if we Americans can mock an evil or nutty ruler overseas (Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, the Ayatollah Khomeini) or close to home (depending on where one is in the country -- Fidel Castro), then can we mock our own nutty ruler? Of course!
There wasn't that much to mock about Barack Obama... but there is with Donald Trump.
And we must.
When his conflicting promises get bad results -- basically that he must betray one promise top achieve another -- then we have grist for parody. His vulgarity? How many people do you know who have gold-plated toilets? Of course a little gold paint on a commode can make some fitting prop for caricature. His pettiness? That makes him a brittle target for parody.
Life could get very nasty with ethnic and religious bigots and with economic extremists. We must laugh at it; if we don't then we will go nuts or angry. Got a copy of The Great Dictator? It's a good time to dust it off.
We liberals will need to challenge any bad behavior on his part as early as possible. The Republicans gave Barack Obama no leeway -- and neither should we give leeway to Donald Trump to transform America into a nightmare.
![[Image: 220px-Allan_Ramsay_-_King_George_III_in_...roject.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Allan_Ramsay_-_King_George_III_in_coronation_robes_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/220px-Allan_Ramsay_-_King_George_III_in_coronation_robes_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Miss me (George III) now? It won't be long!
There wasn't that much to mock about Barack Obama... but there is with Donald Trump.
And we must.
When his conflicting promises get bad results -- basically that he must betray one promise top achieve another -- then we have grist for parody. His vulgarity? How many people do you know who have gold-plated toilets? Of course a little gold paint on a commode can make some fitting prop for caricature. His pettiness? That makes him a brittle target for parody.
Life could get very nasty with ethnic and religious bigots and with economic extremists. We must laugh at it; if we don't then we will go nuts or angry. Got a copy of The Great Dictator? It's a good time to dust it off.
We liberals will need to challenge any bad behavior on his part as early as possible. The Republicans gave Barack Obama no leeway -- and neither should we give leeway to Donald Trump to transform America into a nightmare.
Miss me (George III) now? It won't be long!
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.