Unpresidented = Potatoe?

There are those of us of a certain age who were always grateful that George H.W. Bush remained in solid-enough health that we never experienced the notion of Dan Quayle being elevated from the vice-presidency to the head of our federal government.
 

QUAYLE: What would his 'presidency' been like?

He being the man who showed a certain intellectual incuriosity (we still laugh at his gaffe of using an archaic spelling of “potato” in trying to correct a child at a spelling bee.

FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald J. Trump is showing us that he has the same traits. Despite an advanced education (Fordham University and the Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania), he is proof that being able to pass college classes is no guarantee that someone ought to be considered intelligent.

Heck, Trump gave us his own Quayle-type gaffe with a recent Twitter message where he meant to use the word “unprecedented.” Only his new job title apparently is dominant on his mind these days, because it came out “unpresidented.”

Trump will never get to live this gaffe down, just as we still remember that extra “e” on potato that Quayle gave us nearly three decades ago – and that may well be a prominent part of his obituary on that day years from now (he hopes!) when he departs us.

Not that this should be any surprise.

THE WHOLE THEORY behind Trump’s rise to political significance has been one of appealing to a certain segment of society that is suspicious of anyone who claims to be too intellectual.

TRUMP: Maybe he'll show us!

Which means I’m sure the Trump Nation, so to speak, is coming up with sarcastic wisecracks in reference to anyone who brings up the fact that Trump can’t spell “unprecedented.”

For all I know, many of these people may have seen Trump’s latest Tweet from a twit and didn’t even realize there was a spelling error until it was pointed out to them.

And for these kinds of people, there’s nothing lower than a know-it-all who always seems to be capable of pointing out when they make a mistake.

Nobody would mistake Melania Trump ...

THEY DON’T WANT to have someone point out their gaffes, or those of the people they want to believe are truly wisened (as some in our society seem to think of Trump just because he has managed to survive in the business world without his bankruptcies actually managing to financially bust him).

... for Marilyn Quayle, although w/ her hair,

Which is probably how they also feel about those who point out that they voted for a bigot, or were willing to look the other way to the bigoted backers who are the key to comprehending how Trump managed to “win” an election despite gaining some 2.8 million votes fewer than Hillary Clinton.

What I think we’re going to experience in the next few years (four, or maybe less if he really does get bored of being in the Oval Office) is the sense of what life would have been like if we had ever had to experience the concept of “President Quayle.”

Considering that I previously had considered the Trump presidency to be the equivalent of California experiencing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or Minnesota being silly enough to think one-time pro wrestler Jesse Ventura ought to be in charge, I wonder if being the next Dan Quayle is a step up – or down!

THE TWO HAVE a certain sense of similarity when it comes to a lack of interest in what anybody else thinks about them.

... Marilyn could have been Mary Tyler Moore

Except, perhaps for the type of women they like to surround themselves with. Trump goes for a certain type of woman whose sense of glamour brings to mind the old cliché, “It costs a lot of money to look that cheap.”

While Quayle gave us as a spouse Marilyn, the woman whose “flip” hairstyle brought back memories of Mary Tyler Moore back in the days when she was the TV spouse of Dick Van Dyke.

We’re going to get enough gaffes in coming years so that there’s a good chance that “unpresidented” may fall by the wayside – just because he’ll manage to say or do something even more stupid.

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EXTRA: First lady won’t live in White House, reminiscent of Patti Blagojevich

I couldn’t help but be reminded of Patti Blagojevich when I read the reports saying that incoming first lady Melania Trump has no intention of wanting to reside in Washington at the White House.
 

MELANIA: Wants to be stay-at-home mom in N.Y.

Let’s not forget that when Rod Blagojevich served as Illinois governor, he ultimately became the guy who spent as little time as possible in the capital city, didn’t even like going into the official governor’s office in Chicago and wound up trying to run the state from the office he created for himself at his Ravenswood Manor neighborhood home.

PART OF THE motivation for that was the fact that Patti really didn’t want anything to do with a life in Springfield, and tried to explain it as a desire to keep her two daughters (now all grown up) grounded in real-life.

Similar to how Melania is saying she wants to remain in New York because of her 10-year-old son, Barron. He’s in school, and she wants us to believe that she wants to provide for him the typical lifestyle of a growing boy.

