AWOL

Yesterday, April Ryan -- the D.C. Bureau Chief for American Urban Radio Networks and a CNN political analyst -- reported that if Trump decides to deliver an address to the nation on race (still an "if"), the speech is being written by Stephen Miller.

Now, I can only watch Trump for about eight seconds, though if I push it under duress I can make it to 15-seconds before my body begins to twitch uncontrollably.  However, I might watch this speech with a big bowl of popcorn. It's not often you get to see an elected official self-immolate on live TV.

Mind you, I don't think he'll end up giving the speech.  I think most of the staff would through their bodies in the pathway before letting him go on camera with that as the topic, even if Rep. John Lewis wrote it.  But a speech on race during national protests and a pandemic written by Stephen Miller might even get Secret Service members willing to tackle him.  That said, we've seen that there's no depth to which Trump will sink, so I don't discount the possibility.

After all, who had "Trump attacking an old man bleeding on the sidewalk from a fake report by a Russian operative" in the office pool?"  In a normal world, I'd say no one.  But in TrumpLand?  I'm guessing that several people did.

An odd thought occurred to me late yesterday.  It's that Trump has become irrelevant to the national discourse.  Which is a pretty weird thing to think about the person in charge, and the most powerful man in the world.  To be clear, I don't mean that Trump doesn't have power or authority.  Obviously he does, and his actions matter profoundly in everything.  But when it comes to the two massive stories that not only dominate the news, but which will dominate history books in generations to come -- the national pandemic that has so far killed 114,148 Americans, and the massive protests across the nation over Black Lives Matter and race relations -- I don't think that anyone is looking to the president of the United States for his voice and leadership.

There's no national testing on the coronavirus, and at this point most people don't seem to be expecting it.  The White House is not longer holding daily briefings.  States are pretty much on their own in handing the COVID-19 crisis.  The best Trump has offered is to ask about whether taking bleach, disinfectant or UV rays -- all of which would likely kill you -- is a good curative?  And not only has Trump not yet given a national address about the protests and riots across the nation, but most experts I've heard say they hope he doesn't.  They don't want to hear from the U.S. president, whose job it is to unite and comfort the nation at a time of crisis.  At the funeral yesterday of George Floyd, whose death is the foundation of all the protests, Trump not only wasn't invited to speak -- or attend -- or even meet with the family, but Joe Biden (Trump's presumptive opponent who, despite being the former Vice President, holds no elective office) was.  He met with the family, and delivered a speech which was shown on video at the funeral.  The only reason he didn't attend is because it was decided that the logistics would be too difficult.

No one is looking to Trump to direct the resolution of the pandemic.  I think people would love him to, but he seems to have given up even addressing it, and few people seem to expect anything more.  And no one at all is looking to Trump to unite the country over race.  And they don't even want him to try, knowing from past experience how he'd probably only inflame a bad situation.  Look at what he did, after all, when he simply walked across the street to stand in front of a church to hold a Bible upside-down.  They called in the military, gassed peaceful protesters, shot rubber bullets at them, and got the church leaders to excoriate him.

So, I don't think it's hyperbole -- or wrong -- to say that anyone is looking to Trump for his voice and leadership in the two most life-changing issues of his time in the White House.

This is not normal.

This is weird.

In some ways, though, it's good, which is the very reason people aren't looking to him.  Things are disastrous enough, you don't need Trump to tear about any shred of decency left for others to act upon.

Mainly, though, it's ghastly, since that's one of the main points of having a President of the United States -- to lead a nation during a crisis.

There's a joke writers like to tell about producers.  A writer and producer are straggling through the desert, the sun beating down on them, both dying of thirst.  Suddenly, off in the distance, an oasis appears.  A lovely pool of flowing water, surrounding by lush shade palm trees.  The writer builds up his energy and races as best he can to the pool, whereupon he falls to his knees, cups his hands and leans over to dip them in the cool, clear water.  But before he's able, he hears a tinkling sound -- and looks up to see the producer urinating in the pool. 

"What in the world are you doing???!!" the horrified writer asks the producer.

The producer warmly smiles and say, "I'm making it better."

And this is how Trump is making America great again.  One piss on the country at a time.

​And the elected Republicans enable him and are complicit.