written and posted by members of Lancashire Dead Good Poets' Society

Saturday 9 January 2021

Low Expectations

A wise old Byzantine once said (and I translate): "If you elect arseholes, you get trumps!" The bad smell emanating from the White House over the last four years has certainly proved that maxim.

The majority of new incumbents to the position of POTUS have previously been senators, state governors, legislators or military leaders, public servants bringing with them to the highest office in the land a wealth of experience and gravitas. By contrast, Trump was a jumped-up playboy businessman and 'reality tv star' who dealt by dirty rules while pumping out trite slogans during his campaign ("drain the swamp", "make America great again"), populist mantras that lazy and embittered minds could latch on to.

As outside observers, our expectations of the 45th President of the United States were low, but he managed to exceed them. No sooner did the Donald install himself with undue pomp and (badly attended) ceremony, have his trophy wife assume the FLOTUS position and his children sign on as advisers, than good practice and principle headed south. 

Sure, we thought his tenure of office would be poor, but it has turned out to be far worse than anyone feared, as the tiny-handed narcissistic demagogue, who put his own and his family's interests above those of the nation, reneged on international alliances and obligations, reversed progressive social policies at home, embroiled himself in scandal, suffered  impeachment and finally, as we witnessed last week, encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol building to try and disrupt the vote to approve Joe Biden's appointment as his lawfully elected successor. 

Trump has been a disgrace and an embarrassment as well as the worst president the USA has ever had. It was a relief he didn't get re-elected, though his supporters are adamant they will still try and stop the inauguration of Biden in two weeks time. I hope Trump does get impeached for a second time and that measures can be put in place to prevent him from standing for office again in 2024. It would also be good to think that the American people will learn from the damage that's been done by this crass and divisive cult of personality, but my expectations are low. I fear the effect of decades of dumbing down and the distorting power of unregulated social media. It's a tide that will be hard to turn.  

"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco"
I'm sure this image above (and many like it) will be familiar to most people by now, Trump's insurrectionary cohort storming the Capitol building in Washington "in support of democracy " ha ha ha! It flavours my latest poem...

This Ain't No Discourse *
In the old days we'd have been able to
gather together round a table, drink a
glass or two of wine and discuss this;
could have debated, swapped views,
read in-depth analysis not fake news,
talked all of the implications through
in a rounded way that allowed us to 
arrive at some collective understanding,
a shared sense of what is happening
and why. Instead we're bombarded by
media bots, tiktok, influencers, memes,
all skewing and manipulating truth into
soundbites, shaping lazy minds, designed
to polarize inflexibly, a binary blindness 
that discourages dialectic and discourse.
These days we drink our glass or two
of wine at home, diminished and alone.   

* The title is a nod to a line from the Talking Heads song Life During Wartime off the album 'Fear Of Music', linked here as an audio bonus if you'd like to listen: Life During Wartime

Thanks for reading, stay safe. S ;-)

34 comments:

Tom Shaw said...

Trump supporters are now claiming the insurgents were really democrats disguised as Trump loyalists acting bad in order to bring discredit on the President. The madness just goes on and on. It might even be funny if it was happening in someone else's country.

LadyCurt said...

Trump. A most obnoxious man who made a mockery of his endeavours to build a golf complex in Aberdeen shire ...a very rude, self-centred individual...

Dan Francisco said...

He's the odious right-wing, racist sh!t who tried to get Antifa, the anti-fascist, anti-racist movement, declared a terrorist organization. That's how the far right seeks to strangle democracy. He didn't succeed. The honorable institutions of state have to resist the erosion of decency.

Mac Southey said...

Low expectations also exceeded by crap Tory government in the UK!

Angela McG said...

Thanks Steve, it needs to be said.

Brad Gekowski said...

I'm pleased to hear that Parler, the social media refuge of right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists, has been taken down on account of poor moderation of hate speech posts.

Rod Downey said...

I like the morph of the Talking Heads line for your poem. I suppose you're right that the explosion of social media has opened up new channels by which to misinform, and debate has been replaced by tweet, but I'm more positive about the chances of turning the tide as you put it - plus you're doing your bit to encourage debate thruough this medium. 👍

Georgia Steele said...

I would imagine the condemnation of Trump must be pretty universal in the wake of the storming of Congress - apart from those idiots who will support him no matter what, and I don't know how best to deal with wilful fantasists. Is there a problem with the education system?

CI66Y said...

I totally agree with the analysis. Your poem is thought-provoking. If I read it aright, it's highlighting a double-whammy: on the one hand the pandemic is imposing isolation on us all which cuts across our normal opportunities to discuss what's happening in the world; on the other we're moving (certainly the younger demographic) to an information environment where everything is not only passive (received) but also shallow, short-attention-span and fragmented culturally. We will overcome the first as the vaccination programme rolls out. I'm worried about the trend of the second.

Binty said...

Spot on in every respect.

Steve Rowland said...

Exactly right Clive.

Zoe Nikolopoulou said...

We could do with more wise old Byzantines right now. Where are they? :)

Stu Hodges said...

My take on 2016: in the blue corner a former first lady, senator, humanitarian, decent human being; in the red corner a heavy-weight racist, misogynistic, shit-flinging pig with no previous political experience. Who's America going to vote for? It was an uneven contest. Even though Clinton polled more votes on the ground the set-up of the electoral colleges was biased in Trump's favour. My take on 2020: lessons have been learned. Good luck to Joe Biden.

otyikondo said...

Agreed on all fronts, though I would add one element into the toxic mix: the echo-chamber effect.

