I’ve seen this movie before (and so have you)

Good morning, all!  I write from Indianapolis, Indiana, where the current temperature is -1 degrees!  With the wind chill it feels like -13!

At least this area, where I’m working today and tomorrow, did not receive the multiple inches of snow that fell throughout the states along the Gulf of Mexico (that’s the name of that body of water, in case recent events caused any confusion)!

So no question the story of the week is the inauguration of Donald Trump as President.  Because it was going to be a little cold in Washington, he ordered that the ceremony be moved indoors to the Capitol rotunda.  Or was it because a relatively small number of people were planning to attend it when it was going to be outdoors?  One wonders.

Unfortunately, I watched his “official” speech after being sworn in, and never once did he address an actual issue or problem that regular Americans have faced or are facing right now.  It’s still all about grievance and whataboutism and how horrible our country has become and the complete nonsense that marked his first term from 2017-21.  I know most people agree that we can hope, at least, not to have a pandemic thrown into the mix for good measure.

He immediately embarked on some of the things he promised, like pardoning the “J6 hostages.”  Around 1500 people who participated in the storming of the Capitol in 2021 received those pardons, including those who pleaded guilty when their cases went to trial.  He also pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords again and signed a proclamation withdrawing from participation in and support of the World Health Organization.

My wife and I have completely avoided cable news since the election, but where I read and see news still breathlessly report what he said and what he says he will do but what I keep thinking, as before, is that we need to pay attention to what he DOES, less than what he SAYS.

His ardent supporter Steve Bannon used to say that the best strategy is to “flood the zone with ____ and keep the media guessing.”  He’s right, and that appears to be the corollary playbook again.  Keep talking, keep posting, keep wasting time with appointing three MAGA-supporting entertainment vets as “special ambassadors to Hollywood,” firing the commandant of the Coast Guard or buying Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal.

It’s all infuriating to me, but that’s the point.  And while we complain to each other about what appears to be happening, there are other, more important things happening.

The difference between his first term and this one is that he knows how things work AND has been granted immunity from prosecution for acts committed while in office.  Bad combination.