Alternative Facts

I didn't watch the inauguration. I fully identified with the Facebook clip of Malcolm McDowell, bound, eyes forced open, made to watch horrible acts of violence while the music of his beloved Ludwig Von was playing. Fuck history, life is too short to spend even a few minutes torturing one's self.

I did read his speech, which was probably written by Steve Bannon, because it had the ring of fascism. "American carnage," a nice touch. Bannon may be a sci-fi fan; it lifted text from two villains--Bane in The Dark Knight Returns and Avatar's Colonel Quaritch--we know Bannon identifies with Darth Vader.

The inauguration crowd was small, which unleashed all sorts of fury from the Trump crowd. Sean Spicer, his designated prevaricator, said it was the biggest crowd of all time, which was debunked by the Department of Interior and the Secret Service and our own eyes. The next day, Trump spokesperson and cable-TV regular Kellyanne Conway channeled George Orwell by coining the term, "alternative facts."

Wow. Of course, the liberal media immediately pounced on this, calling "alternative facts" falsehoods, or better yet, simply lies. Conway, or whoever is feeding her this shit, doesn't seem to understand the definition of fact that I give my own students: a thing that is indisputably the true. "Indisputably" and "true" are kind of key elements in a fact. One plus one equals is a fact. The sun rises in the East is a fact. Alligators are reptiles is a fact. None of these are open to dispute; there are no "alternates."

This is just part of the Trump's team to say something, no matter how ridiculous, to make it look like King Donald is infallible, even if it's to defy the laws of science (which of course, has a liberal bent). Stephen Colbert, years ago, coined the word "truthiness," that is, having the appearance of truth, but "alternate facts" takes the cake. How she could say that with a straight face is mind-boggling.

I just Googled Conway to find out where she came from. She grew up in Hammonton, New Jersey, which I have passed through, and is the blueberry capital of the state. She has a law degree, and worked as a pollster and strategist for this rogue's gallery: Dan Quayle, Fred Thompson, Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich, Ted Cruz, and Mike Pence, before outdoing herself with Trump. She was also a pundit in the 1990s, if that's the word for women like Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. She is 49 years old, but looks most of the time has if she has just spent the night in a haunted house that added years. She could scare small children.

She laughably showed up at the inauguration in a patriotic red white and blue outfit that looked like the flag threw up. Props for her lack of shame, and for the guy who snuck in the "I'm with stupid" sign during a photo-op.

As bad as Friday was, one of worst days in human history, Saturday was much more uplifting. I didn't march, but was gratified to see all that did. I have a feeling that Trump will never stop seeing resistance like this. Not only is there no honeymoon, the American public vaulted away from the altar. As for those who say we should give him a chance, what exactly in his past suggests that he will be a good leader? And in his first few days in office he screwed over mortgage owners, vets, the Indians of Standing Rock, the potentially uninsured, and the environment. We have an oil fat cat as Secretary of State, and a cabinet that is full of rich white people are war-mongering generals. This is a nightmare. We must resist every day in every way.