Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” is a piece I watched and explored with hundreds of students over the span of my teaching career. Recently, a couple of quotes from the play’s protagonist Willy Loman have been replaying in my head. The action covers the last 24 hours in the life of a man whom the playwright saw as representative of the common man, in a play which Miller called a modern tragedy. Willy Loman lived his life obsessed with achieving the American Dream, only to die feeling he had achieved nothing at all. During this crucial day and night, Willy is haunted by the ghosts from his past and spends a great deal of time arguing with the voices in his head. In the final scenes of the play, Willy meets his two sons in a restaurant and, for the first time, is confronted with the truth of their lives. As he leaves the restaurant, he asks the waiter, “Tell me . . . Is there a seed store in the neighborhood? . . . I’ve got to get some seeds, right away. Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground.” After arriving home with his newly purchased seeds, Willy goes to the back yard to begin planting and starts speaking to the ghost of his brother Ben, who cautions Willy that the plan taking shape in Willy’s head may backfire and that Willy will be seen as a coward. Willy responds with the question, “Why? Does it take more guts to stand here the rest of my life ringing up a zero?”
Everyone wants to feel that their life has amounted to something, that they haven’t just “rung up a zero” during their years on earth. As Donald Trump nears the reality checkpoint of his 100th day in office, he seems to be feeling much the same angst which Willy Loman experiences in “Death of a Salesman.” Trump has failed to pass a single piece of legislation, he’s caricatured daily by every publication on the planet, and his approval rating is at an historic low for a “president” at this stage of his term. He has nothing in the ground; and as he grows more desperate to plant some seeds, he becomes more and more delusional in his erratic stabs at and babbling talk about doing something important. For the fictional Willy Loman, this behavior evokes sympathy; for the real-life Donald Trump, there is no sympathy. There’s only disgust, disbelief that he actually holds the highest office in our country, terror over what calamity he may rain down upon us, and anger at the lawmakers who refuse to do their constitutional job of holding him accountable.
Here’s a snapshot of Week 13.
- At least there is one priority on which Trump can take pride in his first-hundred-day accomplishments. With Earth Day taking place on Saturday, April 22, 45 can proudly point to this assessment from the Huffington Post: “Almost 100 days into Trump’s tenure, the fears of environmentalists, scientists, public health advocates have been confirmed — and then some.” Great work, Donald! You’ve outdone yourself! Oh, and pay no attention to that group of protesters who’ll be showing up again tomorrow. They’re probably being paid by someone anyway. You just sit inside and tweet to your little heart’s content.
- Yes, the defeat of the Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a hastily jotted down bill was so far the greatest humiliation of Trump’s first 100 days. Yes, the Repubs have squandered huge amounts of time, effort, and money trying to repeal the ACA but no time working out a carefully crafted replacement for it. Yes, the one they now propose to put up for a vote next week is being called weaker than the one that already failed. NO, none of those facts is reason enough for them to back away from taking another ill-fated stab at passing a House bill which can be sent on to the Senate. According to Huff Post writers Sam Stein and Ryan Grim, Repubs have no choice but to launch another attempt because “virtually all elected Republicans in Congress pledged to repeal and replace Obamacare during their campaigns ― more or less every day since it became law. To abandon it after one attempt at passage (and a meek three-week effort at that, without even a vote) would be to risk alienating their core voters.”
- The SCPOTUS (so-called president of the United States) had some special dinner guests this week: Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent with his wife Shemane Deziel, and Kid Rock with his fiancée Audrey Berry. Fashion watchers called out Sarah Palin and Shemane Deziel for violating White House dress code with their off-shoulder tops and Palin’s open-toed shoes; and I believe it’s still considered rude for men to wear their hats indoors, as Nugent and Kid Rock did in the Oval Office. Yet these offenses—if one regards them as such—are minor compared to the smart-ass photo of Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock in front of the official White House portrait of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. There seems to be no bottom to Trump’s degradation of our historic presidential residence.
- Also this week, Turkey’s president narrowly won a referendum which pretty much makes him a dictator: the vote gives him “new, virtually unchecked powers,” according to The Economist. Since coming to power in 2002, Erdogan has had 50,000 of his critics arrested, “including many soldiers, journalists, lawyers, police officers, academics and Kurdish politicians” (BBC News). Did these detentions, along with his authoritarianism, intimidation tactics, and firing 120,000 public servants cause 45 to denounce him and the vote that gave him “virtually unchecked powers”? Of course not, silly! Our SCPOTUS called Mr. Erdogan to congratulate him on his victory. Why not? There’s nothing 45 likes more than winning, and he’s not doing much of it these days, so he’s happy for some other authoritarian who is.
