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

Psychological Projection

2/25/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

I had a good laugh today as the result of an odd connection: I was driving in my car listening to a radio news report about NRA members making death threats against some of the teen survivors of the recent Parkland massacre, and suddenly I remembered that Trump once boasted, “I will be a great unifier.” I’m not quite sure why that particular lie of his popped into my brain at that time, but I just started laughing. I couldn’t stop.

Our country could not be more divided because of Trump and his clan, and in my brain, I kept hearing his voice growl, “I’m going to be a unifier. I’m very much a unifier.”

I then remembered a tweet I had seen earlier in the day from a Trump supporter (pictured at the right). It was drenched in hate, and in using Trump’s technique of projection (calling attention to his own negative qualities by denying their existence in himself while attributing them to others), the tweeter revealed quite an intensity and depth to his own hatred.

The level of divisiveness and hatred perpetrated by Trump, his family (some on Twitter have even pleaded with Melania to call Don Jr on his bullying of Parkland survivors), and his supporters can be exhausting. However, I remembered a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson (“To burn us by disdaining us,” below on the left), and I realized that good people – “the Aggregate of Life’s Bouquet” – will press on. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "To earn it by disdaining it" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

To burn us by disdaining us
Is Hate's consummate Fee –
His rage consumes him –
Look ahead – For it’s renewing thee.

So let us gather – every Day –
The Aggregate of
Life's Bouquet
In Honor and not shame –

By Emily Dickinson:

To earn it by disdaining it
Is Fame's consummate Fee –
He loves what spurns him –
Look behind – He is pursuing thee.

So let us gather – every Day –
The Aggregate of
Life's Bouquet
Be Honor and not shame –

In time we will unite and begin to repair the damage done by Trump. It could take years, but the work will be done!

Class Warfare

2/22/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

Trump met yesterday with parents and students affected by school shootings, and someone had to provide him with a list of empathetic statements to fake ...er, make -- including #5: "I hear you."

Instead of any empathetic statement, though, Trump echoed the pathetic line from puppet master Wayne LaPierre of the NRA -- that we need to "harden" our schools and arm teachers.

This is not new concept, though. The NRA has pushed for weapons in schools for years as evidenced by the vintage postcards below (click the images to enlarge):

Trump has proposed that 10 to 40 percent of a faculty pack heat, and he is also promising bonuses to hose who pop a cap in the ass of any likely killer. As a matter of fact, the White House website now includes a catalog of gifts and certificates available for teachers who gun down school intruders.

Pictured below: Donald Trump's "Class Warfare" bonus catalog for teachers who pack heat and/or gun down intruders:

In 1853, Emmett Lee Dickinson scoffed at an NRA proposal to arm and pay bonuses to teachers. He wrote about it in his now-classic poem "Back to the cordial Grave I'll drag thee" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Back to the cordial Grave I'll drag thee
You shall not take my Class
I'll spray outrageous arms around thee
And bonuses amass!

By Emily Dickinson:

Back from the cordial Grave I drag thee
He shall not take thy Hand
Nor put his spacious arm around thee
That none can understand

Pictured at the left: Enid Todgers, a cafeteria lady at the Lizard Lick Central High School in Lizard Lick, North Carolina, was the first gun-tottin' employee at the school.

"It's an honor to serve these kids hash every day," said Ms. Todgers, "so the least I could do for them is pack some heat."

"I'm hopin' to gun someone down," she added, "and earn me a case of them Trump-brand steaks and a set of steak knives."

No Sense of Right and Wrong

2/18/2018

From guest commentator Millard Dyball from "Poets Against Trump":

I really could not fathom that there were enough people who would vote for Donald Trump to give him the keys to the White House, but it happened. I suppose there were some who thought he would better their situations -- although in reality he could care less about them. His promises and guarantees – like cheaper and better healthcare for all as of “Day 1” – were completely hollow. However, after a year of turmoil and chaos – especially in light of Trump’s hilarious claim “I only surround myself with the best people” -- I can only assume that there are three types of people who still support this grifter: the blatant racists, the poorly educated (no other reason why they are still duped by this fraud), and the utterly crazy.

Take a look at this outrageous Twitter post from one in the blatantly bigoted camp:

I have to admit, I am sooo tired of the ones who claim to “Love God” – and yet they support Trump? Talk about shallow if not hollow religious beliefs. No true Christian would support such a despicable person – one who mocks the disabled, who supports white supremacists, who grabs at women, who lies relentlessly, who makes a mockery of religious tenets, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Another Tweet I found came from one outrageous follower who falls in the “utterly crazy” camp. This one blamed the Parkland school massacre on abortion: She wrote, “we as a nation brought these mass school shootings upon ourselves when we legalized abortion. We made it legal to murder unborn babies so God is saying ‘alright fine, if this is what you want then I’ll release my blanket of protection….”

Good grief! I thought Trump’s tweet politicizing the killings to continue his bogus claims that there was no collusion was sickening, but @brianaxgarcia’s tweets were just off the rails.

If these people just had their senses – as Emmett Lee Dickinson suggested in his now-classic poem “Had they their senses” (below on the left) – then maybe we wouldn’t be in this national nightmare? Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Had we our senses" (below on the right).

Here’s hoping more Trump voters will come to their senses in the mid-term election and in 2020.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Had they their senses
Then perhaps how well they’d see the Harm
But intimate with Madness
He preys upon them

Had they their eyes within their Heads –
How though that they are Blind –
They cannot look upon his Flaws –
So utterly grotesque –

By Emily Dickinson:

Had we our senses
But perhaps 'tis well they're not at Home
So intimate with Madness
He's liable with them

Had we the eyes without our Head –
How well that we are Blind –
We could not look upon the Earth –
So utterly unmoved –

Mental Breakdown

2/16/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

The White House has refused to release a photograph of Trump signing a bill allowing easier access for the mentally ill to obtain guns and weapons of war. However, we have BREAKING NEWS:

We have obtained access to the photo, and we have posted it at the bottom of this post.

One might wonder WHY Seantor Chuck Grassley would concoct such a ludicrous bill, WHY the GOP would support such an absurd bill, and WHY Trump would sign such a foolish bill.

The answer is quite simple.

Constraints for the mentally ill would severely limit access to guns to the largest segment of their base. Plus, the GOP is owned by the NRA (information is HERE).

Visionary and poet Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) knew just how manipulated congress is by their controllers, the NRA. He wrote about it in his poem "Congress won't act to help the cause" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "God made no act without a cause" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Congress won't act to help the cause,
They're paid to keep their aim,
With deference to the NRA
With nameses to blame.

By Emily Dickinson:

God made no act wihtout a cause,
Nor heart without an aim,
Our inference is premature,
Our premises to blame.

After Trump engaged in victim-blaming for the Florida massacre, he told his 2,827th lie while in office: "we are here for you, whatever you need." He did not answer a reporter's shouted question "Why does this keep happening in America? Will you do something about guns?"

Below: An ELD Museum Exclusive: We have obtained the photo of Trump signing the bill making gun purchases easier for the mentally ill.

Under the Gun

2/15/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

The epitome of hypocrisy? Senator Chuck Grassley appeared on the news this morning to comment on yesterday’s mass shooting in a Florida high school:

“[We] have not done a very good job of making sure that people that have mental reasons for not being able to handle a gun, getting their name into the FBI files, and we need to concentrate on that.”

That was it.

He then turned and walked away.

Remember, though, that last February, Grassley was the chief sponsor of a bill to make it easier for the mentally impaired to buy a gun.

Days later Trump signed the bill.

That’s right. Donald Trump signed a bill making it easier for people with mental illness to buy guns.

Many Republicans have remained silent on the massacre du jour, and/or they have offered hollow thoughts and prayers. They have not indicated in any way that they would support any sort of gun control.

Why?

Money talks.

Below: Amounts of money donated to politicians from the gun lobby.

How much does your representative get from the gun lobby? Check HERE to find out!

The hashtag #GunReformNow was trending on Twitter recently, but nothing will change. We will all bow our heads for a short moment of silence, and then we'll all move on until the next massacre. The GOP-run congress will ensure that. (Remember when they pretended like they'd consider banning bump stocks after the Las Vegas massacre? That faded faster than a cheap pair of jeans.)

The NRA will prevail. Money talks to congressmen, and $5,9000,000 says a lot!

Visionary and poet Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote about the NRA's grip on congress in his now-classic poem "Moments of silence led the way" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Great Streets of silence led away" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Moments of silence led the way
To Congressmen who Paused –
There’d be no Change though – no Dissent
No Gun Control – no laws –

For Now, this Morning, and this Night
The Bells of Vigils call –
But Logic has no basis here
The NRA prevails.

By Emily Dickinson:

Great Streets of silence led away
To Neighborhoods of Pause –
Here was no Notice – no Dissent
No Universe – no laws –

By Clocks, 'twas Morning, and for Night
The Bells at Distance called –
But Epoch had no basis here
For Period exhaled.

Heavy Medal

2/12/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

Yes, Donald Trump wants a military parade -- we wrote about it HERE -- but now that he's watched some of the Olympics, he wants even more. He wants a gold medal ("I've always wanted one," he said), and he wants his own squad of synchronized cheerleaders ("Get me some of those cute Korean girls," he told Pence).

Pictured below on the left: Donald Trump models the "Olympic" medal Mike Pence got for him. Pence made an official request for a gold medal from the games in Pyeongchang, but the IOC said, "absolutely not." Therefore, he picked up a "Go Team" medal at the Party City in nearby Hoengseong, South Korea.

"I love it," said Trump. "I have a gold medal. This is like big stuff. I always wanted to get a gold medal, and Mikey got one for me. This was much easier than having to race down some mountain on a sled, and I have more medals than any other president, past or present."

Pictured below on the right: Trump's "Go Team" gold medal from the Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Pictured below left and right: Trump loved the North Korean cheerleaders at the Pyeongchange Olympics, so he has signed an Executive Order authorizing the White House to hire a one-hundred-plus synchronized cheer squad.

"The Kim Jong Un is one smart cookie," said Trump, "and he's got some pretty Korean ladies cheering for him. I knew from the minute I saw them that I needed a cheer squad too -- bigger and better than Kim's. I'm going to call them the MAGettes."

Visionary and poet Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) once wrote about an autocrat who felt the need to employ a cheer squad in his poem "With bigly overgushing words" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "A little overflowing word" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

With bigly overgushing words
That any, hearing, could infer
How odd he needs their Cheers
With Thunderation as they bray
Conditions worsen and decay,
As arrogance appears –

By Emily Dickinson:

A little overflowing word
That any, hearing, had inferred
For Ardor or for Tears,
Though Generations pass away,
Traditions ripen and decay,
As eloquent appears –

Spur of the Moment

2/11/2018

From our current affairs editor Lemuel Stuart III:

Donald Trump saw a military parade in France for Bastille Day, and now he wants his very own military parade That’s right, Cap'n Bone Spurs wants a military parade in his honor. Of course, the North American Association of Bone Spur Sufferers is against the idea.

“What about all those men and women with bone spurs who wanted to serve in the military but couldn’t?” said Cuthbert J. Twillie, the Chief Interactional Developer and Legacy Mobility Director of the NAABS. “Think of the impact this would have on their emotions and their mental stability?”

Darryl Trump, Donald Trump’s brother and Lead Functionality Officer and Senior Accountability Administrator at the Donald J. Trump Center for the Study of Bone Spurs and Bone Growths (pictured above on the right) said that the NAABS concern is immaterial.

“We’ll just round up the bone spur crybabies and throw them in the back of a truck,” said Trump. “They can bring up the back of the parade. It's happened before."

Trump was referring to the fact that many military parades following World War II included truckloads of bone spur deferments at the end of each parade.

Pictured below left: Bone Spur Deferments in a post-WW II military parade in Gobblers Crossing, Alabama.

Pictured below right: Donald Trump's bone spur. Yes, that is what kept him from serving in the military. It's a wonder that the man can golf, let alone walk.

Emmett Lee Dickinson once wrote about bone spurs (below on the left) -- but noted that the victim of such an affliction "would reject" any associated pain "had he the power to serve." Not so in the case of Donald Trump. The only medals Trump has "earned" are those given to him -- merely a hollow charade.

Dickinson's poem certainly did not inspire Trump to serve; however, it did inspire third cousin Emily to pen her poem "That short, potential stir" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

That short – and painful spur
That each can make us wince –
That Hustle so industrious
‘Tis foremost Consequence –

It is the pain of Death
That touches, oh, the Nerve
That every Victim would reject
Had he the power to serve –

By Emily Dickinson:

That short – potential stir
That each can make but once –
That Bustle so illustrious
'Tis almost Consequence –

Is the eclat of Death –
Oh, thou unknown Renown
That not a Beggar would accept
Had he the power to spurn –

State of the Union

1/29/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

There really is no need to watch Trump deliver his "State of the Union" address to congress. He won't tell the truth.

Trump will do nothing but lie and deceive. He will fake, fool, and falsify. He will delude and dupe. He will trick, twist, and take us all for a ride. He will mislead. He will boast and bamboozle. He will hoodwink and hornswoggle. And the GOP will applaud.

Our democracy is in peril, and if you want to know the state of our union, just read the sign in the picture below.

I am a Muslim, register me.
I am Mexican, deport me.
I am African American, imprison me.
I am LGBTQ+, refuse to serve me.
I am poor, blame me.
I am elderly, privatize me.
I am a woman, defund me.
I am homeless, ignore me.
I am disabled, bully me.
I am sick, uninsure me.
I am indigenous, pollute me.
I am a veteran, voucher me.
I am an American, lie to me.

We have posted the picture and the poems below before, but on the date of Trump's first State of the Union address, we thought we would post them again.

Below on the left: What is the state of our union? Emmett Lee Dickinson hit the nail on his head when he wrote "The morons are bolder than they were." That is the state of our union. Dickinson's poem inspired Emily Dickinson to pen her poem, "The morns are meeker than they were" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The morons are bolder than they were –
The nuts are getting strong –
Steve Bannon’s cheek is plumper –
The Voice of the alt-wrong.

That Milo wears a gayer scarf –
And Kellyanne alt-garb
So I can be identified
I’ll put my gold star on.

By Emily Dickinson:

The morns are meeker than they were –
The nuts are getting brown –
The berry's cheek is plumper –
The Rose is out of town.

The Maple wears a gayer scarf –
The field a scarlet gown –
Lest I should be old fashioned
I'll put a trinket on.

Pictured below: Trump got the idea for his "gold star" program from the final line of Dickinson's poem above on the left. He asked Ivanka to design the gold stars which the White House will soon require all of us to wear.

Below on the left: "That Hate is all they have," a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson written in the 1800s, has captured the MAGA movement. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "That Love is al there is" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

That Hate is all they have,
And all they have is Hate;
It's not okay, that hate should be
Just how you make us great.

By Emily Dickinson:

That Love is all there is,
Is all we know of Love;
It is enough, the freight should be
Proportioned to the groove.

Arty Pooper

1/26/2018

From our art columnist Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Donald Trump asked the Guggenheim Museum in New York if he could borrow a Van Gogh painting from the museum, but the Guggenheim responded that it could not accommodate the request. Instead, they offered Trump a golden toilet. Talk about an appropriate response.

“We could not offer Donald Trump a painting by Van Gogh,” said Zella Nesbit, the Global Response Manager and Usability Executive at the Guggenheim. “Can you imagine? We’d probably never get it back.”

Nesbit said that she consulted with the museum’s Office of Acquisitions, Loans, Deaccessions, Storage, and Security of Artwork in Transit, and they selected the most applicable work of art that characterized the Trump presidency.

“Among the staff,” said Nesbit, “the golden toilet was a unanimous choice. This is representational art at its best.”

There has been no word yet as to whether or not Trump has accepted the museum’s offer.

The entire affair called to mind the poem “A gag as uproarious as this” (below on the left) by Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request). Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “In rags mysterious as these” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

A gag us uproarious as this
The shining Toilet of gold –
Trolling with purpose, and aplomb –
Trolling with cunning too.

Smiling, that they requested art
A Van Gogh was his goal!
Smiling, when he sits bare assed
Upon his golden bowl!

By Emily Dickinson:

In rags mysterious as these
The shining Courtiers go –
Veiling the purple, and the plumes –
Veiling the ermine so.

Smiling, as they request an alms –
At some imposing door!
Smiling when we walk barefoot
Upon their golden floor!

Pictured at the right: The Museum of Modern Art in New York City heard about Trump's request for a painting by Van Gogh, so they have offered to loan him the painting "Arty Pooper: When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Van Gogh" by Vincent Van Gogh's great-great-great-grandson, Sven.

I've Got A Secret Society

1/25/2018

From our political correspondent Dorothy "Lottie" Dawe:

From an article from The Hill today: "The scorched-earth attacks against the FBI by a growing number of House and Senate Republicans demonstrate a high degree of fear that special counsel Robert Mueller will make blockbuster moves in the coming days and weeks that will define the fate of ongoing investigations of the Russian attack against America."

The complete article is HERE.

Trump and his attack dogs are unrelenting in their assaults and their attempts to undermine the FBI and the US Intelligence community. They are attempting to destroy the public's trust and faith in the professionals who work day and night to protect our country. Their destructive attacks are as disgraceful as they are shameful.

Some of Trump's sycophants and toadies are even reporting mock outrage about a "secret society" within the FBI, one bent on destroying the Trump regime.

There is a secret society, but it's not within the FBI. No, the secret society is the neo-Nazi white supremacists who have infiltrated the White House and the GOP in their not-so-secret attempts to re-white America. Trump's secret society is bent on destroying the pillars of our democratic republic (an independent judiciary; due process; freedom of the press; freedom of speech) in a not-so-secret attempt to bleach the diverse fabric of our society. It is all as disgusting as it is deplorable.

The GOP's non-stop and aggressive attacks on the FBI called to mind a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson entitled "The going from the world we know" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "the going from a world we know" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The going from the world we know
To one that’s whiter still’s
The GOP’s perversity
Whose clan is on the Hill.
Behind the Hill is devilry
And everyone’s on edge,
To join his secret coterie
Entails a cult-like pledge.

By Emily Dickinson:

The going from a world we know
To one a wonder still
Is like the child's adversity
Whose vista is a hill,
Behind the hill is sorcery
And everything unknown,
But will the secret compensate
For climbing it alone?

Every day we sink further down the rabbit hole -- or should I say "further down the swamp hole"? Trump isn't draining the swamp. He's flooding the swamp and stocking it with swamp critters (as long as the swamp critters say that they voted for him and that they agree to pledge allegiance to him).

At this point we can only hope that Robert Mueller does, in fact, have some blockbuster move in store for us -- to save our country.