Category: Trump Coverage W/Poetry - The Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum

Swampier Than Swampiest

9/15/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

Donald Trump cannot tell the truth. Literally, the man is incapable of telling the truth.

In May 2017, we wrote about Trump's biggest lie to date (HERE), and in June 2017, we wrote about the need for multiple Trump "Presidential" Lie-braries (HERE).

Recently we even rated Trump's Top Ten Lies (HERE). However, after we made that list, we remembered other equally significant lies.

After some events from the past week, it dawned on us that even our augmented list of Top Ten lies did not include a HUGE whopper of Trump's -- the one in which he claimed he would "drain the swamp." Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Trump has ascended to a malodorous throne as Swamp King. The swamp has never been swampier. The swamp has never been filled with such a putrid swarm of swamp critters. The swamp has never been more foul.

Trump's swampy swampland that is swampier than the swampiest swamp of swampiness called to mind a couple of prophetic lines by Emmett Lee Dickinson, "With him who has a Callous heart / The swamp will stink in Ruin," (below on the left). Dickinson's cotemplation inspired third cousin Emily to pen her lines that begin "To him who keeps an Orchis' heart" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

With him who has a Callous heart –
The swamp will stink in Ruin.

By Emily Dickinson:

To him who keeps an Orchis' heart –
The swamps are pink with June.

Shirt Tale

9/8/2018

From our current affairs editor, Lemuel Stuart III:

Surely by now you've heard about -- and seen -- the "plaid shirt guy," a young man seated behind Donald Trump at his rally for racists in Montana.

The young man turned out to be Tyler Linfesty, and he told his local paper the Billings Gazette that he found out that morning he had been selected to attend the rally and meet the president. He said he and his friends did not have an agenda and had an open mind before attending.

“I didn’t really have a plan,” Linfesty told the Gazette. “I was just going to clap for things I agreed with and not clap for things I didn’t agree with.”

Of course, his face then began to tell the story as he reacted to Trump's bombast, bluster, and bunk.

All of this called to mind a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson which begins "The Twitch is dear to the Plaid Shirt man" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "The Ditch is dear to the Drunken man" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Twitch is dear to the Plaid Shirt man
For it can’t be Misread –
His every Thought – his Evidence!
How telling is his Head
In his disheveled Sanity –
Around him is this guy –
Oblivion bending over him
Dishonor leads the way.

By Emily Dickinson:

The Ditch is dear to the Drunken man
For is it not his Bed –
His Advocate – his Edifice?
How safe his fallen Head
In her disheveled Sanctity –
Above him is the sky –
Oblivion bending over him
And Honor leagues away.

Which Witch?

8/21/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Mueller’s investigation is a “which hunt.” Which ones meddled and colluded with the Russians? Which committed treason or fraud? Which lied to Congress and/or the FBI? Which perjured themselves? Which obstructed justice?

Of course, some of the questions above were answered today. Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of fraud, and Michael Cohen, Trump’s “fixer,” pleaded guilty to eight other criminal charges.

Trump’s reaction about Manafort? “He happens to be a very good person, and I think it's very sad what they've done to Paul."

REALLY?!?! It's very sad what THEY have done to HIM? THE MAN WAS FOUND GUILTY OF FRAUD!!!! And Trump doesn’t think it’s a good thing when the American justice system works? Simply. Unbelievable.

Then came the news of Cohen: Michael Cohen said in court that he committed federal campaign finance violations in coordinating hush money payments to two women — Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal — “in coordination AND AT THE DIRECTION OF a candidate for federal office.”

How sad, right? i mean, I’m sure Cohen is a good person. At least I hear he was a good “fixer” – and who doesn’t need a “fixer." It's a shame what THEY are doing to HIM, am I right?

The walls seem to be closing in on the man who only surrounds himself with the best people. Who knows -- maybe if we're lucky, this national nightmare will end sooner than later.

That thought, the close of an Orange man's career, called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's "Whose Orange career may have a close" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Whose Pink career may have a close" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Whose Orange career may have a close
Pretentious as he is, who knows?
To implicate him Fixers wilt
In angst and indicate, his guilt

By Emily Dickinson:

Whose Pink career may have a close
Portentous as our own, who knows?
To imitate these Neighbors fleet
In awe and innocence, were meet.

Believe Me!

8/19/2018

From our political correspondent, Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

The Trump administration is just crisis after crisis after crisis. One recent crisis du jour – above and beyond the billions in government welfare set aside for farmer’s because Trump’s tariffs are backfiring – centered on whether or not the White House altered a transcript of the Trump-Putin fiasco in Helsinki. Soon after that, in a speech in Kansas City, MO, Trump made the Orwellian statement, “Just remember, what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” Following that, he banned a journalist from attending a White House event because he didn't like a question she had asked him. Evidently, some topics are "off limits" for this administration.

