"Mystic River"
Copyright Silver Rose Parnell
Abstract patterns give the impression of river.
I woke this morning wondering what fresh hell would assault me when I checked into the news, as I am wont to do these days. I admit I HAVE been worried about our country since Donald Trump took the throne.
First up was the propaganda show put on by Trump's propaganda machine, carefully scripted and dripping with inappropriate superlatives in a concert of hyperbole known as the "Press Briefing." Sean Spicer read from his daily tribute to The Dear Leader, extolling his virtues, where even Trump's incredible faux pas and failures are couched in self-congratulatory terms.
If I wrote about every occasion upon which Trump threatened our national safety, reputation or security, I would spend my entire day writing political blogs, and that isn't my role in life. Nor is it even my genre, as a writer. As a religious woman, matters of state do not typically take any space in my mind, except where I feel that religious freedoms may be at stake, and this is where I feel Donald Trump may do us the most harm, which is why I write about him on occasion.
As is customary with these so-called "press briefings," Spicer has very little definitive information in answer to any of the questions asked by the press. He dances around all the topics like an aged ballerina. It is obvious from his verbal Swan Lake that he has not been given permission to convey any information that is not contained in the highly scripted Ode to the Toad.
This is the pattern of the joke known as "The Press Briefing": Spicer reads the Ode, the contents of which convey the uneven input of the Greek Chorus that has combed through it, overseen by Trump, who has thrown clunky, brash superlatives into the mix, like flat notes inserted into an overwhelmingly loud and brassy piece of performance art. The entire tone of the opus is false, where all of Trump's failures and missteps are characterized as grand successes, such as the recent debacle in Yemen in which lives were lost. Trump, through the mouth of Spicer, insists that it was a "success" (because everything he does is a success in his own eyes and anyone who disagrees is invited to leave or is summarily fired.)
The Press tries to get detail from Spicer, who has OBVIOUSLY been put under some kind of gag order by Trump. Trump issues the "truth of the day" and that's it. That's all you get. Even when the topic of RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS was batted around, Spicer was obviously trying not to say anything that would get him in trouble on either side.
In this morning's briefing we learned, in general terms that Trump is in favor of religious people being able to adhere to their religion without interference from the government, but Spicer couldn't commit to what that meant exactly. He can only deal with general theory because his boss hasn't prepared any specifics or his boss doesn't want anyone to be prepared for the specifics when he writes one of his flood of executive orders that he's been printing up like playbills for the show that is Trump.
Because Trump behaves so inappropriately and has become a laughing stock with the majority of Americans and the rest of the world, Spicer's announcement this morning about religious freedoms is painful to hear. If the press secretary of a man with gravitas were saying the same things, it would be of great benefit to those of us who are pro-life and do not wish to be forced to participate in any activity that even whispers the name of abortion. None of us wants federal money going to Planned Parenthood. We do not want little family businesses bankrupted because their religious sentiments prevent them from baking cakes for weddings of same sex couples. People voted for Trump SOLELY because they hoped he would reverse Roe v. Wade by a well placed Supreme Court placement or two or three.
If Trump was a serious diplomat, a skilled and elegant leader, aware of the nuances of politics and people, his support of religious freedom would have some weight. He would be able to change the flow of culture that is careening close to the edge of outright public persecution of Christians, but since he is such an incredible boob, it is harmful to the cause to be affiliated with him. Everything he does is wacky, uninformed, boorish, impolite and just plain primitive.
Sometime in the future, when Trump is out of office, everything he does will be reversed, just as he is now trying to reverse everything that Obama did, and our country is going to have to figure out how to prevent someone like this from grabbing power ever again. We are going to have to rebuild our democracy, after he and Steve Bannon are through tearing it down.
When Trump was first elected, I worried a lot about how his behavior would affect America's relationships with our allies and our enemies alike, but I now realize that our allies have leaders who are more intelligent, skilled, nuanced and educated than Trump. Foreign leaders in the developed world see him for who he is, and they also see us for who WE are. They know that Trump lost the popular vote by close to 3 million people. They have seen the videos of mass marches and demonstrations against him in cities all over the U.S. They know that "America" is not behind Trump, but these leaders also see diplomatic affairs through the lens of history, where patterns of behavior are crucial to the apprehension of future events.
Trump is not the first fatally flawed egomaniac to take control of a country, suppress freedom of speech and produce masses of propaganda to disguise what is really going on. Autocrats throughout history have picked out a vulnerable population to blame for everything that is wrong in the country. With the Nazis, it was the Jews. With Trump it is the "illegals." It is typical for this type of leader to move their family into the seat of power, giving the closest jobs to those to whom they are related. Trump is not the first man to fire anyone who dares refuse to do something illegal to satisfy the monarch. Nor is he the first to make wild, impossible promises like Trump's promise to improve services and create more jobs while cutting costs at the same time. Hitler's promises of wealth and plenty upon the removal of the Jews was a similar promise. PATTERNS. Patterns (history) count.
Autocrats like Trump commonly use force, bullying, intimidation and personal humiliation as primary tools to accomplish his real purpose. Look to his Leninist, white supremacist sidekick, Steve Bannon, for clues to Trump's real agenda. Trump is out to dismantle our brand of democracy and create something else. He just hasn't told us about it. You can read about it, though, in the Breitbart editorials.
World leaders see Trump for who he is, which is why the Australian Prime Minister didn't mention Trump's boorish rudeness during their telephone call. When asked about it by the press, he only said, with a slight smile playing on his lips, that the deal between America and Australia (with regard to some refugees who have been stuck on some islands outside Australia for a few years) is still in place. Later, he expressed regret that there was a leak of his telephone conversation with the president.
Leaders of foreign countries can see the patterns of Trump's behavior, patterns to which he seems to be enslaved. In every interaction, no matter who it is, Trump first flatters his target and then he flatters himself a while, at which point, he makes a grab for whatever he wants or makes the self-aggrandizing point he wants to make. If Trump doesn't get what he wants out of the interaction, he goes on the attack and in his most hostile, boorish manner, starts calling his adversary unsavory names and insulting them. Everyone knows this about him. Nervous laughter ensues. No one is going to give a hint that they disagree with him.
He certainly did this with the women he pursued and assaulted. First, he flatters the woman, then he flatters himself, then he makes a grab for what he wants. If rebuffed, he calls her ugly or whatever other vile insult comes into his mind. He did this to at least one of the dozen or so women who came forward to confirm that his bragging about sexual assaults was true. He has no shame, this man. His support of the cause of religious freedom is about as helpful as that of the KKK.
We take our cues of behavior from the patterns of what other people do and say, wear and consume. Our bodies are conformed of patterns of cells. Bees produce wax homes for their queens and their honey using hexagonal patterns that are beautifully laid out. This is a natural gift given by God. Patterns of behavior inform our consciousness and help us decide what is safe, what is good, what is bad.
Criticizing Donald Trump, based on his patterns of behavior, isn't safe. Nervous laughter.
After watching the Press Briefing reality show, I took a look at some film of Trump's meeting today with Harley Davidson motorcycle riders. He stroked them for a short time with a handful of whatever flattery he had in his head at the moment. Then he immediately switched to flattering himself. He talked about his great win of the presidency (which he can't seem to get over and continues to crow about), then made insulting comments about his telephone call with the Australian Prime Minister (which has nothing to do with the Harley Davidson people who were sitting in front of him and which prompted nervous laughter.)
Trump is the original solipsist, except that you may not exist in his consciousness even if you ARE sitting right in front of him. His mind is captured by the latest irritation he experienced and/or the current lie he is trying to promote. I guess he thinks that if he says it enough times to enough people in enough venues it will magically become true.
This is not the man who is going to reinstall God at the head of the government of America. People who think they ARE God never do that. If anything, he will hurt our cause. I am sorry, my dear friends who voted for him, but you will be greatly disappointed when the Trump show is over and the final reviews are in. Abortion will not be abolished because of anything that Trump does. Although a great number of Americans do not believe in abortion, there are far more people who want it to be legal, and that is going to be the overriding consideration of even the most obtuse political hack who isn't saddled with Donald Trump's crippling emotional need for approval.
As far as whether or not our reputation will be lost with leaders of foreign countries, I suspect that the people who REALLY run the world, the guys who never lose their jobs, the CIA and other intelligence people on the ground, those whose job relies upon anonymity - THOSE people are far smarter than all of us and are not about to let this child-man throw the world into chaos, if possible. These people have relationships with counterparts in other countries. They are on the job, doing their best to protect us on the ground. I hope they are successful because Trump has threatened to invade Mexico with Troops, break an agreement to house refugees currently housed in Australia, pull the U.S. out of Nato, take military actions against Iran, etc. etc. etc.
The only people who may be moved to action against him would be leaders in countries that are completely disconnected from us. Notice that Trump hasn't said anything about North Korea? If he insults their Dear Leader, who knows what would happen? They don't have the sophistication of the rest of the world, having removed themselves from it. Their leader may not be able to put aside a loss to his honor because of some slight by The Donald. He likely does not have the savvy of the Prime Minister of Australia who clearly knows what he's dealing with.
While hobbling home from my first walk with the dog this morning and thinking about all these things, I happened to notice the beautiful job that is being done on an apartment complex in my neighborhood. The patterns of the work conjure up, in the most abstract manner, the surrounding landscape, and the history of place. I had to stop for a while and just admire the design. The architect had won a very prestigious architectural award for its design many years ago. I hadn't appreciated it before, when someone else had destroyed the design by slapping a few ill-conceived paint colors over the original masterpiece.
The painting isn't finished, but I can already feel the vision of the architect. The pattern of his work clearly evokes the New Mexican vibe. The very top part of the building incorporates the colors of the stormy summer clouds that we love so much in this part of the world. The colors actually made my brain feel good....and I really needed to feel good today.
Please pray for our misguided and childish President, as well as everyone else who has to work with him. Please pray that the Lord illumines Trump and gives him inner guidance that will encourage him to cease this turbulent, disturbing method of doing business.
Please pray for our beautiful world and its stunning symmetry of pattern. Pray that we all experience the teaching that is inherent in our appreciation of the beautiful patterns of the world and let it calm and soothe us, giving us peace within ourselves and in our relationships with everyone else in the world.
Lord save us all.
Silver Rose Parnell
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