The wheels have come off reason and the laws of physics muted. If Donald Trump is indeed going to be President, we have to assume anything can happen next.
Like many people, we’re still trying to wrap our heads around exactly what happened this week and how that is going to affect our future. Will we even have a future beyond mid-February? Everything seems incredibly uncertain, frightening on many levels, and leaves us totally disoriented and confused.
Reason, apparently, has taken a holiday. Â The laws of physics have been muted. If Donald Trump is our president-elect, and there seems to be very little chance of avoiding that outcome, then we have to assume that the same lack of logic, absence of reason, and denial of the physical order of the universe applies to everything else as well. If that is the case, then there is truly no limit to what could happen next. I mean, look, we’ve already seen the Chicago Cubs win the World Series! Who saw that coming? No one in Cleaveland, I’m sure!
We have to assume, as frightening as the prospects now seem, that the next four years are likely to be full of the impossible. While that leaves the door open to some really horrible things, we would like to think that perhaps some good things could happen before reason returns and sets everything back to the way it should be. I’ve tried to keep my imagination in check a little bit, but then I remind myself that a year ago we didn’t expect Trump to even survive the primaries. Everything’s on the table, folks, which means anything could happen.
Smoking is actually good for you
No one born after 1970 is likely to believe this, but prior to the U.S. Surgeon General’s warning against the use of tobacco in 1964, everyone smoked, including doctors. There were even ads in popular magazines where “doctors” touted the “health benefits” of smoking. You know, thinks like calming anxiety and curing depression. Then, someone figured out that the cigarette companies were lacing the tobacco with nasty chemicals and that the damn things cause cancer. This is why you likely don’t know too many people born before 1940—they’re all dead.
However, in this new reality of ours, I fully expect someone at one of the tobacco giants to come up with a way to replace the bad chemicals with good chemicals so that smoking actually becomes the most reliable cure for cancer rather than a direct cause of the disease. You’ll stop seeing that pesky warning that no one reads and a new Joe Camel cartoon is set to debut on NBC next fall. Everything is hunky dory and the new cigarettes smell like daisies. Life is wonderful.
Cleaveland Browns Win The Super Bowl
The city of Cleaveland has long been known for its group of really bad sports teams. All that bad luck seems to be changing, though. Sort of. The MLB Indians are the Hillary Clinton of baseball this year. At least they made it to the World Series, right? And how about those Cavs? They’re getting the young NBA season off to a good start with a division-leading 7-1 record. So, this could be the year for the hapless Browns to return to the playoffs and take the Super Bowl, right?
I hope you believe in miracles. The poor Browns currently hold the NFL’s worst record for the season at 0-10. Any other year and fans would just stay home, or try trading their Browns tickets for Cavs tickets on some 3 for 1 deal. But hey, if Donald Trump can be president, then whose to say the Browns can’t come back in the latter part of the season, win all their remaining games (they play Dallas this afternoon), and dominate the Super Bowl! Folks in Cleaveland just have to believe! It almost worked for the Indians!
Everyone forgets George W. Bush was president, goes down in history as a painter
Back when reason and logic still applied to the universe, most people knew George W. Bush as the 43rd president of the United States. However, inside this new reality, no one thinks of Mr. Bush in political terms at all. Instead, he is much better known for his portraits of wounded warriors. Okay, so they just happen to be soldiers who were wounded while carrying out the former president’s own diabolical orders, but that minor fact is conveniently swept under the rug and only brought out for the most soever of bar-room trivia challenges.
Mr. Bush has long enjoyed painting, and if his mommy and daddy hadn’t pushed so hard for their children to go into politics he could have chased after his dream of being an artist much earlier in life. Just think of the thousands, if not millions of lives that would have been saved had Mr. Bush simply painted the portraits of Afghan children rather than bombing them. With a political past as ugly and brutal as George W’s, such an artistic whitewashing of history is likely to be just what is needed to get his work hung in the National Gallery. We’ll forget about all that nasty war stuff. Life is beautiful.
Zombies are real and they prefer chocolate pudding
Everyone already likes the idea of zombies. We just never really wanted them to be real because of that whole eating your brains thing. We don’t seem to have any problem with the walking stiff and losing one’s vocabulary. If zombies weren’t murderous beasts, then we’d love to have them over for dinner. If Donald Trump can be president, then why can’t zombies be cool? After all, that whole brain thing is simply because someone got the reanimation serum wrong. Tweak a few things here and there and I see absolutely no reason why we can’t have zombies who prefer chocolate pudding instead of brains.
