This is a beautifully written piece about not only our story, but the time in which we are living. We cannot capture history; we can only record it and think about it in all its complexity and nuance. We can learn from its patterns and try to heal the wounds we have created by seeing them and resolving to do better. We cannot see clearly to march sensitively and purposefully into the future without acknowledging even the most bitter lessons or we risk bumping repeatedly into the same painful consequences. Such actions are childish at best, malevolent at worst.
I have often said that Trump is metaphorically a bull in a china shop. He barrels through with no thought as to the destruction he leaves behind. He cares not. To him, our history is just so much junk. He finds anything that is complicated too hard to grasp. He loses patience. He must destroy the thing, the idea, the person, that rankles him; that shows his incompetence and lack of understanding. If he can’t buy or sell it, it has no worth. We all know that the transactional nature of his presidency defines it. So much for thoughtful consideration of anything. Those pesky ideas and unpleasant historical reminders get in the way. They disturb the ‘beautiful’ simplicity of his notion of the arc of history. As in the tale of Hansel and Gretel, he wants us to leave our collective history and find our way out of the woods by pebbles he places along a path he determines.The trouble of course, is that those pebbles lead to our destruction. We cannot allow this to happen. The keepers of our museums must not allow this to happen. We must continue to remember….actively and purposefully.
But make no mistake. He is not a passive observer of history. He is creating the most disturbing chapter yet…and if he thinks that we will whitewash this one he is sorely mistaken. We, The People, will NOT forget. At least I pray we won’t. Our whole future as a country depends on preserving with fierce independence that collective memory. Remembering is a verb.
Whatever appears with Trump's name on it has to be attributed to Trump, but I believe that in this he's little more than a mouthpiece for the Project 2025 crowd and its predecessors -- and they've been around for a long time. Their USA is white by definition. They've never stopped trying to force their definition on the rest of us, and their version of history along with it.
This showcases Trump's love of self and hatred of the US. He can't erase history. He doesn't know history since he refuses to learn. He is woefully ignorant by choice.
Steven, thank you for your morning gift of another reminder that Trump is not only bonkers, but also a white supremacist.
Imagine the chutzpah of believing his knowledge of our country is superior to the dedicated folks guarding and honoring the institution and its positive and negative actions of our country.
Trump wants to switch from Truth to Sturdy White Boy. While our faux president views this image as tough and appealing, those of us with brains and hearts gag.
Small-minded, heartless, idiotic Trump believes sickening labels enroute to the oft-honored institution will enhance the experience for visitors.
The only change that will enhance anything in our beloved and endangered country is to send this maniac-in-chief to jail. Alas, fellow inmates are not likely to appreciate his history lessons. Pumelling may commence.
Thank you, Steven, for shining a bright light on the cockroaches currently in control of our government apparatus (notice I didn’t say “leading” that apparatus).
One word continually comes to mind when I think about the incomprehensible actions of this administration (whoever is actually making the policies and pulling the levers, since it can’t be that demented blithering idiot wearing the red hat) and who in the world supports them: Pandering.
That’s really what this all boils down to. Every action is designed to pander to the ignorance, hatred, racism, xenophobia, and fear of a minority of voters who, through legislative manipulation and malfeasance, wield disproportionate power in our elections. They discovered a loophole to power, and they’ll do anything to try to keep it, including rewriting our history and trying to hide the truth from the world.
