To paraphrase Charles E. Weller, a not
particularly acclaimed typing teacher whose phraseology is much better known
than he, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their
country.” Typing drill notwithstanding, never has a single catch phrase been
truer…or quite frankly, more compelling, vis-à-vis the future of our great
nation. The United States of America, of it’s own volition, plunged into the
depths of governing darkness, when on November 8, 2016, it elected Donald J.
Trump the 45th President of the United States.
Since President Trump was inaugurated in
January, countless efforts have emerged to challenge his ascendance.
Collectively those efforts are frequently referred to as The Resistance, or simply
RESIST. The ongoing national conversation, or more aptly, debate, concerning
whether we as a nation should embrace the TrumpWorld philosophy of dissembling,
deflecting, and/or distracting, or stand and fight the power, not unlike
Republicans of virtually every stripe, conventional, and non-conventional, did
for the entirety of President Obama’s two terms, roils our political discourse
daily. This trench warfare will almost surely continue for the foreseeable
future.
Meanwhile, every now and then, a voice bursts
upon the scene and speaks a clarion truth so scintillatingly poignant that it
minimizes, if not mutes, all others. For this week anyway, Gregg Popovich has
done that…for me. I admit, last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, nailed
it. His alleged “eff’n moron” appellation was acutely forceful, conceptually,
yet subtle due to Tillerson’s deftly dancing around whether he really made the
comment. San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich left no such lingering question
of certitude about whether he said what he said. He did.
Like in virtually every instance of resistance
to TrumpWorld antics, the protest or act of resisting was preceded by Trump’s
own comments. Sometimes it’s a tweet, at other times it’s remarks, but it’s
always something. This time, during an impromptu news conference at the White
House on Monday, Trump told the assembled media that he’d personally written
letters to the families of soldiers who’d been slain in Niger, and that those
letters had either been sent, or were going to be sent later in the day. He
claimed to have written them over the weekend, and asserted that he would soon
call the families. He insisted that calling is something that he traditionally
does, but that he wanted some time to pass, and that he’d do it when it’s
appropriate.
In discussing his actions, Trump apparently
felt compelled to invent a fictitious contrast between his actions, and those
of President Obama and other Presidents, whom he suggested never, or seldom
called such families. More precisely, he said:
“If you
look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a
lot of them didn’t make calls.” He went on to add, “President Obama, I think
probably did sometimes and maybe sometimes he didn’t. I don’t know. That’s what
I was told. All I can do is ask my generals. Other presidents did not call.
They’d write letters. And some presidents didn’t do anything. But I like, I
like the combination of – I like, when I can, the combination of a call and
also a letter.”
As you might imagine, such a
statement, ubiquitous and nonsensical claims of fake news and alternative facts
to the contrary, is easily researchable. This one was quickly proved to be
false.
From the standpoint of those
inclined to pushback against the never nuanced machinations of Mr. trump, there
is seldom heard a more piercing, probing, or powerful voice than that of Gregg
Popovich. He has weighed in a number of times, and did so again Monday. Popp’s
Spurs teams have won five NBA Titles. He is considered a basketball savant by
many fans of the sport. In the past he has previously decried Trump’s
disgusting tone and tenor, as well as his xenophobic, homophobic, racist, and
misogynistic comments. However, according to Dave Zirin, a writer for The
Nation, he’d never heard Popovich more frustrated, fed up, tense, and angry
than he was about Trump’s comments Monday. In response to the above noted
commentary, expressed by Trump, Popovich said:
“I’ve
been amazed and disappointed by so much of what this President had said, and his
approach to running this country, which seems to be one of just never-ending
divisiveness. But his comments today about those who have lost loved ones in
times of war and his lies that previous Presidents Obama and Bush never
contacted their families, is so beyond the pale, I almost don’t have words
(almost).
The man in the Oval Office is a soulless coward who
thinks that he can only become large by belittling others. This has of course
been a common practice of his, but to do it in this manner – and to lie about
how previous Presidents responded to the deaths of soldiers – is as low as it
gets. We have a pathological liar in the White House,
unfit intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically to hold this office, and
the whole world knows it, especially those around him every day. The people who
work with this president should be ashamed, because they know better than
anyone just how unfit he is, and yet they choose to do nothing about it. This
is their shame most of all.”
Then he said, “Bye, Dave.”
The beauty of Popp’s
comments, among other things is, by contrast to those attributed to Rex
Tillerson, always comfortable in his own skin, Popovich owned his comments like
a boss. He prefaced his remarks by specifically saying to Zirin:
“I want to say something, and please make sure this is on
the record.”
Perhaps this rant was
courtesy of the bald-faced nature of this particular lie, conceivably it was
borne of the outrage sprang from Popovich’s own history in the military;
regardless, it was his time to vent…and he claimed it, without mercy…”A Soulless Coward: Popovich’s Lament!”
I’m done; holla back!
Read my blog
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Consult the links below for more detailed
information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/opinions/trump-dodge-on-fallen-troops-was-a-disgrace-begala/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/politics/president-donald-trump-john-kelly-obama-phone-call/index.html
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