As TrumpWorld draws to its inevitable conclusion, like a bad TV series that has finally jumped the shark, I’ve come to a startling insight which I will enshrine in whatever the opposite of a eulogy is…an obloquy?
But first, some notes on dreaming.
I’ve been journaling my dreams off and on now for more than two years. And while I’ve noticed certain themes the main takeaways seems to be:
- ridiculous or nonsensical elements that make sense during the dream but have zero relevance upon waking. Sure, there are often clear “instigations” from daily events but a lot of times these are from 10 or 20 years ago.
- often the nonsensicality comes from bizarre combinations of otherwise straightforward narratives: I’m going to a building but the route is a hodgepodge of turns, misdirections, vehicle changes and hidden closets; or I’m playing tennis but using a BIC lighter instead of a tennis ball.
- there are a surprising number of very specific nonsense words or phrases — “ugaritic,” “Anibindale,” “Herri”…
And this is where my epiphany about Donald Trump arose.
Trump is a Dreamer! (ahem, not the kind of undocumented DACA immigrant students brought here by their parents.)
No, Trump is a sort of real-life dreamer because he confabulates crazy, unrelated, nonsensical concepts into a running narrative that changes moment by moment…like a pinball game operated by a goat.
- People flushing the toilet 10 to 15 times! Where did that come from? Certainly not from his own experience at Trump Tower or the White House…or anywhere he’s likely to have been.
- Windmills cause cancer! (“I know windmills very much, I have studied it better than anybody.”) [April 2, 2019 speech]
- “Seeing” thousands of Muslims across the river celebrating the 9/11 attack! How could he have seen and reported something that clearly never happened…except in his dreamlike brain? (“I watched in Jersey City where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building [World Trade Center] was coming down.”) [WaPo]
Then there’s crazy actions such as shamelessly smooching a flagpole like it’s a girlfriend you haven’t seen for 2 years…
…or shaking hands interminably with foreign leaders…like you’re never going to let go. (19 seconds with grimacing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe).
…or thinking that we had airports during the American revolutionary war. (Or maybe we did have airports…120 years before we needed them)
And then there’s the quirky wordage: ‘covfefe’ (see also Business Insider); the imaginary nation of “Nambia“; “the cyber” [2016 presidential debate]; 1,000 “hamberders” for the Clemson football team. As he says, “I know words…I have the best words.”[LL Journal]
So “Dreamer” or “Pinball goat wizard”?
“We’ll see what happens.” [NPR]
“ugaritic,” “Anib” and “Herri” (among others) and the image of playing tennis with a BIC lighter are all from actual dreams
Believe or not, I came up with the metaphor of goat pinball on my own and then went hunting for an image on the wild off-chance that I’d find something. Voila!
Words in Action: The Blog 