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

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Warts

2/8/2020

From our political correspondent Dorothy Dawe:

A particularly gruesome photo of Donald Trump surfaced yesterday -- and it's even more frightening in black and white. Ironically, Trump tweeted "More Fake News. This was photoshopped, obviously," so that confirms that the photo is real and not photoshopped.

We've been collecting and posting ghoulish pics of Trump and his fiendish family since this past August -- HERE -- and we'll certainly add these photos to the album. However, I suspect the pictures tell only part of the story because my contacts in the White House state that Trump has terrible body odor & extremely noxious breath.

The knowledge of Trump's repulsive and spiteful nature, the disturbing details about his foul hygiene, and all of these creepy photos call to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "Frequently his words are daft" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Frequently the woods are pink" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Frequently his words are daft –
Frequently, are Klan.
Frequently the man’s grotesque
Behind his spray-ont an –
Oft his head is crested
With a mesh to see –
And as oft is cranky
As a bigot be –
And our Land – they tell me
Is divided now!
Horrible mutation –
By but one performed!

By Emily Dickinson:

Frequently the woods are pink –
Frequently, are brown.
Frequently the hills undress
Behind my native town –
Oft a head is crested
I was wont to see –
And as oft a cranny
Where it used to be –
And the Earth – they tell me
On its axis turned!
Wonderful rotation –
By but twelve performed!

Below left: Life imitates art: Meryl Streep as Donald Trump. Below right: Beavis and Butthead emulate daddy.

Blurred Lines

1/21/2020

From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

From the Washington Post: "The large color photograph that greets visitors to a National Archives exhibit celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage shows a massive crowd filling Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the Women’s March on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump’s inauguration."

Take a closer look though.

"The Archives acknowledged in a statement this week that it made multiple alterations to the photo of the 2017 Women’s March showcased at the museum, blurring signs held by marchers that were critical of Trump" (the complete story is HERE).

Let. That. Sink. In.

The National Archives -- the agency of the United States government charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records -- altered photographs which were critical of Donald Trump.

I repeat: THE AGENCY CHARGED WITH PRESERVING HISTORICAL RECORDS ALTERED PHOTOGRAPHS WHICH WERE CRITICAL OF TRUMP.

All of this called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's now-classic poem "Yesterday is History" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem with the same first line (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Yesterday is History,
'Tis a need to hide –
Yesterday is Plain to see –
'Tis Falsified –

Yesterday is mystery –
Where is it Today
While they shrewdly fabricate
Gut the truth away

By Emily Dickinson:

Yesterday is History,
'Tis so far away –
Yesterday is Poetry –
'Tis Philosophy –

Yesterday is mystery –
Where it is Today
While we shrewdly speculate
Flutter both away

Of course, the entire affair also called to mind this tweet:

The Lyin' King

1/21/2020

From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

It’s all over the news – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will “step back from royal duties” and will no longer receive public funds for royal duties. They will also no long use their HRH titles.

Almost simultaneously, the GOP announced new arrangements with Donald Trump: Mitch “Midnight Mitch” McConnell announced this week that Trump is now to be recognized as “his royal highness,” and he & his family will receive tax-payer funds to cover all of their private ventures and schemes, including any and all jaunts to Europe, safari trips, and golf holidays. McConnell added, “This new model will take effect immediately.”

So Trump, for whom the GOP has circled the wagons – or in this case, the royal carriages – is now our uncrowned King, and following the sham-trial (and expected acquittal) in the Senate, the US Constitution will be rendered meaningless (except for the Second Amendment). Henceforth, we will now refer to the United States as "US2A."

The new reign of King Donald calls to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's now-classic poem, "Title divine – is his!" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "Title divine – is mine!" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Title divine – is his!
The King – without a Doubt!
Acute Degree — conferred on him –
Despot of Tyranny!
Royal – all but the Crown!
Be-throned — an orange buffoon
God send us Patience –
When he –bold –Statement to Statement –
Groan – to Groan –
Brash – Blustered – Shouted –
In a Day –
Our Misery
"My Savior" – cultists say –
Stroking his Vanity –
Is this – the way?

