College certificates in certain states during the 2020 election. I have included both the post and the link to the specific tweet, as well as a link to the actual news story from just a couple of days ago, as well:
Jeff Tiedrich @itsJeffTiedrich fucking shocked to learn that the guy with fake hair and fake tan and fake teeth and fake SAT scores and fake bone spurs and a fake foundation and a fake university and a fake charity tried to submit fake electoral certificates. holy fucking shit, how did we Nazi that coming
11:55 AM · Jan 15, 2022·Twitter Web App 6,835 Retweets 184 Quote Tweets 32.1K Likes
https://twitter.com/itsJeffTiedrich/status/1482396067488542722?cxt=HHwWhMC5sdHXw5IpAAAA
What fake 2020 Electoral College certificates tell us about America’s fragile democracy | Will Bunch, January 14, 2022:
Voters in 7 states won by Biden in 2020 met and cast electoral votes for Donald Trump. Where does this fit into the January 6 conspiracy?
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/fake-electoral-college-certificates-january-6-investigation-20220113.html
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