Although considering that the Trumps live in the penthouse apartment of the Trump Towers building in Manhattan, it can be argued that having to reside in the White House might be a step closer to the typical lifestyle the bulk of us live.

Whereas in the case of the Blagojeviches, Patti told the State Journal-Register back at the time her husband became governor, “We’re not Rockefellers, so when Rod’s term or terms as governor is over, we have no means to live like this. It would just be an unnatural thing for us to get used to.”

THE QUESTION REMAINS, “Are the Trumps wealthier than the Rockefellers?”

Forbes magazine has come up with a crude estimate of the Rockefeller wealth at being $22.22 billion in modern-day monetary value, compared to about $3 billion for the Trumps.

Although I suspect Trump thinks he can hold his own financially, and in fact I wonder if Trump thinks that living and working out of his own home and offices instead of the government-provided ones somehow gives him an excuse to not have to comply with all the disclosure requirements we’d normally demand of a president.

 

PATTI: Didn't like the Statehouse lifestyle

Either that, or maybe Trump just thinks the White House is a dive compared to his own apartment or Florida-based Mar-A-Lago mansion.

ALL I KNOW is that if he really feels that way about the White House, I’d hate to think how he’d feel if he ever had to set foot in the Executive Mansion in Springfield.

What with falling plaster, mold developing in spots, rainwater seeping into the Lincoln bedroom and a busted elevator (based on various news reports about the repairs now being undertaken), the sight of it probably would have been enough to scare Trump away from wanting to get into public service in the first place.

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It's sad that ideologues have waited for years for this moment to demonize Hillary Rodham Clinton reputation

Many people have made much of the failure of Ted Cruz to explicitly endorse Donald Trump for president and the plagiarism of potential first lady Melania that took place during this year’s Republican National Convention.

 

CLINTON: Her moment to shine comes next week

But what was truly notable about the events of the week just ended were the sentiments expressed about likely Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

FROM THE MOCK “trial” of the one-time Ms. Rodham by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to the repetitious chants of “Lock her up!” that could be heard throughout the Quicken Loans Arena all week, this was not a friendly audience for the one-time first lady and secretary of state.

Not that a nominating convention audience is ever sympathetic toward the political challenger. But this was most definitely a crowd that has anxiously been awaiting, probably for years, for a chance to vote “no” to the idea of Hillary Rodham Clinton as our nation’s 45^th chief executive.

Although I wonder how much of the anger that was seething throughout the hall (overcoming the feel-good vibe that ought to exist in the building that is the home of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers) is devoted to hatred of Hillary, as opposed to having to vote for Trump as president because she’s the only legitimate choice on the ballot.

In this year of 2016, the one with the Election season whose unofficial (but all-too-truthful) theme is “Who Do I Hate the Most?!?,” it became clear that the hatred level of Hillary Clinton runs high.

 

CHRISTIE: Should Hillary put him on trial?

I’M SURE THE people gathered in Cleveland this week to nominate Trump for the U.S. presidency are angered by the many polls that show Clinton favored by more potential voters across the country.

Because to them, there is no one worth despising more than Hillary Rodham Clinton. It’s like these people feed off the hatred and negativity, which likely has built up for the past couple of decades since the days of Bill Clinton as president.

 

CRUZ: Not all like Trump

After all, these same ideologues managed to impeach (if not convict) Bill Clinton. He was supposed to wither away in disgrace, and take that despicable wench of a wife he has with him.

In fact, I don’t doubt there are some who think Bill Clinton’s punishment for being an unacceptable president ought to be to have to live the rest of his life with Hillary.

 

CLINTON: Origin of Hillary hatred?!?

INSTEAD, BILL CLINTON has become a prominent ex-president more highly regarded than either of the Bushes who comprise the former Republican presidents still living.

And now, if a majority of the electorate follows through with their belief that Trump is too stupid, bigoted, maniacal, racist (whichever word you prefer, I personally think egotistical is most accurate) to be president, then Bill Clinton will literally be back in the White House – even if just in the role of presidential spouse who becomes her unofficial top adviser (no actual title, but trying to tell her that Bill Kaine of Virginia ought to be the VP nominee) on issues of policy.

That, I’m sure, is a significant part of the anger we saw on display in Cleveland. If only the Republican Party were not so dysfunctional these days, perhaps it could have picked a better candidate to run against her.

Although the real fear (hope for salvation, amongst the Trump-ites) is that the sense that Hillary has this election wrapped up will cause a sense of apathy. One that results in many people not bothering to cast ballots, which could turn the Trump-ites into a real majority that could win.

