There may be no other more nauseating or disturbing visual experience than suddenly encountering bloody, animal roadkill, while peacefully driving along a pretty country highway. The ensuing resolve not to look at it as you get closer is too often, overridden by an irresistible impulse to evoke the horrible experience of looking at it up- close.
Despite our sincere resolve to refrain from further comment on the Trump Presidency, it seems that such resolve, from time to time, is overridden by such an irresistible impulse to express further comment.
Americans have experienced continuous embarrassment from the international statements and actions of our President, evoking complete confusion as well as fomenting great danger. This adolescent President, ignorantly and dangerously threatens foreign adversaries to the effect that our missiles are bigger than their missiles,[ such boast. equivalent to the adolescent jibe, my father can lick your father] , possesses a complete lack of dignity or demeanor in any way appropriate to the office of the Presidency, communicates mendacious and impulsive Presidential messages, not though such dignified formats as fireside chats or official news conferences. but by populist tweets, derides scholarship, learning and science (especially, climate science), cynically violates the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which proscribes Presidential profit making, violates all considerations of conflict of interest, has converted the Oval Office into a mom and pop retail enterprise, is guilty of actions and statements manifesting sexual abuse (at a time when such species of misbehavior is being finally, and publicly addressed), expresses bigoted opinions and a subtle support of White Supremacists, demonstrates consistent mendacity, yet attacks the responsible media for their truthfulness, cruelly treats immigrants (in a nation of immigrants and their progeny), expresses opposition to women’s rights for equity in pay and personal control of their bodies, and has generally, demonstrated a marked level of ignorance, coupled with a false show of supreme confidence without question, continuously adds roadkill to the previous accumulation created by him that has gravely soiled the (previously revered) U.S. Office of the President.
Recently, Trump, arguably, exceeded the excessive bounds of his previously reprehensible statements, by publicly referring to Haiti and the African nations as s—hole countries. This behavior, which would be unacceptable if uttered by the most disrespectable street person, let alone the President of the United States, supplied the shocking impetus for our current remarks, and is uncontrovertibly qualified to enlarge the previously growing inventory of rank Presidential roadkill.
The traditional ancient Greek tragedies, authored by such outstanding playwrights as Sophocles, made for great theatrical entertainment, but also communicated an eternal therapeutic message, and a severe warning to the audience. In his plays, the protagonist, always a character larger than life, usually a king (as contrasted with our chief executive, who is of despicable description) ultimately suffers profound personal tragedy, as the result of his excessive pride and arrogance (hubris). During the play’s performance, a chorus, rocking back and forth (strophe and antistrophe), recites the intended lesson, sophrosyne, (moderation), warning the audience of the bitter end, predictably brought on by excess. The tragic denouement, usually so horrible as to evoke an intended catharsis (emotional release and cleansing) to the members of the audience, constituted an enduring lesson to all, concerning uncontrolled prideful behavior. The offending protagonist usually suffers extreme and horrifying punishment, as plucking out his own eyes, or in the case of a female, the commission of the infanticide of her own children.
In certain of his works, our selected Greek playwright would show merciful relief by the employment of an ancient theatrical technique known as, deux-ex-machina (god in a machine )a mechanical device, bearing a devine personage to stay the horrible, retributive punishment, by its physical removal of a character or element in the play.
We make note of the continuing arrogant excesses practiced by our own despicable chief executive, whose frequent errant behavior is patently observable and well sung by our present day, estimable Greek chorus, especially, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Perhaps we can awake citizen Sophocles to arrange for a divine theatrical apparatus to remove the protagonist, before some horrendous tragedy is enacted.
Foir the present, we are obliged to suffer the daily unavoidable sight of accumulating, offensive roadkill.
-p.
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