Fever dreaming

In the days surrounding Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from late night tv, the Disney subscription cancellations that followed, and the widespread discussion of free speech in America, I turned on the tv and found Donald Trump giving some kind of speech from London. Ugh. Not interested in wasting a single minute on his bloviating, I quickly switched to something else. Twenty minutes later I tried again. Nope, not surprisingly, he was still blathering. I think I tried several more times with the same result.

A few days later, he suddenly appeared on my screen preparing to address the UN General Assembly. When he announced the teleprompter wasn’t working, meaning his prepared script (probably, hopefully, written by others) wasn’t available, I immediately changed the channel. When he’s speaking off the cuff, he makes no sense whatsoever. Worse, he can and often does offend and insult his audience.

Sadly, every channel was carrying that ever-so-important UN address. There was no escape. I turned off the tv and fired up my computer.

In the back of my mind, a vague thought was coalescing. What if every time Trump appeared on the screen, everybody across the country changed the channel or turned off their tv? What if every time a station aired a Trump speech or appearance, viewership abruptly dropped to zero?

It was a delicious thought. Trump unable to get air time or viewers. If the FCC can cut off programs, so can the public. We don’t have to watch him. And I don’t. I may watch or read about what he said, but I don’t have to watch him saying it. Watching him try to say something intelligent, cogent, well reasoned and on point is frustrating, offensive, sickening and, at times, alarming. (Remember back in August when he mentioned moving nuclear submarines closer to Russia? He may or may not know that nuclear-powered subs are not necessarily nuclear armed. That was the same man who, some years earlier, asked why, if we have so many nukes, we aren’t using them, and why don’t we try using them to destroy hurricanes?)

Off and on, in and out, the thoughts drifted … What if nobody showed or printed a picture of him? What if nobody showed up at his press conferences? What if he got no publicity of any kind?

Yes, yes, I know. It’s critical we keep track of what he’s up to, if only to ready our defenses against his demented plans and actions. And I’ve always preferred watching events for myself rather than having third parties interpret for me. Still, the thought, the dream of millions of tvs clicking off and viewers turning away whenever he appears was … delightful. Fevered, yes, but … oh so sweet.