- One of the biggest news stories this week is Bill O’Reilly’s dismissal by Fox News. Of course, this has nothing to do with 45; but it warrants mention of 45’s statement a week or two ago that O’Reilly is his close friend and that, in his opinion, his buddy did nothing wrong and should have continued to fight the charges. How many times does Trump have to tell the world he’s a misogynist before some people will start believing him? Some crotch grabbers get fired; others get elected “president.”
- One of Trump’s most controversial and embarrassing appointees, Jeff Sessions, our Attorney General, made this statement to an interviewer about the federal judge in Hawaii who last month blocked Trump’s second Muslim travel ban: “I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power.” Like his boss, Sessions appears to have slept through history and government classes. Imposing a travel ban on a specific religious group is not one of the powers our Constitution grants to our president; and since 1959, Hawaii has been one of the 50 states that comprise the United States, so the judge is not some outsider trying to influence US affairs. Like, oh, you know, Russia did in the election. Any comment on that one, Mr. Sessions?
- We all know when money’s tight, we have to take a hard look at our priorities and allocate funds to the most important parts of the budget; so kids’ school shoes have a higher priority than a weekend at your favorite spa. With another spending deadline on April 28, bringing with it as always the possibility of a government shutdown, our nation’s lawmakers are also being forced to evaluate budgeting priorities. Wednesday night, White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney delivered to budget negotiators a plan which makes a “hefty down payment” on the border wall “a top demand.” The full price tag for the completed wall is currently estimated at $15 billion, of which Mexico has agreed to pay zero. Of course. And just as spouses negotiate budget deals—if I can buy that new fishing pole, you can get the new tennis racket you want—Trump too is willing to make deals. According to Mulvaney, Trump “may consider insurance subsidies for low-income Americans to keep the Affordable Care Act kicking” if Democrats agree to allocations for the wall. What a great guy! Pay for my stupid wall, and I’ll let poor people have health care awhile longer. Holding poor people hostage—is that included in Art of the Deal?
- As international tensions continue to escalate, Russian aircraft are skirting US airspace at a much greater than usual frequency. From Monday through Thursday this week, Russian planes were spotted off the Alaska coast four times. Although they never entered US airspace and officials who spoke to CNN downplayed the threat level, one official told CNN there is “no other way to interpret this other than as strategic messaging.” I’d never go so far as to say Trump gets the message, but he did deny the ExxonMobil request for a waiver of sanctions that would allow them to drill for oil in Russia. Maybe he’s finally getting nervous about growing public knowledge of his bromance with Putin? Hmmm?
- The Trump administration continues its game of nuclear chicken with North Korea, giving all of us good reason to be very afraid. With no knowledge of history, geography, diplomacy, or much of anything else to go on, Trump seems to be handling the rising crisis with North Korea pretty much the way he handles everything else: Posting stupid tweets and dispatching his band of misfits—Mike Pence et al.—to make threats and attempt to give the appearance that there’s some sort of strategic plan at the White House (There’s not). From Trump’s ridiculous statement that Korea used to be part of China to the suggestion that he learned all about Korea’s history by listening to Chinese President Xi Jinping for 10 minutes, he continues to shock the world and humiliate our country with his shameless display of ignorance. Pair that ignorance with escalating international tension, and it’s difficult to see how the Korean situation is going to end well.
- Finally, the biggest story of the week is the strange series of lies or bluffs regarding the United States aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson. Everyone who’s watched the news knows by now the story of this carrier which Trump called a “great armada” heading toward North Korea, but which was actually 3000 miles away heading in the opposite direction, and the conflicting reports from various members of the Trump administration on the ship’s whereabouts. The most disturbing part of this story is what it portends for US credibility in global interactions. Both allies and adversaries listen to the words of the US President, and our national security depends on other leaders’ ability to trust those words. Our allies need to be able to believe what our president says because their own national security is also impacted by US actions, and the support we can expect to receive from them depends on our maintaining honest relations. Our adversaries need to believe our president’s words because, with modern weaponry in play, bluffing is risky business. Once again, it’s hard to see a scenario in which all of this ends well.
Donald Trump must surely wander the White House hallways at night talking to the voices in his head, obsessing over having nothing in the ground, and desperately plotting to make his mark on the world and to make people love him. He’s a sadly delusional old man, like Willy Loman, who’s growing more desperate with every passing day. But the real culprits in this situation are the Republicans who have placed him in the White House and who continue to support him, responding to every new scandalous revelation with a shoulder shrug and a “Meh!” Our job is to keep up the phone calls, letters, emails, town halls, and in-person meetings. And if all of those things fail to get their attention, we have to show up in every possible way in 2018 to send all of them out job hunting.