Truth revealed in art

 

     The poet John Keats said something to the effect, that the beauty of art 

reveals truth, and that beauty and truth are much the same.   In our country, truth's

beauty has had its image greatly tarnished lately.  For the past four years, we have 

all been listening to a steady stream of lies, pouring out from the highest elected office 

in our country.  The lies have never been told with any great degree of artfulness, 

skill or believable substance.  The verbal delivery has always been like the stance

of a child, who thinks that if he tells his lies loudly enough and repeats them often 

enough,everyone will have to believe him.  And at times, the lies have been spoken 

even more crudely, as if from a dictator, who has the unquestioned, full command 

of the country.

      Now that this totally inept and fraudulent leader of the nation has been truly

and unquestionably voted out of office, his infantile behavior is running true to form.

Just as expected, he is acting like a child, having a royal tantrum, to try and get

what he wants.  No doubt he will go on for the rest of his life, claiming that our

elections have all been rigged, and that he actually won the presidency for another 

four years.

     His term in office has clearly demonstrated that he lacked the ability to change

his life-long, narcissistic behavior, and then try to grow into a more creditable, 

altruistic human-being, worthy of the office of the presidency.  That life-long, juvenile

behavior has been on view to the world for four or five decades, and for years it has 

made him the frequent target of columnists, writers and cartoonists.  It has often been 

 the truth of the images and words of these individuals, which have most truly revealed

the childish character of Donald Trump.

     Recently, I ran across an old cartoon which is another example of that long. 

public awareness of Trump's childish, self-centered behavior.  The cartoon is a 2007 

selection from the comic-strip Non Sequitur, by Wiley Miller, a true master of that 

art form.  In the cartoon, Santa Claus has just completed his annual Christmas 

delivery of gifts and toys to all of the good little girls and boys, and he has returned 

home to the north pole.  Santa is resting in his big chair, with his boots off and his 

legs up on the foot-stool when the phone rings and Mrs Claus has answered and 

tells him who is calling.  That is when Santa leans back and says " Yes, I know 

Donald Trump didn't get what he wanted again."   

     So, clearly, very early in this century, Donald Trump's narcissistic behavior 

was already so well known by then, that the cartoonists didn't even have to draw 

him into their satirical panels, in order to create laughter.  All they had to do was 

to put his name in their punch lines, and the reader's knowledge of Trump would 

provoke their laughter.

    I don't recall what all it was that Trump was squawking about, in the news, at that

time period.  Perhaps it was one of his bankruptcies or one of his gambling casino,

resort failures, which may have been getting a lot of publicity then, but whatever the 

disaster was, Trump was sure to have been loudly denying any responsibility, for all 

the claims against him.  

     It is now abundantly clear to the nation and to the world, that Trump will never tell

the truth, even if his life should depend on it.  Lying is such an integral part of his nature

that he can not change that, anymore than a leopard can change it's spots.  Some

people would describe his perpetually untruthful behavior as simply pathetic.  My 

description of such a total fraud would be a great deal less charitable than that, and 

perhaps not printable for readers of tender years.

     On the twentieth day of next January, when the truth enters the White House again, 

life will become more beautiful again, for all of us, even for those who can't distinguish 

between the new genuine honesty, and the past, destructive, four-year long, unbroken-

string of lies.