President Bannon

January 30, 2017January 30, 2017Pat Ryan Leave a comment

Despite the serious nature of some (most?) of the actions taken by our new president in his first week in office, I’ve been pleased to see that everyone hasn’t lost their sense of humor, and of the absurd. I particularly liked this photo, reportedly from an anti-Trump protest in Cardiff, Wales, because of the sign on the far right:

What would move a group of Welsh women to make signs to protest an action of the American president? Well, now we know the answer to that one.

Another I very much enjoyed was this short, simple statement to remind us all just who, perhaps, is really behind what’s coming out of the White House (be sure to check out some of the comments on this one):

https://twitter.com/openculture/status/825842283685695488

And remembering what we’ve learned about the maturity and patience of our narcissistic chief executive, I had an idea:

https://twitter.com/patryan12/status/825855230545899520

So whaddya say–how about let’s see if enough social media references to “President Bannon” will have an impact. If you agree that this social science experiment is worth a little effort, try to work the phrase in as much as possible when you post and let’s see if it catches on. This one here should be considered an instant classic of the genre:

Playing a favorite

December 23, 2016December 23, 2016Pat Ryan Leave a comment

It’s three great tastes that taste great together: something that’s been a favorite of mine for many years—“It’s a Wonderful Life”—combined with something that’s become a favorite more recently—“Tom the Dancing Bug”—and something I expect will be one of my new favorites very soon—occasionally and gently pointing out to America that we made a bad decision electing Donald Trump as our president.

Because shouting a warning for months before the election was…ineffective.

But maybe a slow, good-natured drizzle of satire over time will better seep into our consciousness and lead to a smarter decision next time.

If it takes that long.

Which it may not.

But it might.

’Cause you know how we are.

Thanks Ruben Bolling, Tom the Dancing Bug, and gocomics.com

…but don’t forget what you know

November 13, 2016November 13, 2016Pat Ryan Leave a comment

Since I wrote last week about the need to give Donald Trump a chance to act as president, I’ve read about more mass protests and more people lamenting the end of days for our republic. So I want to clarify and expand: giving Trump a chance to govern does not mean wiping the slate clean and forgetting everything we know about our new leader.

You don’t have to pretend that none of the last year and a half ever happened, or forget everything you’ve ever heard or read about Donald Trump the New York real estate tycoon and TV star, to give the man a chance to do the job to which he was elected. We can’t undo the election, and out of a sense of fair play if nothing else we owe him an open mind as he takes over. But that “taking over” is already underway, so it’s fair to start keeping score, with things such as recognizing the conflict of interest that will result from having his children, who he says will take over running his business interests rather than have them be put into a blind trust (the business interests, not the children), be part of the team that will choose the members of the new administration. To say nothing of the potential financial conflicts of interest we suspect Trump has with foreign banks, but can’t know about for sure since he never released his tax returns. (Wonder if starting in late January he can get the IRS to speed up the audit?)

The point was made elegantly by David Frum in a Tweet storm yesterday taking off from a comment that it is time for a fresh start in Washington (thanks to Dan Solovay for Storify-ing it, for ease of display); a few examples:

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/797497877962625024

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/797498943408132096

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/797499373743706112

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/797500018286534656

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/797500219726430208

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/797501096176611328

There is another interesting compilation, by Frum’s colleague at The Atlantic James Fallows. He created a time capsule, a list of things that happened during the campaign. The posting explains itself this way: “People will look back on this era in our history to see what was known about Donald Trump while Americans were deciding whether to choose him as president. Here’s a running chronicle from James Fallows on the evidence available to voters as they make their choice, and of how Trump has broken the norms that applied to previous major-party candidates.” It’s worth taking a look, and keeping it as a reference.

I also think it’s important that we’ve got to keep our perspective and our sense of humor, so I offer this

https://twitter.com/jonnysun/status/797198272079298568