By Emily Dickinson:

Title divine – is mine!
The Wife – without the Sign!
Acute Degree — conferred on me –
Empress of Calvary!
Royal – all but the Crown!
Betrothed — without the swoon
God sends us Women –
When you – hold – Garnet to Garnet –
Gold – to Gold –
Born – Bridalled – Shrouded –
In a Day –
Tri Victory
"My Husband" – women say –
Stroking the Melody –
Is this – the way?

Perfect Tense

1/16/2020

A Few Notes from Dorothy Dawe:

Trump's at it again. The whiny baby that he is, he's crying and screaming again -- in all caps -- about his "perfect call."

He even called the press into the Oval Office today to demonstrate just how perfect his call was.

Below: Trump demonstrates his perfect call.

Of course all of this "perfect" talk is just mob-speak that underscores how angry Trump is that he got caught. He really thought he'd committed the "perfect crime." I've written about it before -- HERE.

Trump's corruption and crimes are so extreme and appalling that the House had no choice but to impeach him. Of course, Mitch McConnell announced his plans for a sham trial, so Trump's wrongdoing might still end up being the perfect crime. To be honest, though, if Trump is not removed from office at this point, then our Constitution is meaningless. Utterly meaningless.

Below left: Trump's "perfect call" talk called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "Let him now make that perfect Call." Below right: Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "Let me not mar that perfect Dream."

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Let him now make that perfect Call
With an Immoral stain
And so adjust his daily Crime
To boost his own campaign.

Now when we know his Power’s abused –
The Carnage of his Style
With all our lifted Hope we watch
The House – Impeachment Trial.

By Emily Dickinson:

Let me not mar that perfect Dream
By an Auroral stain
But so adjust my daily Night
That it will come again.

Not when we know, the Power accosts --
The Garment of Surprise
Was all our timid Mother wore
At Home — in Paradise.

Cult 45

1/12/2020

From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

From January 10, 2020, from the LA Times: “Call Trumpism What It Is: A Cult” – HERE.

Of course, signs of Trump's cult, Cult 45, are everywhere. For example, the cult is made up of nothing but gullible members with weak and/or hollow belief systems who adore a charlatan (below).

Members of the Cult cannot name one thing their "leader" has done well (below left).

The "leader" orders cult members to shun rogue followers. For example, Trump turned on Rep. Matt Gaetz after Gaetz voted with the Democrats in favor of the House's War powers Resolution (below center). (Gaetz later told CNN, “I think he would've preferred I voted differently, but he understands my principled view on this subject." The problem: principled views are NOT ALLOWED in the cult.)

Cult members praise the "leader" no matter what – even if he slurs his words and sniffs and snorts through to the effects of an addiction to Adderall (below right).

Below: "What is something that you believe the president has done well"? Info HERE.

Below: Trump White House shutting out Matt Gaetz in retaliation. info HERE.

Below: Info on Trump's bloated tongue, slurring words, sniffing and snorting is HERE & HERE.

So who, ultimately, will be the biographer of the blustering and bombastic head of Cult 45?

To be honest, the most exact and detailed Trump biographer is, in fact, his fat and fatigued body. His bloated, bulging tongue. His slurred speech. His drug induced sniffles and snorts. His irregular and patchy tan lines. His puffy, black-and-blue eye bags. These symptoms are the current biographer of the spurious toad in the White House. However, none of it matters to the members of Cult 45. They believe him when he says that he is the "healthiest president ever", that he speaks the truth, that he alone can fix things. They accept what he says without question.

All of this calls to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem, "His sniffs are his Biographer" (below left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "His cheek is her Biographer" (below right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

His Sniffs are his Biographer –
The sign we can’t ignore
Addiction his Euphoria –
Past that, he sins in war –

By Emily Dickinson:

His Cheek is his Biographer –
As long as he can blush
Perdition is Opprobrium –
Past that, he sins in peace –

At the left: Noel Casler worries “people would rather have a lunatic at the helm of this country....Demand some answers before it’s too late.” Trump’s "biographer" is providing plenty of valuable information.

Perfect

12/8/2019

A Few Notes from Dorothy Dawe:

I find it interesting that the Don of the GOP Crime Syndicate characterizes his call to the Ukrainian President as "perfect" -- and he says that the transcript, too, is "perfect."

What does one call criminal activity when the perp is not caught? The perfect crime.

