Saturday, February 11, 2017

Silly-A-Bole



Syllable that is what it is all about.
A syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word; e.g., there are two syllables in water and three in inferno.
What does this have to do with all the price of tea in China? The syllable is the cause of all our stress and tension of the past year. It is that simple.
I wake every morning to the sound of the radio and from 5AM on to the news and the news tells me over and over again a one-syllable word. It is actually a name. The one-syllable name is repeated again and again and has been for over a year and I’m tired of hearing it but it won’t go away.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
You get the idea. It is in every magazine, newspaper, television and radio show. There is no way to get away from it.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
It is not a bad word or hard to say. It is one-syllable like ‘door’ or ‘home’ or ‘dog’ or ‘wife’ or ‘car’; words we use everyday without causing any problems. So why does this word cause so much anxiety?
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
Trump didn’t need any advertising because he was already a television celebrity and a household name. When he said he would run for president, everyone guffawed for how would this media mogul transform into the position of the most powerful figure on the planet?
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
Yet he did it and the news media found him as astonishing as the public so he upped his brand without a campaign mission or vision to game plan much to the benighted marketing folks.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
It is like gum stuck to your shoe.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
And NOW he IS president!
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
But the media is still crying out.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...  
Instead of President Trump or Mister President or even Donald Trump. It is all that one-syllable word pounding my brain like Pavlov’s Dog.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
So I did a history research study to find the other presidents with a one-syllable name. Here is what I found.

Polk, or ‘Ole Hickory’ had his hands full during the great Irish potato famine that brought starving immigrants to the U.S., the Mormons migrated to Utah, he declared war on Mexico, the Smithsonian Institute was established, ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ women’s suffrage was shaking, the Department of the Interior was created, the liberty bell didn’t ring anymore because it was cracked, he got most of the southwest and when gold was found in California it helped move everyone west.
Pierce, or ‘Young Hickory of the Granite Hills’ dealt the Gadsden Purchase (more land grabs), ‘Bleeding Kansas’ civil war between slavery and non-slavery gripped the state for two years, the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society encouraged anti-slavery folks to move to Kansas, the Kansas – Nebraska Act gave territories sovereignty on the slavery issue, State of Disunion Convention was held all showing the beginnings of the Civil War, and made a treaty with Japan that had been in isolation for three centuries.
Grant, or the ‘Hero of Appomattox’ completed the Transcontinental Railway, ‘Black Friday’ financial panic due to over speculation and railroad monopolies, the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began, southern states were readmitted to the union, the Federal Election Law giving voting rights to everyone, The Indian Appropriation Act (another treaty), the Ku Klux Klan bill trying to stop bullying was passed, the Civil Service Commission was founded, silver currency was stopped, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was formed trying to halt spirits from dry states,  the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and Little Big Horn all happened on his watch.
Hayes, or the ‘Dark Horse President’ withdrew Federal troops from south ending reconstruction, sent troops to squash the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Knights of Labor (unions) was established, retirement of all Civil War bonds in 1979 was enacted, efforts to limit Chinese immigration taking American jobs, had the first telephone installed in the White House and had the first egg roll on the White House lawn.
Taft who had no nickname was president when Peary reached the North Pole (and didn’t find Santa Claus), corruption in the government ran rampant, The Mann Act was passed so women would not be transported for ‘immoral purposes’, National Urban League was formed, The Triangle Shirtwaist Co. burns in deplorable working conditions, Standard Oil Co. dissolves, American Tobacco Co. found in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and ordered dissolution by the Supreme Court, sues U.S. Steel for violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Carnegie Corporation  was formed, Children’s Bureau in the Dept. of Commerce was begun, the Titanic sank, troops were sent to Mexico, China and Cuba to protect American interests, the 8-hour working day was authorized and the 16th Amendment was ratified for taxation.
Ford also known as ‘Jerry’, pardoned a former president, gave amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders or deserters, tried to tackle a high inflation legacy which cause a major recession, was the target of failed assassination attempts twice and was the first president to visit Japan.
The Father and Son team: Bush & Bush
H.W. Bush nicknamed ‘Poppy’ offered a banking bail-out, watched the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Berlin wall came down, sent troops to Panama to capture Manuel Antonio Noriega, promoted ‘No New Taxes’, approved the Disabilities Act, Clean Air Act, and Immigration Act, worked for Nuclear Arms Reduction as the Soviet Union dissolved, set up the Unemployment Compensation, started the ‘Operation Restore Hope’ in Somalia and went to war with Saddam Hussein but didn’t end it.
W. Bush of  ‘W’ had 9/11, went to war with the Middle East, watched Hurricane Katrina and helped create the economic crisis before the bubble burst.
And now…
Trump….
As you can see these one-syllable named presidents had some hard times and we may be in for more. I’m not saying the others didn’t either.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
So how do we get over this Trump thing? We could use initials like LBJ or JFK but DJT just doesn’t roll off the tongue. We could make a nickname like ‘Ike’ because saying Eisenhower was just too long? He could change his name to Trumpenstein or Trumpson or Trumpberg but he’d be losing his branding and he doesn’t want to lose his brand.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
Must have some respect for the name due to the position of the employment so maybe I’ll just have to deal with it like when I hear a ‘dirty word’ and just replace it with a ‘silly’ replacement.
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump…...
Or I could stick my head in the sand and turn off all social and news media for four years?

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