Thursday, August 17, 2017

Trump Heads West for Ego Massage

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

When Sally Field's character - an aging soap opera actress - in the movie Soapdish needed an emotional uplift, her friend - and the soap opera's head writer - Whoopi Goldberg, would take her out to a shopping center in New Jersey, arrange to have her suddenly recognized by shopping housewives, and then stand back as Sally's fans swarmed her in praise and adulation.  It was a world-class ego massage designed to bring the actress out of her funk.

Donald Trump is coming off of a very, very bad week, one in which he equivocated and tripped all over himself as he attempted to respond to racial violence in Virginia in a presidential manner without offending the rabid racist elements of his political base.    The Donald was having trouble feeling the love.

The time for an ego massage was definitely at hand - and what venue could be more fitting than a road trip to Arizona, the place where Candidate Trump held seven rallies during the campaign.  The Trump circus would head to Phoenix so the boss could feel the love of the desert dwellers and perhaps even make some major news while he was there.

While Donald Trump may have virtually lived in Arizona during the campaign, he has not been back to the Scorpion State since his inauguration - and he's ready to get out there and soak up some love.  Next Tuesday he will be speaking at the Phoenix Convention Center which is downtown and not too far from Sky Harbor Airport where Air Force One will land.

Many of the state's Republican office holders are expected to be on stage with Trump at the campaign-style rally - with the notable exception of two.  Both Republican United States senators from Arizona,,John McCain and Jeff Flake, are likely to be targets of Trump's infamous ire.  There is even a rumor floating about that Trump will use the rally to endorse a primary opponent of Flake - most likely State Treasurer  Jeff DeWit.

It is also very likely that a convicted felon, former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio, will join Trump at the rally.  Trump has strongly hinted over the past few days that he may give Arpaio a presidential pardon for his crimes.  With both Trump and Arpaio's love of the spotlight, the Phoenix rally would seem to be the perfect place to make that big announcement.

And Trump, ever the showman, has promised that he will be making a big announcement next week in Phoenix.

But not everybody loves The Donald, not even in Phoenix.  The city's mayor, Greg Stanton, is encouraging Trump to cancel because "our nation is still healing from the tragic events in Charlottesville."

Trump has other ideas, however.  He is going to Phoenix to forget about Charlottesville and change the subject.   One of the problems with that is that Trump always slides back into his comfort zone of bigotry and snarling hatred.  At his core, Donald Trump is Donald Trump, and a road trip isn't going to change that.

Stay strong, Phoenix!

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