The Man with the Thin Orange Skin

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist 

Yes, I do recognize that there is a presidential inauguration scheduled for two weeks from tomorrow, and while, like many other patriotic Americans, I am consciously choosing to ignore the bad joke that my country has played on itself - twice, now - there are times when the behavior of the in-coming President is so bizarre, vain, petty, or dangerous that it begs to be highlighted, even in forums as obscure as personal blogs.  

Yes, I have been trying to avoid political stories since the election in November, and yes, even when I do wade into the political quagmire, I attempt to do so without using the next President's name because any mention of him anywhere represents ink and effort that could be put to far better use in bringing attention to actual good works accomplished by others - people who aren't obsessed with seeing their names on the covers of magazines or above the entrances to very tall buildings.

I am making a conscious effort to dwell on the big, orange megalomanic wearing the long, red tie as little as possible, but some days I just can't help myself - and today is one of those days.  Be aware, bitchiness follows.

The once and future President of the United States is a narcissist;  he lacks empathy for others and views all situations through a lens of how they will impact him personally.    He also categorizes people into two basic groups:  those who drool on his shoes as they stoop to kiss his ring, or his feet, or his ass, and those who don't.  He refers to the ones who don't grovel as haters, enemies, left-wing radicals, and even communists.

Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, was a man who didn't stoop to anyone.  The former Navy pilot had survived more than five years as a prisoner of war in the "Hanoi Hilton" in North Vietnam, and had come home after the war and built a political career from scratch, one that included serving as the GOP nominee for President in 2008.  McCain was a well respected fighter both in the military and on Capitol Hill.

But John McCain and the once-and-future President never hit if off, and when an interviewer remarked to that President during his first term that McCain was a war hero, the narcissist commander-in chief took exception to tha remark.   He said that the senator was a hero only because he had been captured, and then followed that with "I like people who weren't captured."

When John McCain passed away from brain cancer in the summer of 2018, he was not in the Presidents good graces.  The President had made a conscious effort to undo some of the accomplishments of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and McCain had been the decisive vote in preserving Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), one of the crown Jewels of that administration.  

McCain died on Saturday, August 25th, 2018, and the flags at the White House and other federal buildings were lowered to half-staff.  The normal practice for a person of McCain's stature was to leave the flag lowered until his burial.  But on the following Monday, several days before the senator's  burial, the flags at the White House were raised back to full-staff.  After dignitaries from both parties (including Schumer and McConnell)  complained publicly about the obvious slight to the deceased senator, the President finally relented and again had the White House flags lowerred to half-staff. 

(But the President did renew his pettiness the following weekend by not attending McCain's funeral - not that Meghan would have let him in anyway!)

Now it seems that the flag games may be about to resume.  When former President Jimmy Carter died last week, President Biden ordered that flags on federal buildings be flown act half-staff for thirty days, a common practice following the death of a former President. But thirty days will extend through the inauguration date, meaning that the flags at the White House will still be flying at half-staff, and the incoming President seems to be very unhappy about that - even to the point. of implying that could change once he takes the oath of office.  (It always has to be about him - and just him!)  In a posting to Truth Social, a media platform in which the next President is the majority owner, he said:

"The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my inauguration.  They think it's so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality they don't love our Country, they only think about themselves.   Look at what they've done to our GREAT America over the past four years - It's a total mess!!  In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast.  Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.  Let's see how it plays out."

Somebody has mighty thin orange skin!