Everyone’s feeling down, even Michelle Obama
“I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression.” — Michelle Obama podcast, Aug. 6 What a coincidence. Everyone I know feels the same, Ms. Obama. Last night I dreamed I was trapped in a warehouse where every surface was covered in candle wax and I had to scrape it off with my fingernails. Is that a “Sisyphean-task-to-get-rid-of-Trump dream” or just your standard cleaning nightmare?
I worry about news stories that were once toweringly huge and awful slipping past me now, mostly underwater, like icebergs in the night.What happened to the children in cages at the U.S.-Mexico border? How are the sweatshop clothing workers of Bangladesh surviving as orders dry up?
Is the guy who was in charge of tidy cage placement at a Wuhan wild animal market in terrible trouble now? Did he go into another line of work? Who is Kayleigh McEnany? Why? Did she go to mermaid school? The law degree seems improbable.
Rocks thrown in a pond have ripples, this one 20 years later. Dick Cheney inspired a British serial rapist, rapper Andy Anokye, a.k.a. Solo 45, to waterboard four women he raped. Anokye, 33, was jailed for 24 years for doing to terrorized women what the CIA did to Guantanamo prisoners. Does Cheney get royalties?
“Thigh-land.” I cannot get Trump’s words out of my head, which is a shame as he has so many. Quotes advance through my days and nights, an endless drum roll, a doom roll. Here’s a brief snapshot. If it doesn’t make you a little depressed, congratulations.
“Just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.” — Michelle Obama á “Yo-Semites.” — Donald Trump á “Basically, we all knew he was an asshole, but he was our asshole.” — Mary Trump on the years when Uncle Donald was just a local family jerk.
“The country that Eisenhower led to victory three-quarters of a century ago is now a pathetic object, mocked and pitied around the world.” — Philip Kennicott in the Washington Post on the new and grand Dwight D. Eisenhower memorial in Washington.
“And the same thing with sinks, toilets and showers. You turn on the shower, you waste 20 minutes longer. ‘Please come out.’ The water — it drips, right? I got rid of that. So now when you actually go into a new home and pay a lot of money, you turn on the faucet and water actually comes out. Isn’t that nice?” — Donald Trump, Aug. 6
“Spiritually, these are not fulfilling times.” — Michelle Obama
“The old light bulb was so great, and they put it out of business. It was much cheaper, and it had much better light. And, you know, the new one is considered ‘hazardous waste.’ When you lose it, you’re supposed to take it down to a dump, a specified dump. How many people are going to do that with a light bulb? ‘Hey, you know, we lost this light bulb. Let’s travel 28 miles outside of the city to get rid of it.’ ” — Donald Trump
“Here’s how it works. The app will let you know if you’ve been in contact with someone who has the app and has tested positive for COVID-19. If that’s the case, it will then encourage you to call your provincial health services for guidance on what to do.” — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
“Cases up because of BIG Testing! Much of our Country is doing very well. Open the Schools!” — Donald Trump
“I’ve downloaded the app this morning, and I encourage you to do the same.” — Justin Trudeau
“So I put the old bulb back in.” — Donald Trump
“At the moment we seem to be headed for a Greater Recession — a worse slump than 2007-2009, overlaid on the coronavirus slump. MAGA!” — U.S. economist Paul Krugman
Then there’s that Axios interview with Trump. I can’t get over the flapping papers, Jonathan Swan’s foot twitching, his dumbstruck look.
“There are those that say you can test too much,” Trump said. “You do know that.” “Who says that?” asked Swan. “Read the manuals. Read the books.” “Manuals? What manuals?” “Read the books.” “What books?”