Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bob Stannard, a former lobbyist, who is still an author and musician. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
As the day unfolded on Friday she had to be getting a little anxious; not that anyone could tell. My wife, Alison, a.k.a. Gaga (so named by our grandkids), and I met in the fall of 1970 and have been together ever since. We know each pretty well. I’m the political one of our family. She reads and tends to avoid conflict. Thus it was with great surprise that I reacted to the news in November when she subtly informed me that she would be attending the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21. I don’t recall her ever doing such a thing.
She left Friday night to get on a bus and ride all night to the rally. She marched with hundreds of thousands of women and men and was part of the largest, peaceful, worldwide inaugural protest in history. President Donald Trump has a clear record of lying to us, but there may be one time he inadvertently told the truth. He said that he would unify our country. Sadly, through his words and deeds he is unifying the country, and much of the world, against him.
President Trump was presented with the perfect opportunity to make a statement about the rally as he appeared on the steps of the CIA building. Like many other opportunities he squandered this one, too. Standing before a shrine that recognizes fallen CIA personnel, Trump could only talk about how large the crowd was at his inaugural and how smart he is. There was no humility and/or humbleness on display in this speech. The outgoing CIA director, John Brennan, said Trump “should be ashamed of himself.”
Just what are “alternate facts”? It’s a new term in our society that we should expect to be hearing more of.
Trump does not possess the ability to feel ashamed of himself. As we learned during the campaign he is the crudest, most vile man to ever run for office. This little insecure man who won the electoral vote yet lost the popular vote is off to a rocky start. On the day he was sworn in, he had the lowest approval rating of an incoming president because of his words and actions since his victory. It seems like not a day goes by that he doesn’t say or do something that further enrages those who oppose him and makes many of his supporters wince.
One might have thought that he might have used his inaugural as a time to heal the self-inflicted wounds, but it was not to be. Instead, he made the decision to send his new press secretary, Sean Spicer, before the press corps not to offer a conciliatory, intellectual statement on the most significant peaceful protest of the millennium, but instead to chastise the media apparently for reporting the truth.
On “Meet the Press,” the host, Chuck Todd, took issue with the administration’s assertion that Trump drew the largest crowd in history for a presidential inauguration (he didn’t). Trump’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway said, “You’re saying it’s a falsehood. Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternate facts.” Todd rightly pointed out that “alternate facts” are not facts. They are falsehoods” (unfortunately stopping short of saying they were outright lies).
Just what are “alternate facts”? It’s a new term in our society that we should expect to be hearing more of. President Donald Trump is a serial liar. To deflect from reality they’ve shamefully created the new, Orwellian term, “alternative facts,” which are lies.
Gaga made it home safe and sound 34 hours after she left. She was exhausted, but felt good knowing that she lent her voice to the millions of women and men around the world who took the time to express how they feel about America’s new president, a small man with an over-inflated ego and small fingers. Small fingers that will sign legislation that will have a large impact on us, which hopefully will keep the power of this massive protest alive.
