The News

Reading the headlines from America every morning excites an increasingly familiar combination of tragedy and comedy. On the one hand, I find myself wondering if my nation is about to be saved not by a congress of elected representatives, or even by a congressional minority party of representatives, but by a solitary porn star by the name of Stormy Daniels. Stormy had to this point been in a relative state of calm, under “contract” not be speak of her affair with Donald Trump. But now that Trump’s lawyer, and friend, a certain Mr. Cohen, has taken credit for payment of 130,000 of hush money—and out of his own strangely generous pocket—Ms. Daniel’s has concluded that the former contract is now null and void and says that she will soon speak of the affair in detail. Not a good thing for Donald, yet not in and of itself an impeachable offense. But the money, where it came from and where it went, what Trumpian channels it traced--now that is a whole different sort of thundercloud. Did the money, in fact, come from Trump? Was co-conspirator Cohen reimbursed for his incredibly generous assistance? Does anyone really believe that a lawyer, wealthy as he may be, would hand over 130,000 dollars, no questions asked—just because? And why is it that Mr. Cohen seems to feel that this admission of his own “charity” somehow absolves Mr. Trump of guilt? Nothing happened, because I paid the money. Is that the reasoning? And let’s stop and  think for a moment about the mere figure—130,000 dollars. Most folks will never see his much money, all at once (and apparently as loose change) in their lifetimes. What might 130,000 have done toward aiding others in need? How many people could 130,000 dollars feed, and for how long a period of time? I know for myself that it would certainly feed me for the rest of my life, along with the big fat brown dog, and all the other dogs in the neighborhood, and, in fact, all the other people in the neighborhood. Yet, instead of filling the mouth of need, this sum went toward closing the mouth of a porn star. Is this not absurd in the basest way?

Well, Stormy, may the force be with you. This is your big moment. We’ve been waiting for some savior to deliver us from the national political rot that is destroying us, and the one filling that role may as well be a porn star as anyone else. In fact, somehow, it seems perfectly fitting.

At the same time, there is the story of 17 children killed at yet another school shooting, this one in Florida. And the politicians, the Republicans, have already spoken. They have sent their thoughts and prayers, and their assurance that guns are not a problem in our society. That Florida’s lax gun laws had nothing to do with the children who were shot by a gun--an AR-15, to be precise, which no common citizen ought to have. That we need not to address tighter gun laws and restrictions, but merely continue to send our thoughts and prayers as the deadly incidents march on—numbing, now, through monotonous repetition. It’s just something that happens, like rain in November or spoiled bananas. Let us pray and console and move on—which, by the way, is something that those murdered children will never do again.