Losing Memory

THE REPUBLICANS in the room cannot recall having heard the president refer to African nations as "shitholes", while the democrat clearly remembers it, and has adamantly said so. Altogether, there were six senators or so present. Party politics never ends. The Bi polarization of the American electorate, and the American elected, continues apace. The question, of course, is, who's lying? Rather, which is more likely: that somebody in a room with the president, with witnesses, fabricates a tall tale to the effect that the president of the United States calls an entire continent a "shithole", and that no such thing ever happened, or, that several people in the same room, wanting to protect the president's reputation and avoid having the world sully it, decide that they never heard anything of the sort? It is uncertain whether Trump's defenders are claiming that he never in a million years uttered the word, or that they simply cannot remember his doing so. Both versions have surfaced. How likely is it that somebody is going to lie about what the president actually said, and put obscene words in his mouth, when there were other people present who know that it never happened, and can attest that it never did? How likely is it that supporters of the president in the same room heard the remark, and knowing the probable consequences, world condemnation, wish they hadn't, and therefore decide that they indeed didn't? Any discerning intelligent person can quickly decide, and the answer is rather obvious. Actually, Senator Durbin of Illinois was the only democrat in the room. A possible scenario is that all the republicans, including Cotton of Arkansas and the president himself, realized that a serious verbal blunder had been made, and that, lacking plausible deniability, would harm further Trump's already dubious reputation. Therefore, all the G.O.P. people decided, in unison, that he had never said anything, meaning that all they had to do was accuse Durbin of fabrication, and leave him to his own devices. Problem is, the world seems to be believing Dick Durbin. Among the conservative radio talk show hosts, its no big deal, whether or not Trump actually made the slander; after all, they reason, he was simply telling the truth. We don't need those people here anyway. Nor do we need three hundred thousand poor people from El Salvador, earthquake or no earthquake. Send 'em back. Among the Christian conservative community, keep 'em out and send 'em back seems to be the order of the day, the welcoming of the stranger notwithstanding. These conservatives are such lovely, compassionate, Christian people, blessed with honesty and integrity.