The famous definition says insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. I have been experiencing a variation of that:
I had hoped when Trump lost in 2020 that he would fade away. My hopes were not fulfilled. I had hoped that when he won in 2024, his increased experience would mean that he would show more knowledge and spew out less, how shall I put it, hooey. My hopes were not fulfilled. I had hoped that his supporters would now recognize the hooey and say something about it or, at least, not be taken in by it. But, of course, that didn’t happen.
I was reminded of this when a conservative website attacked the “Meet the Press” host for being deceptive in her interview with Trump. The president-elect told Kristen Welker that he planned to get rid of birthright citizenship. She responded that the 14th Amendment says, “All persons born in the United States are citizens.” The right-wingers rightfully called Welker out on this because she did not cite the 14th Amendment language that gives birthright citizenship to people born here only if they are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. The conservative complaint about Welker, however, did not complain about Trump. For years he has said that he plans to eliminate birthright citizenship, but he still does not seem to know what the 14th Amendment says (or anything in the Constitution for that matter). He responded to Welker’s statement with a simple “Yeah.” You might have thought that he would immediately correct Welker, but he did not. Instead, he went on to say that we are the only country with birthright citizenship. That is hooey. He then went further and said that “if somebody sets a foot, just a foot, one foot, you don’t need two, on our land, ‘Congratulations you are now a citizen of the United States of the United States of America.’” That is so many plops of hooey that it is knee high. But while Welker was called out, the conservatives did not call out the person who will be president and has and will take an oath to the Constitution. I don’t think that I am insane, but I did foolishly hope for different results and more sanity.
When I watch “Antiques Roadshow,” I find out that I am much like many of the objects brought for appraisal—I have “condition issues.”
She was visibly upset when she came into his office. The teacher assumed that she was reacting to the election results from the day before, but he still asked. She said that she had helped her parents vote. She explained that they were born in China, and because they spoke little English, she was allowed to aid her mother and father in the voting booth. Each had voted for Trump. She started to cry in the teacher’s office, and between sobs said that after leaving the polls, she asked how they could do that. Did they not know what Trump would do to them if he could? Her mother responded, “At least he’s not Black.” The parents had been urging their daughter to go to a college near their Philadelphia home. The high school student said that she was now determined to go as far away as possible.
The spouse regularly seeks bargains for gasoline. She will wait a long time in line idling at Costco to save a few cents a gallon. When driving, it is amazing how many prices she spots, eagle-eying servicing stations. To the delight of all traveling in her vehicle, she comments, often with a surprised tone, on at least 90 percent of them. (I do confess that I might do something similar.)
The childhood death rate started to increase in 2019 before the Covid pandemic began and while Trump was president. It increased 18 percent between 2019 and 2021, which was fueled by more gun and drug deaths. Predictions about what happens in the next Trump presidency?