I am of an age with Brother Steve here, and I recall a time when our radio listening (and television viewing, for that matter) was far less "profiled" than it is today. On the Home Service (later Radio 4), one could be exposed in any given session to Wagner's Liebestod, The Archers, some decent modern radio drama, cogent news and current affairs analysis, and ever so seldom perhaps a little Muddy Waters or Robert Johnson. The Radio 1 revolution SEEMED like a breath of fresh air, and in a sense it was, but it was the thin end of a wedge that has led us to "hair salon radio", mindless game shows, and reality TV ruling the roost (and spawning the likes of T.Rump), and to a pervasive sense of living inside our own bubbles, whether cultural, social, or socio-political.

We can rail against social media, but to a very great extent we generally (out of a sense of comfort and, dare I say it, cowardice) only attend social media gatherings where the converted are preached to: warm fuzzy liberal groups for the warm fuzzy liberals and other, less congenial groups for those who thunder against Europe and refugees and welfare mothers and so on. These echo-chambers exacerbate the divisions within society, for most of those on one side have not the slightest idea of what makes "the other" tick: they just despise one another. It's palpable, visceral.

A radio listener in the 1960s had little choice but to be confronted with things outside of his or her normal comfort zone, but today there are no such hindrances, no accidental exposure to ideas that MIGHT just make us stop and think, recalibrate, understand a bigger picture.

The polarisation that brought the USA to last Wednesday and the UK to Brexit will only get worse. Unless somebody manages to cross the aisle in a BIG way (maybe we need an imminent asteroid impact or extinction event to wake people up), we're as doomed as poor Tristan and Isolde.

"And now... the Shipping Forecast."

Roger Wakeley said...

I'm with you Steve. Let's hope tonight's the night they start Impeachment 2. Also great analysis from 'otyikondo' above.

Jen McDonagh said...

My children (all in their 30s now) never read a newspaper, hardly ever watch terrestrial TV and don't like talking politics - and they are all intelligent and well-educated. I think your poem hits a difficult truth about how information is conveyed and opinions are formed in free societies nowadays :(

Tyger Barnett said...

Excellent nailing of the odious Trump and excellent poetry.

Unknown said...

Great analysis. Social media eventually removes your option of listening to alternative voices by that channelling. As always, we need to be aware of both positives and negatives in everything.

Ben Templeton said...

Very well written Steve. Surely no one of sound mind and average intelligence could take exception at the analysis you presented there. Your poem sounds fair warning but ends on a more downbeat note than I think is merited. I hope we, as global villagers, can up the quality of discussion about the issues that impact our futures and get wise to the insidiously wicked messengers in our midst.

Mandy said...

This is wonderful Steve. Very thought-provoking. And the bonus music track was great.

Jambo said...

Maybe He can lead His People into an out-of-the-way Wilderness - silly old Cult.

Phil B said...

Hi Steve, Yes spot on with the message. Yours is a fine element poem. Groovy. Keep writing, and we’ll see our way through to a new normal politics.

Gareth Boyd Haskins said...

Loving the put down of the Donald and the witty little gems in your piece - pomp and badly attended ceremony, assume the FLOTUS position, tiny-handed narcissist. Seriously brilliant assessment too. Let's hope the Senate marks his card.

Cynthia said...

At first he was pure entertainment, the the ridiculous sound bites the orange look, the hair.Then I realised it was for real, people were listening to his nonsense and taking it on board.The lack of intellect was stunning.Then there was the wall, the immigrants, the undisguised
racism.Gradually the joke became sinister and I can only wonder at the system that lets a narcissistic nihilist stay in place for weeks until the inauguration of the next president and cause as much mayhem as possible, including the executions of as many of death row as he can.This is America's wake up call and I am reminded of the rise of Fascism in the 30's.A joke no longer but a dark shadow passing thankfully over.
Great Steve, I totally agree with your views and apologies for this long comment.

Lizzie Fentiman said...

Incisive (and funny) as ever. To deal with Trump first, he's like a messianic leader - more false prophet - leading his people (as someone spoofed above) to some mythical promised land of MAGA. I don't know if you saw his latest video: chilling the way he kept referring to "my people". Then there was that crazy speech by his son saying effectively "it's not the Republican party, it's the Trump party". No wonder some republicans in the House of Representatives voted in favour of a second impeachment. As for your poem, which I like, it captures well the sense of alienation and the dangers of fragmentation we are all feeling, so good on you. I've probably said it before, but stay angry for us.

Barney Dietrich said...

More US troops on Capitol Hill than in Afghanistan and Iraq combined right now. It's gonna be an interesting week, fella - life during civil war time (love Talking Heads).

Peter Fountain said...

I'm about to go out on my daily permitted walk for exercise and essentials and do you know what? I'm going to buy a newspaper for the first time in years. See what you've done? :)

Deke Hughes said...

I like what you've done with the poem's title and I'll give a spin to Fear of Music later. For me the issue isn't so much that people don't look at issues in depth anymore - because I think most never did - it's just that it's so much easier now to fire a range of dubious 'facts' into people's heads, as the second half of your poem so clearly illustrates. So maybe the answer is that we need to start looking at issues in more depth to sort the toss from the truth. Thought-provoking as ever. Stay safe.

Jazmeen said...

Gotta get away from snap judgements. Your right about too much binary. Take time to think around stuff, like no one dose anymore.

The Existentialist said...

The thing about democracies is the people get who the people deserve, don't you think?

Darren Webster said...

I believe it's all about perspective and being able to see the bigger picture.

Kenny Garcia said...

Good riddance to the self-obsessed old rogue this week. Let's hope America moves on and that those loonies who were blinded by him don't hanker after voting for his son like some young pretender to the throne.

Seb Politov said...

I suspect a final Trump Dump in motion! 💩

Will Powers III said...

Goodbye to the incontinent asshole, America can start cleaning up behind him now. Go Joe!