Donald Trump has abdicated his responsibility as a public figure with a audience and the media to project his message. He has chosen by his example to enable the worst behavior in segments of his following. It makes little difference if he is right or wrong on a topic, he deliberately spews vitriol about classes of people who are doing little or no harm to anyone, people looking to simply live their lives or have an opportunity to better their life. He plays to the resentment and insecurity of his following to insipre some of them to acts of violence, to threats of violence against opposing voices and a general lack of civility. He supports haters, and enables bigotry. People who might live with their biases and politely accept the differences feel entitled and enabled to attack, whether it's queer folk, people of color who don't speak English well - mind you we don't have an official language in the United States, people who are stranded at the border with the real threat of violence both behind them and ahead of them.
When the facts disagree with the things Trump says then the facts are wrong and politically motivated to persecute him.
Persecute him? A billionaire, the son of wealthy real estate developer who left him millions of dollars to build his business, a serial sexual molester? It seems he's a victim of not being allowed to do anything he wants to anybody he wants to do it. When the bill finally comes due, and remember this is a man who has stiffed many contractors who worked for him, whose success in business is a trail of bankruptcises and broken promises, a man who demands unquestioning loyalty but will kick a subordinate under the bus, as it were if it serves his purposes, he is a cry baby.
A cry baby indeed. Listen to Donald and hear what he's saying: I didn't do it mommy, they are bullying me. They are after me and I didn't do anything. My people, rescue me from these evil, godless foes.
Looking at the photos of him in criminal court in NYC almost makes me sad. I try to imagine what he might have done if he wasn't so narcissistic, so self-involved and so greedy. I try but sadly, I just can't seem to do it.
Well, the jury is in the courtroom now, and we'll have to see what happens.
Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon to be in midtown Manhattan this past Friday.
As I came out of the building on Madison Ave. there was a group of people staring up at the JPMorgan Chase HQ construction on Madison Ave. from E.47th to E.48th Sts. and down to Park Ave. It's a massive building and it's been going up for a few years after the two buildings that were on that site came down.
I told them what's going on there, they told me they are visiting from NE England, an hour or so south of York. Very nice people, they let me take their group portrait.
In Grand Central Terminal I stoped at Murray's Cheese in the Central Market. As their smocks declare, they know cheese. I tasted a couple and bought some cheese. Yum. These guys work surrounded by temptation all day long and they love what they do.
Later I was walking in Pershing Square. The couple are from London. She's never been to NYC before and he's been here once for a very short stay. They are loving it. The three men on the bench gave me permission to photograph them and their attitudes show a mixture of pleasure and disdain. They are real New Yorkers! The woman and her dog were standing facing across E.42nd St. The dog was attentive to and enjoying the band that was serenading the street. When the band finished, they applauded themselves.
In the restaurant where I was meeting my youngest for dinner, this man was in town from California on a business trip. He is marketing a controlled substance to the medical industry in NYC where it is under consideration for legalization for medical uses. 'Nuff said.
On the MetroNorth train I got into a conversation with three wonderful Colombians. The younger one, Natalia is an artist living in Barcelona with her partner who is asleep behind Natalia's mother, Christina. Christina lives in Colombia and all three are visiting, staying with a relative in NW Connecticut.
All together, a nice batch of people and one construction photo.