Funny thing, though, about truth. It only stays hidden for a while. Tick, tick, tick…
Given your accurate description of trump as a "simple, ill-read man," it seems his assaults on reality are most likely the work of his band of merry Nazis, pulling from the pages of Carl Schmidt and Project 2025. He has surrounded himself with psychopathic ideologues, bent on squeezing the American experiment, our Constitution and laws, into mere suggestions, to be ignored as convenient. Look at the Executive Orders: do you think he could have possibly come up with so clever and malevolent end runs around the barriers to their long-range plan to remake America in their own image? He is sold on their initiatives and then adds his imprimatur to them, claiming he, and he alone, has fixed it. Whatever "it" is. No. These are a band of rats, gnawing away at the heart of what makes America truly great: our incredible diversity, our generous and innovative spirit, our great impulse to do what is right and to spread democracy around the world. Much of that has been and continues to be destroyed by these people. The rats indulge the king, he gets his arch and gaudy trimmings, and they get to remold the country into an authoritarian paradise. God help us. We've got to prepare for the worst in November. These rats will not relinquish power without a dirty fight. Organize, protest, vote as if America depended on it. Only through solidarity and determination of purpose will we oust these rats from their treacherous nests.
Yes, along with every other wound he inflicts - we experience an Emotional Toll.
Wounded by his destruction of the White House wing, his slathering of “gold”, the parking lot concrete over the Rose Garden, the destruction of the Reflecting Pool, and more.
And exorbitant profit from Death and Destruction…and his wreaking ball keeps swinging
Thank you Steven. Like you said, it is “pitiful” what Trump is doing. How does his administration even think of “installing signs” on the paths leading up to the museum?
Seeing how institutions and museums cover, recall, explain, and exhibit this deplorable era and the Trump regime over the coming decades will be … interesting. I’d like to think an overwhelming number will be honest, fulsome, and clear about its negative and wrong understanding of the American experience and history. All we can do is keep pushing for a clean and clear reinterpretation. Start with primary education and the restoration of trust in our teachers and their leaders. If we cannot restore what has been destroyed then we can ignore and reject those people and ceremonies that want to continue to celebrate the Magaversion of America.
Well done Steven! Wake-up America 🇺🇸 while it’s still possible for ‘We the People’ to ‘keep our Republic’ and restore its focus on ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness for All’! 🙏❤️🩹🇺🇸🌎🌍🌏
This is a beautifully written piece about not only our story, but the time in which we are living. We cannot capture history; we can only record it and think about it in all its complexity and nuance. We can learn from its patterns and try to heal the wounds we have created by seeing them and resolving to do better. We cannot see clearly to march sensitively and purposefully into the future without acknowledging even the most bitter lessons or we risk bumping repeatedly into the same painful consequences. Such actions are childish at best, malevolent at worst.
I have often said that Trump is metaphorically a bull in a china shop. He barrels through with no thought as to the destruction he leaves behind. He cares not. To him, our history is just so much junk. He finds anything that is complicated too hard to grasp. He loses patience. He must destroy the thing, the idea, the person, that rankles him; that shows his incompetence and lack of understanding. If he can’t buy or sell it, it has no worth. We all know that the transactional nature of his presidency defines it. So much for thoughtful consideration of anything. Those pesky ideas and unpleasant historical reminders get in the way. They disturb the ‘beautiful’ simplicity of his notion of the arc of history. As in the tale of Hansel and Gretel, he wants us to leave our collective history and find our way out of the woods by pebbles he places along a path he determines.The trouble of course, is that those pebbles lead to our destruction. We cannot allow this to happen. The keepers of our museums must not allow this to happen. We must continue to remember….actively and purposefully.
But make no mistake. He is not a passive observer of history. He is creating the most disturbing chapter yet…and if he thinks that we will whitewash this one he is sorely mistaken. We, The People, will NOT forget. At least I pray we won’t. Our whole future as a country depends on preserving with fierce independence that collective memory. Remembering is a verb.
“Let’s Go.”
Whatever appears with Trump's name on it has to be attributed to Trump, but I believe that in this he's little more than a mouthpiece for the Project 2025 crowd and its predecessors -- and they've been around for a long time. Their USA is white by definition. They've never stopped trying to force their definition on the rest of us, and their version of history along with it.
This showcases Trump's love of self and hatred of the US. He can't erase history. He doesn't know history since he refuses to learn. He is woefully ignorant by choice.
Steven, thank you for your morning gift of another reminder that Trump is not only bonkers, but also a white supremacist.
Imagine the chutzpah of believing his knowledge of our country is superior to the dedicated folks guarding and honoring the institution and its positive and negative actions of our country.
Trump wants to switch from Truth to Sturdy White Boy. While our faux president views this image as tough and appealing, those of us with brains and hearts gag.
Small-minded, heartless, idiotic Trump believes sickening labels enroute to the oft-honored institution will enhance the experience for visitors.
The only change that will enhance anything in our beloved and endangered country is to send this maniac-in-chief to jail. Alas, fellow inmates are not likely to appreciate his history lessons. Pumelling may commence.
Thank you, Steven, for shining a bright light on the cockroaches currently in control of our government apparatus (notice I didn’t say “leading” that apparatus).
One word continually comes to mind when I think about the incomprehensible actions of this administration (whoever is actually making the policies and pulling the levers, since it can’t be that demented blithering idiot wearing the red hat) and who in the world supports them: Pandering.
That’s really what this all boils down to. Every action is designed to pander to the ignorance, hatred, racism, xenophobia, and fear of a minority of voters who, through legislative manipulation and malfeasance, wield disproportionate power in our elections. They discovered a loophole to power, and they’ll do anything to try to keep it, including rewriting our history and trying to hide the truth from the world.
Funny thing, though, about truth. It only stays hidden for a while. Tick, tick, tick…
Given your accurate description of trump as a "simple, ill-read man," it seems his assaults on reality are most likely the work of his band of merry Nazis, pulling from the pages of Carl Schmidt and Project 2025. He has surrounded himself with psychopathic ideologues, bent on squeezing the American experiment, our Constitution and laws, into mere suggestions, to be ignored as convenient. Look at the Executive Orders: do you think he could have possibly come up with so clever and malevolent end runs around the barriers to their long-range plan to remake America in their own image? He is sold on their initiatives and then adds his imprimatur to them, claiming he, and he alone, has fixed it. Whatever "it" is. No. These are a band of rats, gnawing away at the heart of what makes America truly great: our incredible diversity, our generous and innovative spirit, our great impulse to do what is right and to spread democracy around the world. Much of that has been and continues to be destroyed by these people. The rats indulge the king, he gets his arch and gaudy trimmings, and they get to remold the country into an authoritarian paradise. God help us. We've got to prepare for the worst in November. These rats will not relinquish power without a dirty fight. Organize, protest, vote as if America depended on it. Only through solidarity and determination of purpose will we oust these rats from their treacherous nests.
“Emotional Toll”
Yes, along with every other wound he inflicts - we experience an Emotional Toll.
Wounded by his destruction of the White House wing, his slathering of “gold”, the parking lot concrete over the Rose Garden, the destruction of the Reflecting Pool, and more.
And exorbitant profit from Death and Destruction…and his wreaking ball keeps swinging
Thank you for going through this with us …
It’s heavy to bear
Vote
The mill of the gods grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly fine.
The pace of the millstone is quickening. Can you sense it?
Thank you Steven. Like you said, it is “pitiful” what Trump is doing. How does his administration even think of “installing signs” on the paths leading up to the museum?
Seeing how institutions and museums cover, recall, explain, and exhibit this deplorable era and the Trump regime over the coming decades will be … interesting. I’d like to think an overwhelming number will be honest, fulsome, and clear about its negative and wrong understanding of the American experience and history. All we can do is keep pushing for a clean and clear reinterpretation. Start with primary education and the restoration of trust in our teachers and their leaders. If we cannot restore what has been destroyed then we can ignore and reject those people and ceremonies that want to continue to celebrate the Magaversion of America.
Well done Steven! Wake-up America 🇺🇸 while it’s still possible for ‘We the People’ to ‘keep our Republic’ and restore its focus on ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness for All’! 🙏❤️🩹🇺🇸🌎🌍🌏