Through his bellicose bombast and his bullying tweets where he's trying to intimidate witnesses, Trump is talking crime-speak to his consiglieres so that they line up behind him to support his perceived perfectness of the crime. It is all so pervertedly...perfect.

The entire affair calls to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem, "Midsummer, was it, when He dialed" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Midsummer, was it, when They died" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Midsummer, was it, when He dialed –
A full, and perfect call –
Then Summer closed upon itself
And Symbolized his fall –

The Con, his darkest moment yet
Before the coming Fail –
When Those – teamed with the
Perfectness –
Through Haze of Denial –

By Emily Dickinson:

Midsummer, was it, when They died –
A full, and perfect time –
The Summer closed upon itself
In Consummated Bloom –

The Corn, her furthest kernel filled
Before the coming Flail –
When These – leaned unto
Perfectness –
Through Haze of Burial –

Trump is One Sharpie Cookie

9/8/2019

From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

Are you exhausted by Trump? I am incredibly exhausted.

The issue du jour is that (supposedly) Trump invited leaders of the Taliban to Camp David on the eve of 9/11, and he announced last night that he decided to cancel the meeting.

@MrAlanSpencer wrote on Twitter, “Hopefully he’s also canceled Al-Qaeda Day at Disneyland.”

@VicStoddard noted, “I’m glad that Obama hadOsama bin Laden killed before Trump had a chance to invite him to Camp David.”

Now, the hashtag “TalibanTrump” is trending at the same time as “SharpieGate,” the tag given the outrage swirling around Trump’s feeble attempt to cover up his lack of preparedness in monitoring Hurricane Dorian when he held up a weather map he had altered with a Sharpie (below on the left).

Be sure to check out the hashtag #Sharpiegate on Twitter for some hilarious pics! Some of my favorites are below on the right.

Here’s my take on Sharpie-gate: At some point, when Hurricane Dorian was first churning in the Atlantic, an early possible track for the storm included a path through southeast Alabama. However, as the storm moved closer and closer to the United States, its cone of uncertainty changed as forecasts evolved – but Trump did not keep up with the latest updates. Therefore, when he told the residents of Alabama to hunker down (and this from the clown who didn’t even know there was such a thing as a Category 5 storm), he probably did so because he’d heard somewhere early on that Alabama was in Dorian’s path. However, he was not perceptive or caring enough to keep up with up-to-date forecasts, so at the time he made his misinformed statement, he was basing it on old news.

Trump is not a sharp cookie. Alas, it does turn out that he is a sharpie cookie – for when he realized his gaffe had gone viral, he began spinning a story faster than Charlotte could spin “Some Pig” into her web. When he altered a forecast map with a sharpie pen to include a portion of Alabama, he provided solid proof that pathological liars/narcissists do not like to be called out when they are wrong.

The entire, ridiculous affair called to mind two of Emmett Lee Dickinson’s now-classic poems, “For each erratic instant” and "A Cap of Lead will cross the sky" (both below on the left). Dickinson’s poems inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poems “For each ecstatic instant" and "A Cap of Lead across the sky" (both below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

For each erratic instant
He must in anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To his stupidity.

For each moronic blunder
Sharpie lines now disguise –
Bitter contested forecasts –
And Comments heaped with Lies!

By Emily Dickinson:

For each ecstatic instant
We must an anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour
Sharp pittances of years –
Bitter contested farthings –
And Coffers heaped with Tears!

Pictured at the right: I also LOVED this tweet from @Acyn (from 9/2/19): It shows a video of Mike Pence overseas somewhere -- on a trip Trump cancelled for himself because he was going to stay at home to monitor the storm -- and Pence made excuses for Agent Orange's absence by saying, "The President is where he needs to be." A video embedded in the video of Pence, though, shows exactly where the president was and what he was doing. He wasn't monitoring the storm at all. HE WAS GOLFING!

No wonder he had bad information for the people of Alabama! He had no idea what was going on.

The man is a stooge.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

A Cap of Lead will cross the sky
It’s tight and surly drawn
He cannot find its mighty Track
The Figure is redrawn –

A Chart held up and from a shift
Our proof that he’s not well
A Hurricane reveals the harms
Of Living through this Hell.

