Trashing America, One Tradition at a Time
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.
In his NYTimes column, Tim Egan reports that, “when asked in a recent survey by Quinnipiac to describe, without prodding, the first word that comes to mind when thinking of Trump, the most common reply was ‘idiot.'” Common agreement on everything you write about him. But even worse is what he’s doing to the standards of how we expect our leaders to act and to speak. Future politicians will have virtually a free reign to act in the most egregious ways because Trump has beguiled at least some of us into thinking that his behavior is tolerable. If for no other reason than to honor the historical standards of behavior, Trump must be held accountable for literally desecrating the office of the presidency. His piggish behavior reflects on everyone one of us and on the country. He certainly won’t stop himself, and it’s pretty clear the Repugs won’t stop him. Do we have to put up with this mess until next November? I hope we can.
1Saw an article about this in the WashPost. Had never heard of challenge coins before, but Trump making them All About Me is sickening. Every day in some new way we find ourselves in a country run by a bratty three-year-old.
2Whoa! Share this article with your friendly neighborhood trumpster, then be prepared to rush them to the hospital because they’ll have 2nd and 3rd degree burns. Hell, even us good guys might feel a bit singed. Charles P. Pierce does have a way with words. He calls Clinton Cash a “book-like product.” Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a14478536/republican-party-trump-russia/
3Debbo, I’m a daily visitor to Charlie’s shebeen. Charlie and shebeen patrons and Miz Juanita Jean and all you lovely customers here at the WMDBS have gone a long way towards keeping me almost sane this year. A round of Prestone for everyone is on me.
4Debbo:
5Thanks for that link. My favorite line was “The Department of Justice is now acting as an adjunct to a Breitbart comment section”. Luckily I hadn’t just taken a drink of water.
Also reference to driftglass.blogspot.com a mutual bud of Charlie’s who is quite verbally astute when it comes to pointing out the sycophants on the Sun Am right-wing orgasmatron of the hosts with the always present brooks, dowd, kristol, will, etc. He does have a way with words that is quite descriptive above and beyond the average word meister to where he isn’t invited onto any of these incestuous love-fests.
6Darlin’
7That ain’t no coin, that there is a belt buckle – and dollars to donuts will be popping up on daughters website for sale within the year-
Litlhorn:
And it will look right fine on a trumpster with a maga ball cap.
8I swear to all of you on my master’s degree in psych that this guy is over compensating for all sorts of his own short comings. Worst of all, he thinks we don’t get it! It was once called the Napoleonic complex. Remember what happened to hi?
9I have been trying not to get him in my head recently…not working. But the coin is just to be expected. I can here the conversation now ” the H@## with the economy and medical coverage and equal rights just make the coin BIGGER than Obama’s coin. He really hates Obama and anything to do with him. trump is a horrible person I even have a button that says so! My Holiday wish would be make him go away soon. I am begging…
10GeneB –
Though “idiot” is an apt and probably frequent answer, I’m betting that it’s just the most popular PRINTABLE answer.
My first response to Trump is nearly always “A$$___E”. On many occasions, I add the modifier “F___in’ “. And I’m sure I have a lot of company. “Idiot” is the nicest thing I call him.
11Debbo, that picture at the top of the article is enough to make me throw up – a bunch of RICH WHITE OLD MEN who think they rule the world. I can hardly wait until they find out that they are hated, no longer have a job, but they are still RICH! I realize hate is a negative emotion and I seldom used to feel this way, but I am so sick of RWOM! It is time to put term limits for office, age limits also even though there are a few who are great in their older years, but generally there should be limits like there are for pilots. Make room for new blood, new ideas.
12Smartcanamerican: the only fallacy in turning out the oldies in congress, is that some of the younger ones are so horrible that they, too, inhabit my nightmares. Cotton and Ernst for example.
13Please don’t push for term limits unless you can apply them to the lobbyists. Experience does not have to lead to malfeasance.
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