THE PROBLEM WITH REALITY

It's too fraught with problems and keeps getting in the way

trum☭’s latest effort seem hell-bent on doing his best to do away with reality, especially when it comes to his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Speaking more generally, however, he’d outlaw the concept entirely if he thought he could get away with it. At the rate he’s going, it might not be long before he just decides to dismiss reality entirely as a left-wing terrorist plot designed to interfere with his criminal enterprises campaign to Make America Grate Again. Actually, to hear the man speak, you’d think he’s already succeeded in doing so. If only REALITY would just play along with his schemes and quit rearing its ugly head whenever it feels like it, the president would be like a pig in clover! (More about pigs further down).

Along that line, the latest revelation, straight from the mouth of the imbecilic imperator himself, is this: It’s now Pete Kegsbreath’s fault we’re at war with Iran! Yes, it’s ‘G I Pete’ we can thank for agreeing with trump’s making the decision to send the supreme leader of the Shiite Muslim world to Islamic Valhalla. Watch your back, Pete. You might be more expendable than you believed! Remember Kristi Noem?

And just since I wrote this, Yahoo News reports that our ‘stable genius’ has declared on Truth Social “Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party!” I wonder if Iran has been notified it’s dead now? And, by the way, “Highly incompetent” is textbook projection, in case anybody’s interested. And trum☭’s referring to Iran’s replacement leadership at his Cabinet meeting today as “sinister, sick…really sick people?” That’s projection too!

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Consistent with the president’s sworn duty to uphold the Constitution, Heather Delaney Reese noted in her Substack column, trum☭ “(is pushing) the Save Act, which he calls the Save America Act but which is really the Save Trump from Losing Power Act, because it is the only legislative tool that might protect him from the voters who are turning against him.“ Then, she said, trum☭ said this: “I think anybody that votes against it shouldn’t be allowed to run for office,” adding that this “is not how a democratic republic works.”

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And then there’s the contrast between what Obama said about Robert Mueller’s death: “One of the finest directors in the history of the FBI,” and what trum☭ wrote on Truth Social about the former FBI Director’s passing: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

On the one hand, there’s former President Obama praising Mueller’s “unwavering dedication to upholding the rule of law” and his belief in foundational American values, and, on the other hand, mr trum☭’s cruel, small-minded and insensitive remarks—the kind of rubbish you would be rightfully concerned if your 8-year-old son came up with—speaking ill of the dead the way only an extremely troubled man who cannot see past his own manufactured grievances could do.

That, in a nutshell, is the difference between a statesman and a pig in orange paint. Sorry, pigs!

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But that, unfortunately, is what we have: A pig in orange face paint pretending, and doing extremely poorly at that, to be the leader of a nation gullible enough to expect him—despite the fact that he’s a serial liar, despite the fact that he made a supreme mess of things the first time around, and despite every conceivable warning the sane among our citizenry were able to voice in opposition to his re-election—to once again lead the nation in any responsible or reasonable manner whatsoever.

Someone once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” Wise words that mean nothing if they fall on deaf ears.

At this point, none of the world’s leaders are ignorant enough to believe for one moment that any lasting agreement can be forged with a man-child whose word is only good until the next person whispers something in his ear or dangles a shiny object in front of him that makes him decide to break it. In that regard, our president is as stupid as a trout, ready to bite at any shiny lure that crosses his path, with apologies due to all the trout out there who might take exception to the comparison.

Which is a long-winded way of saying why should we expect the Iranians, who despite whatever else we may think of them, are intelligent people, to place value in any deals being proposed by the people who just assassinated their Supreme Leader—and not just any supreme leader but the one who was also the leader of the Shiite branch of Islam, the Islamist equivalent to the Pope—in the midst of negotiating a peace accord with us?

And a brief note about assassinating religious leaders: not only have we now lost any “high moral ground” we may have possessed, however undeserved; with the murder of their Grand Ayatollah, our country has set a dangerous precedent. Who now would echo our outrage should one of our religious leaders, or heads of state even, God forbid, suffer a similar fate?

It’s painfully, embarrassingly clear that trum☭ possesses the requisite absence of intelligence to assume a “deal” with Iran is now possible—thank you MAGA people for making this unbelievably ridiculous situation achievable—but, as mentioned previously, the Iranians are not stupid people. That said, what reason would they have to believe that any conditions they might agree to would be upheld by our side?

But hey! With reality optional, all things are possible. Right?

Or, to be more exact, ‘with reality being optional,’ anything is possible, which has a far less comforting ring to it than ‘all things are possible’ but, sadly, it better fits the moment.

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As for Harry Truman’s “the buck stops here” credo, trum☭’s actions since he’s been president indicate the phrase should always be, “the buck stops there,” so for him to now say that bombing Iran back to some pre-industrial condition is Pete Kegsbreath’s fault seems strangely appropriate, doesn’t it? After all, isn’t Pete the Secretary of WAR, for chrissake?

Or perhaps trum☭’s “little excursion” in Iran should be called what he apparently hoped, without evidence, it would be—an incursion, defined online as “an invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one.” In his dreams, that is!

Stirring up a hornet’s nest is never a good idea, especially if the hornets are guided by strict ideology and armed with precision missiles. It looks like we’re now in for a prolonged fight. And who can blame the Iranians? Regardless of the history of the situation, launching an attack against a country in the midst of negotiating peace with it is a universally bad idea that can lead to even worse outcomes. Just ask the Japanese!

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The real problem with the Iran war, or with any of the president’s initiatives is, reality is not a thing that can be shaped to fit trum☭’s, or anyone’s imaginings; it cannot be constructed to support a failed ideology nor can it be made to comply with a president’s ill-conceived agenda.

Reality isn’t something that can be dismissed by labeling it “Fake News.” It isn’t a thing that can be stuffed into a box, labeled “confidential,” and stored in a corner in a gilded bathroom. Reality is not a thing that can be corralled, controlled or herded about at whim.

Reality can be mellow, and even at times pleasant, but it can also be cyclonic, a maelstrom, like Shiva, destroyer of hope and ambition; a fact beyond manipulation, a circumstance resistant to influence, a phenomenon that can only be endured.

Stating a lie, after all, does not somehow transform the lie into a truthful statement, no matter how many times the lie is repeated.

MAGA ears may hear the lie, bow down before the alter of Perpetual Propaganda, and repeat it as gospel, but no matter how many times the lie is repeated, it still remains a lie. For people determined to deceive others for less than noble reasons, reality can be a motherf**king nightmare!

But reality is also the only thing that, in the end, will triumph over the dystopian trum☭ian nightmare we are currently suffering through. It may not occur quickly; big wrongs take time to correct. But it will happen. The trum☭ era will ultimately be seen for what it was—a sham, an abhorrance.

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Reality is of a higher order than the things of this world that men have the agency to interfere with. Reality perseveres despite folks’ attempts to change it, alter it or shape it to fit peoples’ personal plot-lines. It’s been here far longer than we have and it will be here long after we’re gone.

The Epstein saga is reality come to roost, come to collect reparations long overdue, a disrupting NOW that can no longer be avoided, dodged or deferred. Reality at times like this can be as stated above, a destroyer of dreams. Reality can be a motherf**king nightmare!

Epstein! Epstein! Epstein!