Granted, if zombies make as much a fuss over chocolate pudding as they do for brains then the refrigerated aisle of your local grocery store is going to be a perpetual mess. Zombies apparently lose use of their motor skills as well, so I’m not sure they would do all that well with a spoon. The good folks at Kraft Foods are probably going to want to reconsider repackaging those ready-to-eat pudding cups and make them a bit bigger. Pudding pops might need a redesign as well. Still, wouldn’t it be nice to know that your favorite undead neighbor can be so easily placated? Who knows, maybe they’ll all turn a nice shade of milk chocolate rather than that putrid green.
The Pope disavows Christianity and converts to Buddhism
Citing the constant infighting and religious fear-mongering among Christians, the Pope has announced plans to completely disavow Christianity and take up Buddhism instead. St.Peter’s basilica will be turned into a Buddhist temple with yoga and meditation classes held weekly in the Vatican courtyard. “This whole god-thing just wasn’t working out for me,” the Pope says. “There were too many rules and regulations and as I get older I have more trouble remembering all the names of those damned saints. Buddhism is much easier and I still get to hide my pasta gut under loose robes.”
Not everyone is likely to be pleased by this turn of events, however. The Dali Lama could be quoted as saying, “Hey, Buddhism is my gig, man! Stay over on the Western side of religion, dude. We don’t want your kind in the East.” The overall effect, however, is rather pleasant as former Catholics stop worrying about confession and put their efforts into developing a more comfortable yoga mat. The mass meditation allows more people to come to peace with Donald Trump’s presidency.
Bob Dillon is beatified as Saint Bob even though he isn’t dead
With the Popa having abdicated and gone over to Buddhism, the Nobel Prize committee took on the task of beatifying new saints. In their first official meeting, the committee decided to make Bob Dillon the next American saint. When asked exactly what Dillon did to deserve such an honor, the committee cited the miracles of his continued ability to stand upright for more than 15 minutes and whatever magic it is that allows anyone to understand his song lyrics without being stoned off their ass. After thinking about it over a highball or two, critics agreed that Saint Bob makes as much sense in this new world as the award for poetry the committee gave Dillon earlier this year.
Mr. Dillon, however, still refuses to answer the committee’s phone calls. In fact, Dillon remains largely unseen except when popping up for the occasional concert in Madison Square Garden or on pieces of toast in Brazil. One associate of Dillon’s record label sent a note to the Nobel committee asking if the beatification came with any super powers, such as flying or the ability to carrying a recognizable tune, but the committee has yet to respond.
Climate flip-flops make Minnesota the nation’s premiere beach destination
While president-elect Trump is working hard to find a way out of the international climate change treaty, the actual climate decided to take matters into its own hands and flip-flopped, making Northern states warm while Southern states such as Florida and Texas are left shivering until multiple feet of snow from November until July. As a result, Minnesota, with all its thousands of lakes, is now the resort capitol of the world. Retirees and college students have been flocking to the state faster than condominium and beachfront hotel construction can be completed.
While this sudden shift in both climate and population caught native Minnesotans off guard, they’ve generally taken the changes in stride, increasing their production of dairy products and importing Amish from Pennsylvania to help  with the resort barn raising and such. However, the change has not helped attendance at local Lutheran churches, who have been in a quandary now that they no longer have weekly arguments with the Catholics.
Women assert their power and become dominatrixes
While publicly decrying the misogyny and sexual assault found in the poorly written best-seller Fifty Shades of Grey, women have long enjoyed the sexual fantasies contained in the book. They have taken a special interest in those related to the BDSM fetish but have been reluctant to let any man have that kind of control of their bodies. So, in response to Donald Trump become president, women across the United States have all decided to answer their power and become dominatrixes. Fashion houses everywhere are attempting to respond to this new authoritarian shopper with lines of clothing made of vegan leather.
Men, on the other hand, are shaking in horror. Having long mistreated women for generations, the thought that they now all have access to whips and chains doesn’t seem nearly as exciting to men as it did when they were watching porn. Many men have gone missing, with most presumed to be hiding in Canadian logging camps. Women have vowed to chase them down, however, and force them to build a wall to which they can all be chained. Some fear this move could emasculate the Trump administration, but Melania has firmly told everyone that they shouldn’t worry.
Vice President-elect Pence dies in toilet paper accident
Long known as one of the biggest turds in the Republican party, vice president-elect Mike Pence was touring the Koch Industries plant that makes Quilted Northern toilet paper when a large spool of the stuff mysteriously slipped off its roller, suffocating the Indiana governor in three tons of quilted softness. No one at the plant was able to explain exactly how the accident happened, but one worker did say that a stray cat had been seen wandering around the premises of late, randomly knocking items off tables for no apparent reason.