By Emily Dickinson:

A Cap of Lead across the sky
Was tight and surly drawn
We could not find the mighty Face
The Figure was withdrawn --

A Chill came up as from a shaft
Our noon became a well
A Thunder storm combines the charms
Of Winter and of Hell.

Ghoulish Goulash: A Trump Family Album

8/12/2019

From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

During the week of August 12, 2019, I posted the following poems as our site's "Featured Poems of the Week" -- "This was the Year of the White," by Emmett Lee Dickinson (on the left) and "This was in the White of the Year," by Emily Dickinson (on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

This was in the Year of the White –
That – it’s so obscene –
Raids are as difficult then to think
And Dreadful now to be seen –

Looking on is best that you don’t
Or if you do – be warned –
Close inspection of Lives destroyed
Makes your conscience mourn.

By Emily Dickinson:

This was in the White of the Year –
That – was in the Green –
Drifts were as difficult then to think
As Daisies now to be seen –

Looking back is best that is left
Or if it be – before –
Retrospection is Prospect's half,
Sometimes, almost more.

At that time, I made these comments -- and I referenced a ghoulish photograph that circulated of Donald and Melania Trump (highlighted below):

A domestic terrorist inspired by racist and incendiary rants from Donald Trump posted a hateful manifesto online and then gunned down 22 people in a Walmart in El Paso. According to an arrest affidavit, the white supremacist told police that his targets were Mexicans.

“I'll do whatever is necessary to stop the invasion of our country,” he said.

Later, Donald Trump visited the city for a photo op, but many let it be known that he was unwelcome – “salt in the wound,” said one.

And when did Trump visit? On the very day that ICE raided food processing plants in Mississippi. As Trump gave a ghoulish smile and a thumbs up as he posed with a baby whose parents had been brutally murdered in El Paso, ICE was tearing families apart in Mississippi and leaving children in the streets.

The rise of white supremacy in our country, the racist rhetoric of Trump, the domestic terrorism, the raids which tear families apart and abandon children – all of this called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem “This was in the Year of the White,” one of our Featured Poems of the Week. Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “This was in the White of the Year,” our other featured poem.

Below left: The ghoulish photograph of Trump and Melania. Beow that: A photograph of a crying child left abandoned by ICE after the chaotic and muddled raids in Mississippi. Below right: A chilling tweet from the Anne Frank Center: history repeats itself.

Later, on the same day I posted the two Dickinson poems and the photographs above, I came across an article by Rhonda Garelick for "The Cut," entitled "Surrogate Angels of Death: What to make of the First Lady holding the motherless child and youngest survivor of the El Paso Massacre" -- the complete article is HERE.

In the article, Ms. Garelick details "ghastly truths' which "make themselves felt in this single photo of the vacuous and smug Trumps masquerading as kindly hospital visitors, seeking to comfort the El Paso survivors."

She goes on to say, "Posing for this photograph, the Trumps remove any last doubt about their dead-eyed cruelty and transactional view of life. Smiling emptily above this wounded little boy, whose life was shattered before he could take his first step, the president and his wife call to mind those famous safari photos taken by Trump’s sons, Eric and Don Jr. — in which they, like their father, smile brightly over the victims of their own heedless cruelty and violence. To Donald Trump, this baby is little more than a hunting trophy in his own brutal race war (which explains his triumphant thumbs up)."

All of these ghastly and ghoulish photos of the Trumps made me think of others -- Trump and the orb; Trump, Melana, Ivanka and the Pope; Jared and Ivanka staring blankly out the window at Buckingham Palace. These are some of my favorite ghoulish pictures of the Trumps -- and there are plenty more!

With so many gruesome pics available of this ghastly family, I thought I would start a "Ghoulish Goulash" -- a family album of our First Family of Ghouls.

I've added some starter pics below -- and I'm sure there will be plenty more to come! I'll update this page from time to time, so if you have a favorite ghoulish picture of these swamp critters, let me know, and I'll add it to the mix!

Below: The Trump animatronics figure at Disneyland -- a perfectly ghoulish likeness of the Swamp King!

OUR LATEST ADDITION:

Some new ghoulish pictures:

Below left and right: A particulary ghoulsh photograph of Trump surfaced on February 7, 2020. We wrote about it HERE.

Below left: Art imitates life: Meryl Streep as Donald Trump. Below right: Beavis and Butthead emulate daddy.

