Must the Show Go On?

What’s on my mind? So six campaign staffers setting up Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa tested positive for COVID-19, today. A warning sign, to be sure. Trump’s rally is in the “great state” of Oklahoma, the state of Oklahoma’s health unfortunately not so great. Just today, Oklahoma reported 352 new cases (and counting) of COVID-19 infections. The show must go on!

So Trump consiglieri Bill Barr Friday fired Geoffrey Berman, the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Berman was actively investigating Trump associates including personal lawyer and friend, Rudy Giuliani. The show must go on!

So Trump claimed Barr acted on his own and “I knew nothing about it.” Barr, on the other hand, said Trump personally told him to fire Berman. The show must go on!

So Trump - master of the three-ring circus in his head - falsely bragged “nearly a million people” sought rally tickets. The arena that was to hold 19,000 instead held 6,000. The outdoor venue intended for the overflow crowd was quietly canceled when no one showed up. Trump earlier said he wouldn’t be “shamed” into canceling or postponing the event because of COVID-19. The show must go on!

So despite warnings that the indoor venue would be a virus “spreader,” Trump told rally-goers he ordered COVID testing “slowed down.” Trump’s not a fan of science; he’s not a fan of social distancing; he’s not a fan of masks. The show must go on!

So later this week, showman Trump takes his act to Arizona, where the number of new coronavirus cases has risen more than 147% over the past two weeks. Maybe the naive and the trusting will buy what he’s selling, but the smart ones won’t be hoodwinked again, knowing the ol’ pea and shell game when they see it. The show must go on!

So now it begins. “Step right up, folks! Step right up! See the World’s Greatest Con Artist, right before your eyes!” 

I half-expected to hear that. So there he stands, naked before the world - capo dei capi, the 45th President of the United States - a shambling, lying, unfit, unstable revenge-seeker whose preferred governance is through bullying and intimidation.

How dare this egotistical blowhard be so easily willing to sacrifice human lives during the most serious global pandemic in written history? And for what? So he can preen at a rally. 

Trump can order a Berman fired, a Mueller probe redacted, a Bolton sued ... But just as they and others have recorded their observations, so will future commentators. Donald Trump can lie about - well, everything - but whatever the art of his deal with the devil, Americans have the right to know and will know. 

The show must go on - even as the court of public opinion prepares to render judgment in November, and even if it’s not to the liking of America’s Thug-in-Chief.

© Nicole Parton, 2020