Trump is the political equivalent of the dress that half its viewers are convinced is one color and half are sure it's a different one. Many Americans watch him and see a man who is intellectually, emotionally, and morally unfit for public office (let alone the presidency), while other citizens are unbothered by the spectacle. Or at least they pretend to be.
Watching the news - and hearing the president boast about how well-liked he is, how one (ex) foreign minister has been "very nice" to him - you wonder if this whole thing is not just some bad parody that's gotten completely out of control.
Friday evening, driving past a restaurant downtown, I caught out of the corner of my eye a basketball game on one of the TV screens. The next evening, walking on the beach, I saw people in a bar watching a football game. It's hard enough here, thanks to the weather, to remember what season it is; now televised sports are adding to the confusion.
Are the people who were tired of politics as usual weary yet of a president who isn't presidential?
While I sat with my mother in the hospital, my regret at not having children to be with me in my final days was replaced by relief at not having children to subject to that ordeal.
When I was a kid I looked forward to summer because it meant a break from school. Now I look forward to summer because it means a break from school shootings.