~a column by Pollyanna, aka Colleen O’Brien
My dream:
That when one reporter is publicly dissed and called “nasty” (favorite word for reporters) by the President, all reporters at the venue pick the reporter off the floor where he has pretended to faint from the verbal abuse. His compadres carry him out, flat on his back between them, as if the ruler in the room flat-out killed him. They walk solemnly, never to return.
Soon enough, the gaggle of reporters at his worship fests will all be of his ilk, so he’ll be happy, and no one else in the country needs to know what he’s saying – only the far Right, whose “reporters” remain in the room and who don’t seem to mind that what the Prez says makes no sense. Whoever wants to hear about the Prez can find a media outlet. The rest of us don’t ever have to hear his phony voice or look at his phony self again.
My second dream:
That all universities and colleges caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s revenge do not respond to his tweet or X message or Truth Social BS; they all choose not to say a word, as if the Prez is writing, talking, lying into a void.
What will happen? He will TACO.*
OR he will assume the bully stance, anger being his favorite defense, his go-to attribute. When he gets done with petty anger that isn’t breaking down the college as quickly and thoroughly as he needs – firing professors, prohibiting foreigners from attending the college they’ve already paid for, yanking all grants to research profs who edify the entire world (whether in research of words, cancer, bugs, clouds, it’s all advancing knowledge, health, security, justice) – he will be working on true retribution, revenge, retaliation. Whatever his problem is with educated people, he will tire of these already listed outrages and finally fall to calling out the military to surround the colleges one by one and “take” them, as military is trained to do with the enemy; remove them all to El Salvador brick by brick, professors and staff inside.
And, voila! Here will come the earth-moving machines to fashion a golf course.
I don’t expect him to step up to full bullying, but this last scenario will appeal to him, and he will do all he can in his ingeniously creepy way to rid the landscape of intelligent thinking.
And the colleges will stand.
Dream Number three:
Let’s hope he tires soon.
My Fourth dream:
That all citizens of Planet Earth become pixilated, which makes them say only honest things, whether facts or feelings.
For example:
–“I love you.” Only if you do love, do you say that. “I love pizza” is legitimate.
–“Biden created a boom economy.” As it stands now in the prevaricating ethic of the current admin, Biden’s four years ruined not only us but the world.
The fact is that our economy was vibrant because of Biden’s careful and knowledgeable way of governing. We were the envy of the world.
And then a lying administration inherited it all by a whopping margin of 1.6 percent of the vote and began dismantling the country.
–“The only intelligent way to fix our problems is to tax the rich.” A lot.
The rich become agitated by the thought of being taxed. They are afraid of this fact. Why? We don’t know why because we’re not rich, but I fantasize it has something to do with their fear of giving their money away because where in god’s name will it end? They’re living in fear, which negates decency, kindness, empathy, laughter and the true joy of sharing.
They have so much money that if each of our vaunted billionaires gave the government a billion – no legislated law, a mere gift – we’d be fine for a long time. What’s to lose, Billionaire Bros? A lot to gain: you could be heroes. There might be statues of you in your town squares. People might quit calling you horrible names and cursing your selfishness.
~
And we can then all live in harmony, in peace, in creativity that does not have anything to do with inventing new weapons of death in order to be rich or in having more money than the next oligarch.
Our planet will revive because we will enjoy energy that does not pollute.
All will be fed because corporations and the AG empires will not hog the proceeds; they soon learn that they can make plenty of money for themselves while paying living wages, healthcare, vacations, time off for having a baby (both mom and dad); they will have the wit to encourage their workers . . . and themselves . . . toward education, kindness, decency, equality (sounds related to the lynched D.E.I. goal, doesn’t it?).
The end of I Dream, for now*Trump Always Chickens Out