All of this – along with the current scraps with Omarosa (including the unbelievable tape of Lara Trump offering hush money and asking Omarosa to lie and say only "positive" things about the Lyin' King) – called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "He only Himself believes" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "He who in Himself believes” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

He only Himself believes –
Fraud used to confuse –
Faith in his Constant Rewrites –
And assume – his Ruse –

Cannot fathom, how he fails
Every single claim –
But adored Invariably –
In Spite of his Shame –

By Emily Dickinson:

He who in Himself believes –
Fraud cannot presume –
Faith is Constancy's Result –
And assumes – from Home –

Cannot perish, though it fail
Every second time –
But defaced Vicariously –
For Some Other Shame –

I think it's quite obvious to all by now that Trump has complete indifference to the truth. There are countless articles out there about his propensity to lie. The American Psychology Association recently published two sure-fire ways to tell if Trump is lying:

Is he speaking?
Did he add “Believe me” after what he has said?

For more on Trump's lies, click HERE and scroll down.

THIS JUST IN:
"TRUTH ISN'T TRUTH."
~ RUDY GIULIANI, 08/19/18

The Lyin' King

8/13/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

The Omarosa flap has been fascinating to watch. She said that she just now came to the conclusion that Trump is a racist. Really? Just now? And Trump – who in 2016 said, “She’s a wonderful woman” and “She is such a fine person” – tweeted nothing but vitriol about her today. My favorite, though, was Andy Borowitz’s report, “Trump Says White House Is No Place for Lying Lowlife from Reality Show” (HERE).

Of course, the entire hullabaloo reminded me of one of Trump’s biggest lies: “I only surround myself with the best people” -- and that called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem, “The Words drop careless from his Lips” (below on the left). Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “A Word dropped careless on a Page” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Words drop careless from his Lips
When any issues rise
And folded in perpetual stream
The Wrinkled Old Man lies

Infection from his sentence breeds
We do inhale Despair
Let’s distance him like Centuries
At vote him out of Here –

By Emily Dickinson:

A Word dropped careless on a Page
May consecrate an eye
When folded in perpetual seam
The Wrinkled Author lie

Infection in the sentence breeds
We may inhale Despair
At distances of Centuries
From the Malaria –

Trump’s whopper about “the best people” and Dickinson’s poem inspired me to put together a top-ten list of Trump’s lies:

10. “I hear you.” Words Trump was prompted to say to a group of survivors from the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

9. “I hope we’re going to come up with an answer for DACA." Then Trump urged lawmakers to send him a “bill of love.”

8. “I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf.”

7. “No one will lose (healthcare) coverage. There will be insurance for everybody, and it will be a lot less expensive for everyone.’

6. "I will be a great unifier for our country."

5. “Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody.” After Trump said this, derisory laughter from the audience was audible.

4. “I am not a racist.” He even added, “I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed, that I can tell you.”

3. “I only surround myself with the best people.”

2. “There was no collusion.” No. Just an overwhelming desire to help Russian orphans, right?

1. What is Trump’s biggest lie? We wrote about it in May, 2017, HERE.

Uh oh. I just listed Trump’s top ten lies, and I realized I did not include, “We’re going to build a wall, and Mexico is going to pay for it.”

Oh…and “I know more than the generals” and “I alone can fix things.”

Oh…and “I’ve signed more bills than any other president – ever.”

Oh…and then there’s the whopper about Obama wiretapping him – and the one about millions of people voting illegally.

Good grief -- there are soooo many more.

Hmmm…looks like I might need to re-work my top ten list of Trump’s lies. This is going to be more difficult than I thought.

Orange, White, and Blue

8/11/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

Typically, when a house is infested with roaches, the vermin scramble for cover when someone flicks on a light. That is not the case with Trump's clan. His bigoted roaches don't hide at all. Instead, they are all emboldened to march brazenly into the light to bask in his orange glow.

When they gather across from the White House tomorrow to pay their respects to Trump, and as Charlottesville marks the one year anniversary of a weekend of terror last year brought on by the very same clan, I can't help but call to mind Trump's appalling acknowledgement of the "very fine people" who now light the conservative Reich's Thousand-Points-of-Light with tiki torches as they spew racist remarks.

I've also thought about Trump's outrageous claim, "I only surround myself with the best people." That statement is as empty and laughable as Melania's program to end cyber-bullying. However, Trump does view these neo-Nazis as the best people because they are willing to do the grunt work that supports his vision.

