Does Trump have the power to bend reality? Um, maybe
When President Donald Trump reportedly and allegedly doctored a photo of a map - you know, with a Sharpie - to try and prove that yes, Alabama was in fact in the path of Hurricane Dorian, I laughed. This is what I hoped for with a Trump presidency. I hoped for scribbles on a map. Just pure silliness. Out-there humor.
I mean, it’s a good thing Alec Baldwin is quite possibly done playing Trump on “Saturday Night Live.” This could’ve been a bit. Like, really. Can’t you see it? Baldwinas-Trump insisting Alabama was in danger, being told repeatedly it wasn’t, then grabbing a Sharpie and making it so? And then insisting it was real? It’s funny. Legitimately funny.
Of course, the Trump presidency has not been hilarious. It’s been something else entirely, at least for roughly 58% of the nation.
*****
It was about 7 a.m. The Costa Rican sun was shining on my face. I was sitting at the pool at the Tamarindo Village Hotel, a perfect little hotel situated high on the hill in the beach town of Tamarindo. I was far away from my day-to-day. No work, no worries, no nothing. Vacation, all I ever wanted.
And then I saw the planter. It was in the formof a human head. And clearly, the planter - about the size of a 55-gallon drum cut in half - wasmeant to show the visage of the indiginous people of Costa Rica.
But it looked like someone else. I may have shuddered, but then I definitely laughed.
*****
When Trump drew a picture on a map in an effort to prove a point, he was clearly attempting to bend reality by sheer force of will. This isn’t the first time he’s attempted to do this - he sort of does it nearly every single time he opens his mouth. Love him or hate him, he is constantly using the oxygen we breathe to try and force his own view of the truth on the people of this planet.
Now I’m not saying his reality-melting attempts and abilities caused me to see his scrunched up kisser in the middle of Central America on a delightful Sunday morning but uh … I’m not saying he’s not responsible, either. *****
So I don’t like Trump. No big news there. I don’t like the way he carries himself, I don’t like the way he treats the media, I don’t like the way he talks about people, I don’t like a lot about the guy. To me, he’s not presidential. Not in the least. I look forward to flipping the page on his presidency at some point.
But man alive is he good at wriggling into my psyche. I can’t not think about him. I think about him a lot. He’s constantly in my frontal lobe, and I can’t stand it.
Which is why vacation was so good. Got out of the country, out of my head a bit. I didn’t have to pay attention to the news for my job, so I tuned it all out. It was great to get away.
So you can imagine how seeing this planter hitme: Like an Alabama hurricane, that’s how.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@trentonian.com, facebook.com/jeffreyedelstein and @jeffedelstein on Twitter.