Do you have a favorite ghoulish pic of Trump or his family? Let me know, and I'll add it to this goulash of ghouls!

Turned On The Charm

7/29/2019

From Dorothy Dawe, Chairman of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts:

We visited Baltimore a little over a year ago, and we had a great time. We wrote about out trip HERE and HERE.

We found Baltimore to be a lovely city with lovely, friendly people. As a matter of fact, some of us are thinking of a return trip to Charm City soon – maybe on Labor Day weekend – for two reasons:

First, due to the timing of our trip in 2018, we did not get to see everything we wanted to see because various attractions were closed on the days we were there.

Second, we would love to show our support to the city of Baltimore after Trump’s recent vicious attacks on the city.

I have to admit, I am incensed that an American president would attack an American city, especially one as wonderful as Baltimore. It is simply unheard of, and it is beyond deplorable. It is appalling.

Of course, Trump once described himself as a “great unifier,” but he is nothing of the sort. He does nothing but divide this country, and it is sickening.

An American president attacking an American city?

It boggles the mind.

Of course, all of this calls to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem, “Why should we worry – why indeed?” (below on the left). Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “Why should we hurry – why indeed?” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Why should we worry – why indeed?
When every day he lies
We are molested equally
By immorality.
No respite from his ignorance
That this which he’s begun
A rant of racist cries
A damned absurdity
Boggles the mind
His diatribe –

By Emily Dickinson:

Why should we hurry – why indeed?
When every way we fly
We are molested equally
By immortality.
No respite from the inference
That this which is begun,
Though where its labors lie
A bland uncertainty
Besets the sight
This mighty night –

Dark Matter

7/18/2019

From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

I was appalled by Trump’s rally last night in North Carolina. Though I have never seen a Ku Klux Klan rally, this frenzied gathering certainly seemed to fit that bill.

Trump recently challenged Democrats to “end the hate,” but then he stirred up fear and loathing in his mob ready to light the GOP’s “Thousand Points of Lights” with Tiki Torches. They then started chanting “send her back” about Ilhan Omar, a duly elected member of congress. The horde was merely repeating their leader’s white supremacist language used earlier in the week.

Trump then pole-vaulted above the heights of hypocrisy as he barked about dissenters, “If they don’t love America, then they can leave it.” However, prior to being installed in the White House, Trump was nothing more than a troll who did nothing but trash our country and President Obama.

But the rally. It was beyond disturbing.

I could not help but think of photographs we had seen on our trip to Alabama last summer (our travelogue is HERE) – photographs of white supremacists and segregationists yelling like barbaric miscreants at African-Americans during the Jim Crow era.

Where are those people’s children and grandchildren now? I suspect many of them attended Trump’s rally last night in North Carolina (and/or any other past Trump rally across the country).

Pictured at the right: White Supremacists from the Jim Crow era. Their children and grandchildren attend Trump rallies.

Hate is taught. Fred Trump taught Donald. Donald taught Don Jr, Eric, and Ivanka. Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka are now teaching their children. And like a maniacal patriarch of prejudice and hate, Trump teaches his Klan through bullying and name calling. Parents attend those rallies with their children so that they can teach their children, and their children will teach their children down the line.

It is disgusting and disheartening.

America is lost, and MAGAts are following Trump as he drags us into the heart of darkness. With each rally, we fall deeper and deeper into the abyss.

Trump’s name calling and the mob’s maniacal chanting called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem, “Teach Them – as He calls her names” (below on the left). Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “Teach Him — When He makes the names” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Teach Them – As He calls her names –
Such a one – to say –
From his babbling – Scary – lips –
As does sound – to them –
To their Ears – as near his rant –
As they chant – today
And they sound –
“Send her back” –
Their new “Enemy.”

By Emily Dickinson:

Teach Him — When He makes the names --
Such an one — to say --
On his babbling — Berry — lips --
As should sound — to me --
Were my Ear — as near his nest --
As my thought — today --
As should sound --
"Forbid us not" --
Some like "Emily."

We are still a year-and-a-half from the election so we have not hit the bottom yet. Trump, who once bragged about being a “great unifier,” now dons the mantle of an Imperial Wizard as he continues to divide our nation – as he leads us into the heart of darkness.