Still another ludicrous declaration from Trump: "I am a great unifier." I suspect even the members of his clan realize that that utterance is purely the false rhetoric of a con artist who preys upon the poorly educated.

And then there was the appalling announcement last year that blame for his clan's violence in Charlottesville rested on "both sides."

That absurd statement called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "Had this one Day not been" (below on the left). Though I am sure Dickinson's poem would never inspire Trump to renounce white supremacists, the poem did inspire Dickinson's third cousin Emily to pen her poem with the same opening line (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Had this one Day not been
Oh could it cease to be –
How awful, how unscrupulous
Their violence marked the Day!

Blest Love they value less
With Hate they value more
As they promote White Privilege,
A message we deplore.

By Emily Dickinson:

Had this one Day not been
Or could is cease to be –
How smitten, how superfluous,
Were every other Day!

Lest Love should value less
What Loss would value more
Had it the stricken privilege,
It cherishes before.

As Trump's white clan emerge from their parents' basements and gather in Washington, DC, to pay homage to their orange leader, men and women in blue have gathered in Charlottesville to prevent any possible repeat of last year's violence on the anniversary of Trump's clan's neo-Nazi march and rally.

I happened to be in Charlottesville today, so I took plenty of pictures (below). There were a moderate amount of people on the city's downtown pedestrian mall, and the mood was quiet, calm and somber. The atmosphere was certainly more than a bit surreal due to the heavy presence of police, and all that has happend can be traced directly back to Donald Trump. However, the legacy -- the jarring police presence, the specter of last year's violence, the memorial for Heather -- belongs to every single person who voted for and/or still supports the Donald.

Below: Approaching the Downtown Mall.

Below: Scenes around the Downtown Mall.

Below: A memorial for Heather Heyer.

Below: Scenes near the memorial.

Below: Signs around town.

Below: Police presence on the mall.

Below: As near as I could get to Market Street Park.

Market Street Park -- formerly Emancipation Park, and Lee Park before that -- is where Trump's neo-Nazi supporters gathered last year (after marching with torches the night before at UVA).

Hot On The Press

8/5/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

Every day, Donald Trump’s war on the free press gets more and more outrageous. Trump is known for projecting on to others his own disgusting faults, so in one of his recent despicable tweets, he has projected onto the press the fact that he is dangerous and sick:

His toady Sarah Huckabee Sanders was pressed on the matter recently at a White House press briefing: Does Trump really view the press as the enemy of the people? Even though she was lobbed a softball question (she should have very easily answered, “Of course the press is not the enemy of the people”), she launched into a ridiculous pity party about how she is treated by the press (many of whom won’t put up with all of her side-stepping and lies).

To be honest, Sarah needs to pull up her big girl pants and wear her deceit and duplicity with pride. This is the world Trump and she have created – she knows it, we know it, and the press knows it. For goodness sake, the woman can lie through her teeth without batting an eye, and now she even plants “journalists” in the room with prepared questions so that she can deliver pre-formulated responses. So she’s called out on her fakery and falsehoods, and she sheds a fake tear? Absurd.

The truth does not matter to Miss Sarah or to the Donald. All that matters to them is the dissemination of false propaganda with no questions asked (unless they are previously approved).

All of this calls to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem “Civilization – spurs – the Liar!" (below on the left). I doubt that Dickinson's poem would inspire the Huckster to tell the truth, but it did inspire his third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Civilization – spurns – the Leopard!" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Civilization – spurs – the Liar!
Was the Liar – bold?
The Press – always rebuked her Stalling –
Fakery – her Gold –
Trump’ry – her Custom –
She was Conscious –
Spotting – for some Clown –
This was the Liar’s nature – Sick’ning –
Now – the liar – frowns?

Pity – Party – that left her Raging –
Memorized – in Acts –
Cannot be stifled – her Narcotic –
Not impressed – with Facts –

By Emily Dickinson:

Civilization – spurns – the Leopard!
Was the Leopard – bold?
Deserts – never rebuked her Satin –
Ethiop – her Gold –
Tawny – her Customs –
She was Conscious –
Spotted – her Dun Gown –
This was the Leopard's nature – Signor –
Need – a keeper – frown?

Pity – the Pard – that left her Asia –
Memories – of Palm –
Cannot be stifled – with Narcotic –
Nor suppressed – with Balm –

Reign The Swamp

7/22/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

With Donald Trump, the Swamp King, the swamp just keeps getting swampier and swampier and swampier.

Seriously, can anyone even count how many scandals Trump is involved with?

