Counting the days

Monday, January 21. Trump Shutdown, Day 31. It's a holiday; a lovely, paid holiday, and I don't have any work to do today. Normally, I'd have gone walking/running (lots of walking, with very little running) as soon as I woke up but it's about 50 degrees below absolute zero right now and I'm not stepping foot out that door.

Well, eventually I suppose I'll have to step foot out that door. But not at 7:30 in the morning.

I did eventually leave the house, to run some errands, literally. I went to several stores, running from my car to the store and back. Those mad dashes through the cold will count as my exercise for today. I made banana bread and there's chili cooking in the Instant Pot that I bought just about a year ago, and wrote about during another, much shorter government shutdown. I remembered writing about the Instant Pot, but I had forgotten that the other shutdown was going on at the time. Things change and they stay the same.

*****
Now it's Tuesday, Day 32.  We are still funded, so I'm still working. I don't know how much longer that, or this shutdown, will continue, but I can't worry about that right now.

I suspect, though I don't know for sure (because I don't know anything for sure), that some Trump supporters are secretly sick of him but they can't give in now. They don't want to hear the I-told-you-so, the what-were-you-thinking. Of course, lots of Trump voters are still firmly with him. They think he's doing a great job. But I think that more and more of them are on to him by now; they're just not ready to say so just yet.

I have noticed that people who support (or used to support) Trump are hyper-sensitive to the slightest criticism or mockery of the President from any news or entertainment source. They're tired of constant Trump-bashing; so much so that even a slightly negative comment about him sounds to them like bashing.

And maybe they have a point. Maybe the media should shut up about Trump for a while. SNL's Trump sketches haven't been funny since Melissa McCarthy played Sean Spicer; and no one who watches MSNBC needs any more convincing that Trump is a heartless crook and liar. And as I mentioned here, what would be worse from Trump's point of view? More vitriol and satire from liberal journalists and comedians? Or stone-cold nothing--no attention at all. No SNL sketches, no MSNBC monologues or CNN panel discussions, no Washington Post editorials--nothing.

Of course it will never happen, but think how awesome it would be if Trump had no liberal bias to push back against, no convenient media foil, no Twitter fodder. What would he do during all of those hours and hours and hours of executive time? What would Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway have to huff and puff about if no one attacked Trump? How would Fox News hosts fill their time?

It would drive Trump and his most vocal supporters crazy if his critics decided to just ignore him altogether, and that alone is a good-enough reason to try it. But there's an even better reason. Without any "bias" or "fake news" to complain about, the President's media enablers might have to defend him on his own merits. As they say on the Internet, how would that work out for them? How would Fox News and Sarah and Kellyanne and the Freedom Caucus explain why the administration didn't just get funding for the wall when the Republicans were in control of both houses of Congress?

Or how the tax cuts for billionaires will benefit the "white working class" whom they claim to love so much.

Or when we'll see an infrastructure plan.

Or why a President who claims to love the military can't get retired generals to remain in his cabinet.

Or how he plans to solve the opioid crisis.

Or how defunding the FBI, the Coast Guard, and the Transportation Safety Administration is consistent with the administration's alleged commitment to "national security."

I read today that Sarah Sanders stopped giving press briefings at the President's direction; because, as he said, the reporters are all rude to her. I suggest that they stop being rude. I would suggest that if she ever holds another press briefing, everyone in the room should treat her with great courtesy and respect, even deference. Don't ask about Russia--let Mueller worry about that. Don't ask about Cohen and Stormy Daniels. Don't call anyone a big fat lying liar. Just ask simple questions, which would force her to either answer them or not answer them. Either option would be instructive.

*****

The President has had two years to build a wall.
He's had two years to propose a solution to the opioid crisis.
He's had two years to propose a way to defund Planned Parenthood and divert the funding to free clinics that can provide healthcare to poor women.
He's had two years to come up with an infrastructure plan.
He's had two years to work on reforming the Veterans' Administration.

All the press has to do is to report on what the administration has done about any or all of the above. The answer, of course, is nothing. And that's because Trump doesn't care about any or all of the above (including--especially--the stupid wall). He cares about tax cuts for rich people and big corporations; and he cares about appointing judges who will protect the interests of rich people and big corporations. And of course, he cares about Trump. And those are the things that he has managed to take care of. Mission accomplished.

*****
Wednesday, Day 33. Oddly enough, SNL and CNN have not sought my advice, so I don't expect the media to change its Trump approach any time soon. I can't wait to not read the latest speculation about what might or might not be in the Mueller report, or when the House Democrats might or might not start impeachment proceedings. Tomorrow will be Day 34 , and no end in sight.