1. What a difference a year makes, or, rather, the arbitrary decision that, beginning January 1, things will be different than they were on December 31. In the grand scheme of things, the Earth still continues to revolve around the Sun, and the solar system continues to revolve around the Milky Way, and we are all just tiny creatures on a tiny ball hurtling through space. BUT! I find that I am no longer anxious about the world the way I was last year. I am, instead, angry. Pissed off. Done. No tolerance for bullshit anymore. And it would appear that the rest of the country is with me. I just watched Don Lemon (!) say the word “shithole” on CNN, and imply (without actually saying it) that Trump supporters and apologists should go fuck themselves.
.@donlemon on Trump- pic.twitter.com/F2W93W1AoO
— heykim (@heykim) January 12, 2018
I can’t remember if I offered up my final review of “Fire and Fury” – it wouldn’t differ that much with my earlier impression, that it’s a scathing and trashy read and while it may be impossible to prove that everything quoted in the book actually happened, nothing about it is surprising. But I do agree with Drew Magary’s analysis:
I am utterly sick to death of hearing anonymous reports about people inside the White House “concerned” about the madman currently in charge of everything. These people don’t deserve the courtesy of discretion. They don’t deserve to dictate the terms of coverage to people. They deserve to be torched.
Trump ascended into power in part because he relied on other people being too nice. It’s fun to rampage through the china shop when the china shop owner is standing over there being like, “SIR, that is not how we do things here!” If Trump refuses to abide by the standard (and now useless) “norms” of the presidency—shit, if he doesn’t even KNOW them—why should ANYONE in the press adhere to needless norms of their own? They shouldn’t, and it appears that Michael Wolff was one of the few people to instinctively grasp that, and I hope more White House insiders follow his lead. Sometimes you need a rat to catch a rat.
I don’t know what it’s going to take to bring this asshole down – whether it’s Mueller, or whether it’s Trump himself just blurting out the “n-word” during a State of the Union address, or whatever – but I can feel that something is gonna happen, and soon. This nonsense has gone on long enough. I’m sick and tired of being anxious; nonstop anxiety attacks are exhausting and draining and I’m done with it.
2. Well, now that that’s out of the way: is there a word for the feeling when one of your favorite authors comes out with a new book, and it’s even better than you’d hoped it would be? All I’ll say is that I’m a little over halfway through Nick Harkaway’s “Gnomon” and it is kicking all sorts of ass. It is scratching the same itch that David Mitchell novels do, especially as it has several layers of narratives all nestled within each other, creating a puzzle to be solved within a plot that is forever unfurling.
Hmm. I thought I’d have more to say – and I probably do – but today’s actually kinda busy and I’ve lost my train of thought. Happy weekend, everyone.
Shouts From The Couch 