In 1818, Shelley published his famous sonnet called Ozymandias. The poem is the
tale of an egotistical, narcissistic king, who once ruled a vast, wealthy kingdom, with a
capitol of great temples and palaces, all of which have been swept away by the ravages
of time, and swallowed by desert sands. The only visible remnant is a colossal, fractured
statue of the king. The top half of the figure is lying face-up, on the sand, where the
king's "frown, wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command", can still be seen. And still
inscribed on the towering, but crumbling legs of the king, is the proud declaration,
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Sooner or later, time does have a way of bringing down dictators and egotistical
monarchs, no matter how much they do to retain their power, by building many giant,
intimidating statues and portraits of themselves. It is no different today than it was in
ancient Egypt. For example, the multi-story portraits of the Saudi royals, hanging on
the faces of tall buildings, which seem to be regular features of the landscape, in Saudi
Arabian cities. And it is the same in Iran, where the giant portraits of ruling, religious
chieftains, glare down at the people like the wrath of doom.
These past several months, have been the season of political portraiture in America.
We see the faces of candidates for office, everywhere around us now. From millions of
yard signs to giant sign-boards, rising above the rooftops, their faces stare at us, with
snappy, printed slogans, trying to convince us to give them our votes. But I wonder if
some voters opinions of candidates might change a bit, if those signs featured photos
which revealed more of the true character of an egotistical narcissist like Donald Trump.
Would some people feel differently about him, if they compared his behavior to that of
some of the most despicable tyrants of recent history? This sign-board shows just a
few of the easily available images, of telling similarities, between tyrannical despots.
The pigeons are a welcome addition to this scene. Having them roost on the top
of the sign-board, and poop on the faces of the monumental egotists below them,
seems like the perfect tribute.
( Click on image to enlarge )
Some people will say that it is not fair to compare Trump with men who are personally
responsible for the deaths of unknown numbers of their fellow human beings. Such
people should remember that Trump withheld vital information, early this year, about the
deadliness of the coming pandemic, and failed to mount an aggressive plan of defense
against it, because he thought that would hurt his chances of being re-elected. He has no
empathy for the sufferings of the sick and dying. He always puts his own self-interests
ahead of the lives of others, and because of that, nearly a quarter million Americans
have gone to early graves. As Trump's own sister says, he thinks only of himself, and
no one else.
Even now, with the plague infection rate, and the death rate, on the rise again, our
perpetually lying president continues to tell the mask-less crowds at his rallies, that the
pandemic will soon vanish around some invisible corner, and that a vaccine will be
available in a matter of days. When, in truth, the pandemic is only getting worse, and
an adequate enough supply of vaccine, to give inoculations to everyone, is not likely
to be available until well into next year.
There a number of other noticeable similarities Trump has in common with other
such narcissistic sociopaths. He has cozied-up with some of the murderous thugs
who rule other countries, while at the same time he has decimated our own diplomatic
corps, and sown mistrust of our own intelligence agencies and F.B.I. Anyone in his
administration who has ever demonstrated any sign of independent competence, has
been fired for not licking his boots and praising him like a loyal slave. He has replaced
those ethical executives with sycophants and toadies, who will do whatever he tells
them to do, no matter how wrong or harmful that action may be.
Eventually , Trump's fraudulent schemes, and corrupt and treasonable behavior
will be fully exposed, and then it will all come home to roost on him, like a flock of
pooping pigeons. But now we need to remove him from office as quickly as possible,
so that he will no longer have the power of the presidency, to help him avoid paying
the price for his crimes.
I'm rooting for the pigeons.
