Sweet baby Jesus, is our world ever burning down. We have a president, and a staff, too stupid to even consider simply “asking” about something that they do not know or understand. In one of the most symbolic acts of the Trump presidency, Trump just exposed his own idiocy, his staff’s incompetence, and our diminishing fortunes, all at the same time. Since it is 2020, it also happened in public, on Twitter.
First. Let’s establish what Trump did over this weekend, as the country folded inward, burned, attempting to prepare for perhaps the biggest epidemic since 1918. He golfed and screwed around at Mar-a-Lago.
Second, a cultural reference, because I didn’t know what it means to “fiddle while Rome burns.”
Fiddle while Rome burns. To do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; legend has it that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin, thus revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire.
I am not ashamed to say that I had never heard the reference before. I am an educated and relatively sophisticated person. I have no self-esteem issues wrapped up in saying “I need to look that up,” or simply “ask.”
Third, someone somewhere had posted a picture of Trump playing a violin and a caption saying: “My next piece is called ‘Nothing Can Stop What’s Coming.”
But because it could be construed as a cool picture, the White House social media director Matt Scavino posted it!:
pic.twitter.com/rnCGpR2v7p [1]
— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) March 8, 2020 [2]
And of course, you know what is coming by now, because of course it is coming.
Trump falls RIGHT IN to the trap, and says –
Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me! https://t.co/rQVA4ER0PV [3]
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2020 [4]
Really? Come on, man!
Look, I didn’t know what it meant, either. But if I wanted to post it, I would have probably figured it out, FIRST. And if I happened to be the President of the United States, and I wanted to post it, I would have had a team of PhDs in folklore to review it for accuracy!
Why? Because when you’re attempting to be the Leader of the Free World, you don’t ever want to look like the dumbest ffffff, you don’t want to look stupid! People are counting upon you!
How perfect.
Not only is our Nero golfing his soiled khakis off while likely self-medicating, (Rome had wine and orgies, Trump has golf and Adderall), all while our nation burns, he is too stupid to do anything about it even if he did decide he needed to help!
Leave it to a former G-Man, Frank Figliuzzi, the former Assistant Director of the FBI to explain it to New-Nero:
It means that playing golf while Americans die during an uncontained epidemic makes you look like the Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned. The fact that neither you nor your social media director understand this meme and retweeted it makes you even more oblivious than Nero.
— Frank Figliuzzi (@FrankFigliuzzi1) March 8, 2020 [5]
And we all nominated Frank to be president of the United States for the next 6 months, perhaps we’d have some sort of hope to come out on the other side.
“More oblivious than Nero.”
The president, who is goofing off at his golf resort as his administration's train wreck of a pandemic response goes from bad to worse, retweets an image posted by HIS OWN social media director that's reminiscent of Nero fiddling as Rome burned. Because neither has heard of Nero. pic.twitter.com/qlYvzV2NOn [6]
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) March 8, 2020 [7]
Rome got Nero, we got Trump. Rome’s reckless narcissist at least had good hair. We get Don.
Play it again, Don.
****
Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom