Trump as King Richard III and Don Quixote

 

Dali’s Don Quixote from Rio exhibit

 

After reading Richard III, Shakespeare’s tragedy/history about a power hungry manipulative sociopath who plots his way to the throne of England, I cannot help but think of Donald Trump.  It’s as if Shakespeare modeled Richard Gloucester after Trump.  And while Trump has not actually murdered his adversaries as did Richard, he did destroy his political rivals on the campaign trail and as president has gone after his opponents and critics with a vengeance.  In the following post, I’ll explore the physical, personality, and historical similarities between President Trump (not my President) and King Richard III, the illigimate and brief ruler of England.

Physically, Richard Gloucester, later King Richard, aka Richard III, and Donald Trump share some attributes.  Both are unattractive.  The tall and portly Trump sports synthetic, free flowing, drug induced orange hair.  Richard had a withered arm and hunch back. Both are sensitive and testy about their physical flaws and Trump goes to great length to prove that his hands are above average and that his hair is real.

Psychologically, both men are extraordinarily needy and quite unaccustomed to hearing the word no.  They seem to have not been deeply loved as children and consequently developed inferiority complexes. At one point, Richard admits to hating himself. Trump on the other hand can admit no wrongs. One could argue that both are narcissistic, and incapable of feeling empathy or sympathy for others.  They personalize all events and interactions and value loyality above all else, and become paranoid and suspicious of their closest allies.

Both rose to power by deceit, threat, bluster, and the brutal takedown of opponents. Richard had them all killed while Trump cut them down with viscious verbal attacks. Like Richard, Trump is spectacularly unfit and unqualfied to govern and has surrounded himself with loyal but incompetent and enabling men and women.  And it is yet to be seen who among his loyalists will become suspect and driven out.  Will it be KellyAnne Conway or Sean Spicer who draws the figurative fate of Buckingham? Could Steve Bannon be secretly plotting with the Russians to use Trump and then claim the throne for himself as did Richmond through Lord Stanley?  Will Trump’s reign of terror end as abrubtly as did Richard’s brief tenure on the throne?  The writing may already be on the wall.  Toward the end, Richard became positively unhinged, to the point of flailing wildly with a sword on the battlefield after being unhorsed, not unlike Trump’s incoherent tantrums on Twitter lashing out recklessly in ALL CAPS at ALL critics real or imagined like Don Quixote.

Birds and FDR on a slate colored day

I’ve been reading Douglas Brinkley’s biography of FDR – Rightful Heritage: The Renewal of America and am fascinated by Roosevelt’s childhood obsession with birds.  As a child of privilege, Franklin had acres and acres of private family owned land to explore.  He particularly enjoyed watching, counting, and shooting birds, not for sport, but for study. As he got older, he began to advocate shooting birds with a camera, not a gun.  Roosevelt was a serious ornithologist.

I too enjoy shooting birds with my camera, although do not consider myself worthy of the title of even amateur ornitholgist.  Nor do I consider myself to be a serious photographer, however, from time to time, I surprise myself.  I do have a sharp eye and the bird in the photograph is proof of that as this particular species, Junco hyemalis, is quite shy and flighty.  And the commonly known Dark-eyed Junco sticks with its own kind not caring to associate with other species. The slate colored specimen I captured snoops around for the birdseed that I tossed out ealier in the day.  The Junco seems to favor sunflower seeds and will fight off squirrels who like them too.  They very often hop from place to place digging aggressively for worms, seeds and other forms of winter sustenance.

Nice to see the Dark-eyed Junco on this gray day.  FDR would have concurred.

 

 

 

Top 10 Reasons Patriots Win Super Bowl

10.  The Patriots have experience in the Super Bowl, winning 4 of 6 under Belichick with Brady at QB.

9. The Falcons are 0-2 in Super Bowls. Dan Quinn as a Head Coach and QB Matt Ryan have never participated in a Super Bowl.  As Defensive Coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks, Quinn lost to the Patriots in the 2014 Super Bowl.

8. The Falcons have a mediocre defense, ranked 27th out of 32 teams in points against.  The Patriots have the 3rd ranked offense in the NFL.

7. The Patriots have a superior defense to combat the Falcons superior offense. Turnovers will be key. The Pats have forced 23 turnovers, 2 more than the Falcons.

6. The Patriots have home field advantage having won the Super Bowl in Houston in 2004. Plus, 7 players on the Pats’ roster played college ball in Texas, 2 for The University of Houston, including Tackle Sebastian Vollmer.

5. Belichick is 22-3 when facing a head coach for the first time. He will be facing Dan Quinn as a head coach for the first time.

4. In 21 playoff games, the Pats’ kicker Gostkowski is 29/31 in made field goals. Matt Bryant, the 41-year-old kicker for Atlanta has had very few pressure kicks in playoff games – only 10 field goal attempts in his career.

3. Belichick is regarded as the best coach in the history of the game; Brady, the best Quarterback in the history of the game.

2. Brady is out to prove something after DeflateGate.  His feud with the commissioner is personal.

1.  That Matt Ryan won the MVP over Brady should provide just the little extra motivation needed for Brady to perform herculean feats.  Pats over the Falcons 35-24.