Ozymandias, and, Signs Of Our Time

 

     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.