Laughing at Trump is getting more difficult.
I find myself more quiet and somber during Saturday Night Live political skits.
SNL wraps up this season this week with skyrocket ratings. Maybe the summer hiatus will be good for all of us.
There are a couple of reasons for this lack of laughs.
- First, creating live skits, almost improvisation, is not easy. I am not knocking what has been an icon of TV for decades. But, like many institutions over the years, SNL skits have missed the mark, been too esoteric for many, or the writers just couldn’t find a way to end a segment with some meaning.
- Second, the caricatures of Trump, Spicer, Conway, and the others in this White House don’t require a lot of work. We’ve seen the sometimes outrageous skits already in the news during the week. SNL cast members are not telling us anything new that commentators, now on both sides of the aisle, are saying.
- Third, I think I am feeling sorry for the satire targets. I feel like we are laughing at people who, as we say down South, “can’t help it.”
Does this White House suffer from more than just a lack of knowledge or the taint of corruption and have real problems like behavioral or mental disorders?
Look at these columns from George Will and Tom Friedman — far from whacky liberals. At best they’re saying this President is childish and immature; at worse, he is mentally unhinged.
Watching Sean Spicer is painful during ne
ws conferences. He is clearly uncomfortable with many of his statements backing this White House and this President. The same is true when watching Kelly Anne Conway. Both seem to keep digging into the same illogical holes, smiling and boasting through so many “he said what?!” type things.
Many of us will excuse this as, “they are doing their jobs.” And yes, you can hope at some point they will realize they are really working for the American people. But seriously, where do work after this is on your resume?
We should all cringe at watching this and even writing about it. First, we have no medical training in this. Second, this is assessment from afar through media clips. Third, this could all be an act which is scary too.
Still, it is hard for too many people to ignore this behavior and chaos. How can Trump be so involved with himself to be stable enough to control the fate of the country or the world?
All he does is manufacture more chaos. Look hard at the alleged Russian involvement in the election. There is no smoking gun. (I guess we need to add “yet.”) There is no evidence Russian hackers were inside the voting booths changing votes from Hillary to Trump. Certainly, pro-Russian propagandists and anti-Hillary folks probably manipulated the minds of uninformed, angry, on-the-fence voters. But “influencing stupid” is not a crime.
Still, this president boggles the mind by firing the FBI Director, continuing to give easy credibility to the conspiracy-theorists, the political opposition that is growing, and the news media.
The consequences are not funny at all.
Real discussion and exploration of real problems facing everyday Americans wither in the heat of the crazy palace intrigue that resembles more the surreal reality shows Big Brother and Real World.
Hey, I have applauded Trump’s efforts to inspire more jobs and encourage entrepreneurs that this economy could blossom for them. Confidence can overcome some realities. Still, altering reality for self-improvement is one thing, but changing reality for multitudes is another.
And, you can’t ignore math. A recent report in The Economist shows that Trump’s economic goals can’t work together. Cutting the deficit, balancing trade, creating more manufacturing jobs, and growing the economy 5% are not possible – and possibly detrimental to our economy and our relationships with foreign countries.
Textbooks predict that Mr Trump’s plans to boost domestic investment will probably lead to larger trade deficits, as it did in the Reagan boom of the 1980s. If so, Mr Trump will either need to abandon his measure of fair trade or, more damagingly, try to curb deficits by using protectionist tariffs that will hurt growth and sow mistrust around the world.
Clearly, this President comes across as someone who has not mastered basic economic theory and who fails to either really bring in smart people or he fails to listen to them.
Either way, we realize this president, this Congress, and many of the special interests are winning big with this chaos. We are not going after the real problems to find real solutions because changing things — like real healthcare and tax reform — would undermine the status quo.
How do we change this?
We the People need to get more informed and less partisan. The Congress – including both parties – are not equipped. In fact, you will get a book review from me soon on Drain The Swamp, written by Tea Party Congressman Ken Buck who lays out the corruption and bribes both parties engage in,stopping any real solutions for the American people.
For instance, committee chairmanships are determined by the size of donations the Congressman raises. Think about that. Something gets done or stopped in that committee based on the largest donation made by a special interest that wants to control what happens there.
Is it no wonder a House healthcare bill passed barely by 50% but polling by Americans was at 17%.
Bad polling? Maybe, but not by that much.
Confused lawmakers? No, lawmakers on the take from special interests.
Nothing will be done in Congress – unless we act.
And this is no laughing matter.
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