BITS AND PIECES 18

have you ever had a birthday party where your mother insisted you invite everybody in your class, including the one kid nobody likes?   you know that kid who enjoyed being a bully but never got caught by the teacher and the rest of the class was too afraid to snitch on him;  that kid who was such an expert at sucking up to the teacher while simultaneously making fun of her on the playground with jokes, pictures and name-calling;  that kid who for whatever reason but usually because his (or her) parents have money and/or they're a spoiled, only child who's been getting away with everything their entire life being the perfect child they are.

from the moment they show up, dropped off in a car that seems to be better than any parked on your block, they begin to show everyone but the parents exactly why nobody wants to sit with them at lunch.  as if doing a perfect eddie haskell impersonation, kissing up to every adult that may have hung around to chaperone you know that before the party's over every parent is going to be looking at the kid saying 'why can't you be more like so-and-so?' which, of course, only makes him more and more unlikeable.  then, as they leave, they help themselves to a gift or two and upon returning home, send you a bill to have their clothes cleaned because they got grass stains on their tennis shoes and the cuffs of their pants.   and, finally, they expect you to send a thank you card to them because you should feel honored to have been blessed with their presence.

i'm asking because i can't speak from personal experience since i don't remember a birthday that didn't strictly involve family (and maybe the next door neighbors who just happened to also be our landlords).  and you might ask what any of this has to do with anything.   well, i'll tell you.   this was the closest i could come to a comparison with trump's mexico trip and his ensuing speech on immigration in arizona.   in mexico he tried (emphasize 'tried') to put on that diplomatic face, playing all nicey-nice, barely raising his voice and wearing that half smile/half smirk that could easily be confused with the grimace of one bothered by a severe case of constipation and gas.   then, upon his return across the border, he transitions back to the bombastic buffoon we've all become overly familiar with.   doubling down (or at this point should it be considered quadrupling, quintupling or what?) on his pledge to build the wall and make mexico pay for his base approves and cheers, even as the president of mexico tweets a reminder that donald was told at the outset of their meeting that he could shove that idea where the sun don't shine.   i'll assume it sounds much better and maybe even slightly more romantic in spanish.

to be upfront, i didn't watch his speech so i really have no idea just how far he went in order to press his point.   were there insults, more name-calling?   how nasty did he feel he had to get in order to elicit the desired response?   but just hours after the most minimal of displays in elementary diplomacy he returns to form almost as if he thinks whatever he has to say won't get back across the border.   after all, they are mexican so, in his mind, maybe he thinks they couldn't possibly understand those great words, those good words, incredibly good and intelligent words he has at his disposal;    those wonderful words that he uses to speak at a 4th/5th grade level so that his much-loved 'poorly educated' can understand him.

now, as a further test to his diplomacy skills, donald is scheduled to make an appearance in what might definitely be considered foreign territory:   attending a church service at a black church in a black neighborhood in a city with a large black population.   after being roundly criticized for making speeches he and his staff have said time and again were meant to be a reaching out to the african-american community before predominantly (read as pretty much 100%) white audiences, trump has finally consented to present himself to the congregation of great faith ministries international and that's assuming he doesn't burst into flames upon entering the sanctuary.   but this is where a few details turn this into just one more staged trump event:
1)   it was originally intended to be a 10 minute speech but for whatever reasons it was decided donald would simply attend a service after members of his campaign balked at him addressing the congregation on his own.   maybe they figured he'd have trouble keeping it to 10 minutes while still getting a cogent point across.   he does love to ramble.   they then came up with the idea of an interview conducted by bishop wayne t. jackson.
2)   the interview will be closed to the media but taped for broadcast in a week on the impact network, a christian network owned by bishop jackson.   however, it appears that this may not be your typical interview because
3)  the new york times is reporting  the whole thing will be scripted:  questions, answers, reactions, what words to avoid (like 'racist').   i guess we can assume there'll be no megyn kelly surprises or 'bleeding from her wherever' moments.   how boring.
4)   hoping that he stays 'on script' he's being encouraged to stick to what they think is working for him which includes telling his audience that he will be a 'strong partner' to the african-american community, that 'he won't let them down' and that his approval numbers among black voters are now 'up to 8%'.   not sure where he pulled those last numbers from but last i looked it was still around 1-2%....and that's on a good day.
5)   trump spokesperson, hope hicks, said when asked that she was unaware of any such script.   would you expect her to say anything else?

considering within the last couple of weeks, when donald's sincerity concerning his black outreach program was questioned and his insistence on speaking to white audiences in white communities in order to call out to black voters was ridiculed, especially when he said 'what have you got to lose?', his son eric said his father wasn't going into 'those' communities because he 'wouldn't feel safe'.   maybe if nothing else, this appearance, however brief and in the long run unsatisfactory, will lay to rest that part of the controversy for the moment.   it could also soundly backfire, just like his trip from mexico to arizona did.   after the speech many members in trump's national hispanic advisory committee are considering pulling their support with one, jacob monty, a houston lawyer, resigning immediately after the speech saying he heard nothing 'realistic or compassionate' about trump's plans and another, texas pastor ramiro pena saying he'd seriously have to reconsider being a part of 'this scam'.   pastor pena said the nhac appeared to be 'all for optics'.   calling on others in the organization  he said 'it is difficult to [imagine] how i can continue to associate with the trump campaign'.

meanwhile, his hard-core supporters seem to cheer him on despite some displaying a bit of disappointment over the softening even he seems to not understand.   today he says it's a 'softening', yesterday it was 'a compassionate approach', tomorrow it'll be 'something that has to be looked at once we've got everything in line'....or did he say that an hour ago?.... and his son and others insist that ever since day one he's been 'consistent'.   i don't think that word means what they think it does.

in my humble opinion, someone needs to figure out what's going on or who to slap.   either way, make it snappy.   i've still got popcorn to stock up on.