Sunday, June 09, 2019

And Intermediate State Or Condition

Two guys walk into a bar, which is really stupid since you would figure the first guy walks into a bar then the second would see it, right?
And this old joke occurs to me now as I bask in the supposed afterglow of our "President's" most recent visit abroad. This illusory bar that gets thrown around so often is supposed to be the one that is jumped over, a high jump. The current world record for this physical feat for a human being is just under two and a half meters. Considering most humans stand just below two meters in height, this is a considerable achievement. But that's not where most athletes start. It's not where they practice. Initially, the idea is just to clear the bar. That bar is placed lightly at the top of vertical standards so if contact is made, it falls, suggesting that maybe the bar should be lowered. Lowered until the jumper can make the jump without knocking the bar down. 
If you smell a metaphor, you are right on track. Our "President" has currently lowered the bar for "presidential" behavior. Name-calling, lying, arguing. It's like we're raising a petulant teenager instead of being led by a competent statesman, as the dribs and drabs of his social media stream continues to show just how cantankerous and ridiculous he can be. 
For example: Just before taking the podium at a military cemetery in France, marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day, our "president" took the opportunity to point fingers and call names one more time. He called former special counsel Robert Mueller a “fool” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “disaster.” Mister Mueller, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam war had no response. Ms. Pelosi, who was also in Normandy to commemorate the invasion of Normandy, had this reply: “I don’t talk about the president while I’m out of the country. That’s my principle.”
Ah, principles. That's what we've been missing. And while our commander in chief scurries about the globe irritating others and stirring up his own brand of trouble, he seems to be playing a different game. Not the high jump, but Limbo. How low can you go? Squeezing under the bar set by his conduct seems easy enough for him, even as he systematically lowers it himself. Donald Trump walks into a bar, but misses as he slides right below it. I don't think I want to see how much lower he can go. 

No comments: