You’ve experienced it, I’ve experienced it. The entire country is suffering Trump fatigue as we witness him upend our most sacred traditions and indeed turn the presidency of the United States on it’s ear. As we’ve discussed before, it’s turned into a drinking game – think of the worst possible person for an office, a jolting insult to blurt out, a tradition on which to urinate, and when he does it, DRINK! My liver is under great stress. Another of his maddening traits is the way he and his entire sleazy family has made the White House over into their own gaudy image, complete with gold-plated everything and Traditional Tacky being the style of choice.
AND, he’s now done it again, this time with the challenge coin tradition. What’s a challenge coin, you ask? Well, it’s a tradition started in the military where branches or units will have commemorative coins minted with mottos and imagery that honors that particular unit or senior officer. Those coins have been traded and collected for years; one tradition for the coins is for officers to put their own coins on a bar in a sort of “challenge”. The last officer to put up his coin (or if he/she doesn’t have a coin), gets to buy a round of drinks for everyone else.
Presidential challenge coins have become popular in recent years. I was given one of President Obama’s coins during his first term. I also have his first Inaugural challenge coin. The coins are normally bronze or pewter, with the official seal of the president, the president’s name, and the motto of the Founders, E Pluribus Unum. Here is President Obama’s:
And. Then. Comes. Trump. Like everything else he’s touched, HIS challenge coin needed to be bigger, gaudier, even thicker. The phallic parallels with his new coin are, uh, disturbing. Instead of bronze or pewter, of course it clad in a cheesy gold color. As well, he’s replaced our country’s motto, with…wait for it…”Make America Great Again”. For the first time EVER, Trump has politicized the challenge coin tradition with a campaign slogan. He took off the original 13 arrows on the seal (which represented the original 13 states). AND, to make sure you know it’s HIS coin, his name is emblazoned on it THREE TIMES, two on a rocker below the coin that also serves as a makeshift base. Here it is, in all it’s tackiness (compared to traditional coins):
Oh, and it’s SO thick:
This toad infesting our White House is an ever-present threat to our democracy. Worse, he’s making us a laughing stock in front of the entire planet. He doesn’t give a hoot-in-how-chow about our country or anyone outside of his mob-like family. His entire tenure is not about America, its citizens, or the common good. It’s ALL about him, 24/7, 365. His behavior, even in the tiniest detail, is predictably deplorable. He makes me want to puke.
This nightmare can’t end too soon.