I’m surprised, though, that a particularly dreadful story of one of the latest Swamp Monsters to emerge, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, has gotten lost in all of the recent muck: just as Kennedy announced his retirement, it came to light that Kennedy's son gave a billion dollar loan to Trump when no one else would give him a dime. Now Trump has nominated a replacement for Kennedy who believes that the president has the power to pardon himself -- and if such an absurd case were to make it to the Supreme Court, he would support Trump’s ludicrous logic.

This nauseating story called to mind a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem called "So baffled when I learned it" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "So bashful when I spied her" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

So baffled when I learned it!
So outraged – so alarmed!
So hidden in his secrets
Lest anybody find –

So breathless when the press broke –
So hopeless when I turned
And bore on, wondering, fuming,
His simple haunts beyond!

From whom he borrowed Billions –
From whom he tapped the Well –
Many will doubtless ask him,
But he will never tell!

By Emily Dickinson:

So bashful when I spied her!
So pretty – so ashamed!
So hidden in her leaflets
Lest anybody find –

So breathless till I passed her –
So helpless when I turned
And bore her, struggling, blushing,
Her simple haunts beyond!

For whom I robbed the Dingle –
For whom betrayed the Dell –
Many will doubtless ask me,
But I shall never tell!

Jabber-talky

7/20/2018

From our senior book reviewer Philo Remington:

Dover Thrift Editions announced this week that it will soon publish a long lost book of Lewis Carroll's, Donald In The Motherland, and we have been given permission to publish an exclusive excerpt from the book:

“When I use a word,” Humpty-Trumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”

“And the fact of the matter is,” said Sarah, “that I can make words mean so many different things.”

The Vlad Hatter grinned.

“I have created a world of my own,” he said, “where everything is nonsense. Nothing is what it is, because everything is what it isn’t. And contrary wise, what wouldn’t be, would be. And what would be, it wouldn’t. You see?”

“It all adds up,” sighed Mitch Turtle, “and I am very calculating with all the branches of the Government with practiced use of Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”

In an introduction to the book written by Carroll himself, the author said that he was inspired to write the story after reading a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) -- and the poem, "'No' matters when the Aide has lied" (below on the left), even fits the headlines from this week: During a meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday, Trump was asked by a reporter whether Russia is still targeting the United States. "No," said the president. Later, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that Trump was merely saying "no" to more questions, and not answering the specific question about Russia – even though the pool reporter had reworded the same question, and Trump again answered, "No.”

Remember back in the good old days when Bill Clinton speculated about "what the meaning of is, is"? Well, this week Trump trumped Clinton's play on words because "would" became "wouldn't," "no meddling" became "no, meddling," and (via Rudy Giuliani), "incriminating" became "exculpatory."

Much like the character's in Lewis Carroll's book, we are definitely down the кролик hole.

Besides inspiring Carroll to write his book, Dickinson's poem inspired Emily Dickinson to pen her poem "No matter where the Saints abide" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

“No” matters when the
Aide has lied
She morphs the Word with flair
Behold her great Impertinence
Accompanied with Stare

By Emily Dickinson:

No matter where the
Saints abide,
They make their Circuit fair
Behold how great a Firmament
Accompanies a Star.

Can't See The "Wouldn't" For The "Treason"

7/17/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie"Dawe:

Yesterday I wrote about Donald Trump's despicable performance on the world stage in Helsinki. That post is HERE.

Today, some of Trump's handlers convinced him that he had to walk-back his treasonous comments, so Trump clumsily read a statement someone else wrote for him attempting to clean up his mess. He blamed the scandal on his accidental omission of the contraction "wouldn't."

It was pure song and dance (meant to dupe, once again, the poorly educated).

Today's klutzy and spurious spectacle reminded me once again of a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson.

In the late 1800s, Dickinson wrote a series of poems about a mystery person named "Donald." I wrote about one of the poems, "Traveling to London, looking forward," last Friday, HERE. Another of Dickinson's "Donald" poems was "He did not mumble it at all." (below on the left). Though the poem was written in 1868, the lines fit today's absurd efforts to blame Trump's anti-American rant with a lack-of-a-double-negative defense.

Dickinson's enigmatic poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "I shall not murmur it at last" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

He did not mumble it at all
The terms he chose with care –
It wasn’t hard to understand
For what he said was clear –
Divulging “wouldn’t” was his Aim
But those were specious words –
Why, Donald, Treason has a Voice –
And how – it sounds – like Yours.

By Emily Dickinson:

I shall not murmur if at last
The ones I loved below –
Permission have to understand
For what I shunned them so –
Divulging it would rest my Heart
But it would ravage theirs –
Why, Katie, Treason has a Voice –
But mine – dispels – in Tears.