I came across a bit of political history the other day that I have to quote because of its relevance to present-day politics. Times have very definitely changed.
It’s Margaret Chase Smith’s Declaration of Conscience, from a speech she gave on June 1, 1950. Smith was a Senator from Maine and a committed Republican, but she was appalled by Senator Joe McCarthy and his tactics (Trump has been compared to McCarthy). Her speech was pretty clearly a response to McCarthy, although she doesn’t explicitly say so, or name him. In the course of the speech, she said:
It’s scary and quaint to think that almost 75 years ago one could say that one didn’t believe that “…the American people uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest.” Now it practically seems to be a job requirement.
As well as to one of his communist traitor bogeymen. Increasingly I wonder if it wasn’t right to be paranoid that there were secret agents of Russia everywhere. Since there are so many of them in reality. Plus, this time it is right-wingers as well as left-wingers who sometimes have their strings pulled by Russia.
What do you get if you join Mar-a-Lago? Is it still a functional club of any sort; can members go golfing or swimming on the property, or is this just a way of selling access to Trump?
This picture spurred a surreal scene to play out in my head:
Trump, sitting on a barstool in a dark and quiet tavern, staring glumly into an opaque shot glass. Then suddenly, rage fills his face, he spins around and violently flings the glass into a wall, where it shatters, and from where it struck a smear of ketchup drips down the wall.
I’m sure you can go golfing on the property. There isn’t a golf course at Mar-a-Lago, but I’m betting you could probably whack a few three irons at the neighbors.
Nothing conveys the world-class amenities of Mar-a-Lago, which include the finest signature European indoor and terrace dining, like an omelette cook in a baseball cap.
In 2008, The Mar-A-Lago Club received the coveted Six Star Diamond Award, which is bestowed upon the world’s leading hospitality destinations, having consistently received the prestigious Five Star Diamond Award since 1998.
2008 must be the year they added that omelette bar, putting them into the stratospheric Six Star Diamond Award level.