While janitorial staff worked quickly to clean up the mess, some workers complained that there were still brown streaks left on the floor and that it was impossible to get the putrid odor out of their work uniforms. The Koch brothers denied any responsibility for the event, saying that they merely manufactured the toilet paper and had no control over how it was used. President-elect Trump says that he plans to sue just as soon as he gets over this current bought of diarrhea.
Space/Time continuum rips apart, Michelle Obama becomes president
Unable to handle the severe stress of a Donald Trump presidency, the space/time continuum rips apart, destroying reality as it currently exists and resetting order to the universe by installing Michelle Obama as president of the United States. Within minutes of having done so, the earth began to heal, rainbows were seen on every corner, and all military operations came to an end. At the same time, production of vegetables more than tripled. Yoga was declared the national exercise program and floral arrangement is now the best-paid career position in the world. Children around the world suddenly realized that their parents have been speaking to them all these years and are trying to learn their language, though some are still having difficulty with commands such as “stop,” and “put that down.”
With Mrs. Obama as president, reason now dominates all matters of policy both public and private. Corporations behave with logical responsibility. However, most of Wall Street was sucked into a giant wormhole along with the Trump administration. No one has seen or heard from them since. Of course, no one is actually looking for them, either.
See, if Donald Trump can become president of the United States, anything is likely to happen. While I’m not going out on a limb and saying anything like what we’ve mentioned here is actually possible, if anything like this does happen at least you’ll understand why.
Now, take another Paxil and have a good day.
Not Ready For Prime Time
The job was bigger than they thought
The Short Version
Apparently, no one in the transition team for the new president thought the days would pass so quickly. As a new president takes the oath of office, and members of the Obama administration begin to move out, there is a shortage of staff members. Specifically, about 640 positions that require Senate confirmation are empty. Those people just happen to be necessary for the day-to-day operation of the country. So, the new president has asked 50 members of the old administration to stay on temporarily.
A Litte More Detail
You would have thought they could see this coming. In fact, had the transition team followed the original plan laid out by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, they probably would have been all set and ready to go into today with new people filling all the important seats. Unfortunately, Mr. Christie got the “you’re fired” memo ten weeks ago and he took his plan with him. Indiana Governor and vice president-elect took over the transition team without a clue as to what he was doing. Under Mr. Christie’s plan, all appointees requiring Senate confirmation would have been named by the first week in December. Mr. Pence had no such plan.
As a result, key members of the administration are not in place, or even close to it, as the new president takes the oath of office. This is a problem for critical offices such as the State Department who never actually get a day off. There’s always something going over there. Yet, there’s no one sitting in that seat just yet. The appointee to the office of Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, isn’t close to being approved by the Senate. So, Obama appointee Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. has been asked to stay on until the Senate has time to take action.
Is this surprising? Not for anyone who is familiar with the scope of the transition of government. Anyone who has been in Washington, D. C. during a period such as this understands just how coordinated everything must be to cover all the bases in a relatively short time between the election and the inauguration. However, we didn’t elect anyone with actual government experience, did we? So, they were caught off-guard by the fact they couldn’t just hire all their friends and relatives and expect the Senate to just say, “Hey, they seem nice enough. Let ’em all in.”
What Happens Next?
The Obama appointees can stay on as long as the new president needs them. There is no timetable for Senate confirmation and nothing says that everyone absolutely, positively has to be gone by today. In fact, with over 600 appointments still to go, most of which have yet to be named, its quite likely that there could be remnants of the Obama administration lingering in fairly high positions of power well into the first year of the new administration.
Not helping matters any is the grilling that almost all of the new top-level appointees are getting from the Senate confirmation committees. As the Senate exercises extreme and partisan caution in approving cabinet members, it slows down the rate at which mid-level appointees can be vetted and approved. While it’s not unusual for some positions to go unfilled for a year or more, the number of vacant positions facing this administration is alarming and a cause for some concern.
While no one is likely to notice anything amiss over the weekend, matters related to international affairs, the economy, and employment could start rearing their ugly heads as early as next week. Without anyone authoritatively taking the reigns in those departments, what are typically mundane matters of paperwork are likely to go undone, leading to a ripple effect of consequences. The end result could potentially be catastrophic.
Not that the incoming president seems to care. He’s been noticeably hands off throughout the transition period.
If this is the way the administration is going to be operated for the next four years, we could see an increasing amount of chaos and much of the actual workings of the government could come to a screeching halt.
This is what happens when we elect someone who doesn’t have a clue how government actually works. While the new president is familiar with television reality, Washington reality is a different sort of program and this administration is far from being ready for prime time.
Share this:
Like this: