It's a Gold-Plated Day for America!

It's a gold-plated day for America. We, as a nation, are replacing class with crass, measured with impulsive, thinking with reacting, kindness with mean-spirited, intellect with libido, confidence with arrogance, vision with petulance, wisdom with ignorance and bluster, grace with boorish, hope with fear, caution with recklessness, humility with vanity, science with ideology, and care for others and our planet with greed. * ** * * * ** * * * * * Donald Trump has the intellectual curiosity of a box of corn flakes. The man has the nuanced critical thinking ability a hammer and the moral compass of a grapefruit. The only other country celebrating the inauguration of Trump is Russia. In fact, given the scale of the protests here, Russia seems happier than the US. * * * * * * * * * * * I have this nagging feeling we are about to swear in a Russian agent. * * * * * * * * * ** Apparently, Trump wanted a parade of tanks and missile launchers at his inauguration. Be afraid. Be very afraid. * * * * * * * * The man who wondered why we can't use nuclear weapons now has the black box codes. Be afraid. Be very afraid. * * * * * * * * * Possibly the worst government in US history is taking shape.....Three headlines from last week: Tom Price Just Contradicted Trump Team’s Defense Of His Questionable Stock Trades. Trump’s Commerce Pick Fired Undocumented Household Worker Before Confirmation Hearing. Trump Budget Nominee Admits Skipping Taxes For Employee. * * * * * * * * * I would say Jesus help us, but there are no Hispanics in the cabinet.* * * * * * * * ** Rick Perry will be in charge of safeguarding our nuclear weapons. Be afraid. Be very afraid. * * * * * * * * * * In other news, I saw this headline the other day: "George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized." So my question is why would they hospitalize his remains? He's not dead yet. But seriously, get well soon, Mr. President. * * * * * * * * On a lighter note, I bet you didn't know this: the Wikipedia article for sentence spacing, that is one space or two spaces after a period, has 150 sources in its bibliography. It's actually an interesting read. The impact of technology on typology - moveable print, the typewriter, microsoft word - all played a role. And from what I can see, one space is preferred by most, including the Modern Language Association, but there are two space holdouts. I tell my students one space although my right thumb, often by instinct and years of typewriting, automatically hits the space bar twice, as it did in this note. I once wrote a blog about semi-colons and found that duel had been fought over the issue of a semi-colon v. a colon. Passions can run high among us punctuation police.