FOR AS AN e-mail message from the CHC Bold PAC says, “Republicans LOVE Trump. Republicans WANT Trump to win. Republicans WON’T STOP until Trump is President.” Then, they hit me up for a contribution to the cause of electing Democrats.

 

The sentiment Clinton hopes to convey in Philly

Which is nonsense! The GOP is schizophrenic enough these days they don’t agree with Trump. What they agree upon is “Hillary bad” (although most likely, they substitute another “B” word to describe her).

Which, in a sense, means the Republicans this week failed to give us a single legitimate reason to vote FOR Donald Trump. It’s all about voting against “that woman!”

Which ought to make the true majority of our society take seriously the notion of casting a ballot for Hillary come Nov. 8 – even if it’s just to spite all the angry white guys on display this week. Who in all honesty are going to find something to be angry about no matter who wins this election cycle!

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EXTRA: Will we really care by week’s end about plagiarized Trump speech?

I can’t get too worked up over the fact that would-be first lady Melania Trump stole bits of her nominating convention speech (the one in which she was supposed to convince the nation that her husband wasn’t the ogre many presume him to be) from a similar talk given eight years ago by First Lady Michelle Obama.

 

Will Trump rescue Melania's reputation ...

For one thing, I highly suspect that this won’t even be the most stupid moment of this year’s Republican convention. For all I know by the time you read this, Trump or one of his allies will have done something even dumber.

THIS COULD WIND up being a mini moment of absurdity in a week devoted to ridiculousness.

After all, Trump is showing us that he doesn’t care what the so-called rules of politics are – he’s going to do things his way.

Considering that this is the real estate developer who thinks that all of his buildings need to have his name on them in giant letters (40 feet high, for his tower in Chicago), I’m sure he thinks anything is appropriate – so long as it’s done on his behalf.

His so-called defense Tuesday morning to his wife’s rhetoric Monday night amounted to little more than telling us not to pay attention to that man behind the curtain – the Wizard of Oz line of logic.

PERSONALLY, I THINK that she took a couple of lines during her 10-minute address to the nation isn’t whole-hearted pirating. In fact, some could claim it flattery that she would take from the source being the spouse of the man that Trump wants us to believe is the source of all this nation’s problems.

I should be honest in admitting that it was a speech-writer who actually came up with this talk. I doubt that Melania herself would be capable of crafting a speech of any significant length – even though she claims she put it together herself.

 

... by doing something more absurd to distract?

Which means she probably gave it a read-through, and may have changed a word or two. But this is more a case of an amateurish campaign taking pride in its amateurism and thinking they can get away with anything.

What is most pathetic is that Melania Trump’s talk was supposed to be the key of the Monday night activity (unless you believe that it was Scott Baio the nation really wanted to hear from).

SHE WAS SUPPOSED to put the human face on him. She was supposed to give us insights into the real man that would make us all want to cast our votes for him come Nov. 8.

Instead, she goes into the history books as the ultimate trophy wife who earned her place at Trump’s side because he likes the way she looks while wearing a tight sweater. I can’t help but wonder what Ivana or Marla think these days?

The nominating convention proceeds, and we’ll be waiting for the next gaffe – one most likely to be committed by Trump himself. For unlike most nominating conventions where the candidate doesn’t show up until the last minute and the events build a level of suspense leading to that moment, Trump wants to make daily appearances.

Just like he can’t envision a building without his name on it, he thinks this week is all about him. Feeding his ego, which really is the purpose of his whole presidential campaign.

IT IS WHY I actually found it funny to learn that former President George W. Bush recently attended a reunion of his staff from his days in the White House, and said there’s a good chance he’ll be the last Republican to ever get elected president.

 

BUSH: No longer the GOP head dumb-dumb!

All because Trump is about to do so much damage to the political brand that was once the “Party of Lincoln” and had a nobility in the way it stood up to the segregationist elements of our society. Now, Trump seems determined to let those people know the GOP won’t hold their nativist thoughts against them.

Although in a sense, you’d think that Bush would be pleased to have a Trump come along. He’ll get blamed for killing off the GOP’s chances of being anything more than a regional political party of rural America.

Because it detracts from the blame that some would put on Bush himself – what with his own many intellectual gaffes as president – for causing the political party irreparable harm!

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