Louisiana Voice

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a complete narcissistic moron.”

––H.L. Mencken, writing in The Baltimore Sun, July 26, 1920. [Written 100 years ago—take that, Nostradamus!]

“If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any.”

—Donald Trump, explaining how to address the spike in coronavirus cases, Monday, June 15. [Officer, if I wasn’t looking at my speedometer, I couldn’t have been speeding….If we remove video capabilities from cell phones, police brutality will cease to exist….If Trump can gain control over the news media, there will be no “fake news.” And H.L. Mencken was “a third-rate reporter, a total loser.”]

“Police and firefighters are nice to have, but they take away from private sector jobs and contribute nothing to the economy.”

—Rush Limbaugh, America’s most loud-mouthed bigot since Archie Bunker. [Trump may revoke his American Freedom Medal for that remark.]

“THE SILENT MAJORITY IS STRONGER THAN EVER!!!”

—Donald Trump tweet, June 16, 4:48 a.m. [Obviously not referring to Limbaugh.]

“So true!”

—Donald Trump response to above tweet as he now is given to responding to his own tweets.

“There are no jokes that are funnier or more insane than this actual retweet by a sitting (and very busy) president.”

—Tweet by Edgar Wright, in response to Trump responding to his own tweet.

“He did good, although it’s always questionable, you know, in other words, the end result —”

—Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, in claiming he had done more for African-Americans than any president since Lincoln.

“Well, we are free, Mr. President, so I think he did pretty well,”

—Faulkner, cutting Trump off to point out that Lincoln, did in fact, “do good.”

“This may well be the president’s most audacious claim ever. Not only has he not done more than anybody else, he’s done close to the least.”

—Michael Fauntroy, professor of political science at Howard University, to The New York Times on Trump’s claim to have done so much for African-Americans.

“…[A]s long as racial animosity exists, white and black Americans are less likely to look upward and see where the wealth and power really has gone. They’re less likely to notice that the market is rigged against them all. [M]ost Americans don’t see CEOs getting exorbitant pay while slicing the pay of average workers, won’t notice giant tax cuts and bailouts for big corporations and the wealthy while most people make do with inadequate schools and unaffordable healthcare, and don’t pay attention to the bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign donations.”

—Former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, writing in The Guardian, June 14, 2020. [Obviously, a “loser” to Donald Trump.]

“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”

—Lyndon Johnson, to Bill Moyers, more than 50 years ago. [Love LBJ or hate him (and he was crude, dishonest, and a cutthroat politician to the core, easy to dislike), those words are just as true today as they were half-a-century ago.]

“By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury.”

—Disclaimer at the bottom of the registration page for tickets to the June 20 campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. [So, by clicking the register, attendees will be acknowledging that Trump, in fact, “(does not) take responsibility at all.”]