Political Logorrhea

 

It was a judge who pulled it all together for me. I can't remember now if she is currently a judge, or is a former judge, but it was, ironically, her words that made all of the difference.

 

There are three things I need to mention here. They may or may not seem to be related at first look, but I'll draw the connecting lines for you, I promise.

 

1) When I was young, I heard the term "diarrhea of the mouth." Although it certainly pertains to many people, sometimes even me, I don't use it often because the optics . . . well, let's just say they are nauseating.

 

2) When trump first started running, one very funny/not funny comment about trump was made by a mental health professional on a cable news show. So many people, including mental health workers, had been saying that trump is mentally ill. This person's pointwas that this comparison is an insult . . . to the mentally ill. 

 

3) At about the same time, trump was using the phrase "make America great again." As we all know, it was later shortened to MAGA, and marketed. I was taken aback by the insult to our country. We may have our faults, but to me America was always great (especially given many of the alternatives).

Now, thanks to trump's words, most of which have no basis in fact, often don't go together to make a cohesive sentence, and almost all of which are targeted hate filled rants, America is in need of being made great again.

Well, thanks to trump and his flock of mimicking mynahs.

Back to the judge. She was being interviewed about trump's public rants after having been indicted in Washington, and later hit with an evidentiary protection order. What she said is that in her estimation, his continued incendiary posts and remarks are due to trump having logorrhea.

Wait? What? I've never heard of it. I need to Google that. How do you even spell it?

Logorrhea: constant and often unintelligible, excessive verbosity. It is the pathological inability to stop talking.

The skitters, the runs, the trots, the squirts. Yes, diarrhea of the mouth. It's an actual thing. 

And although it can be classified as a disorder, it is most commonly seen as a symptom of mental illness.

And just like that, the light bulb goes on.

I mean, insulting judges and DOJ officials, lying to taint the potential jury pool, and threatening . . . well . . . everyone. That fits. Publicly, in a town hall, defaming a woman who just days before had won a case against him for defamation. That fits too.

And interestingly enough, although mental illness can run in families, and trump's daughter clearly got the narcissist gene, she seems to have missed out on the family logorrhea gene. Or perhaps it's squashed by self-preservation, or maybe by the lack of style choices in prison clothing.

Now I would never recommend trump take hydroxychloroquine for his condition. Unlike him, I don't pretend to know more than doctors. And I wouldn't tell him to inject himself with bleach either because . . . you know . . . that is just insane. Well, and dangerous.

But I can end with some sound advice.

 

 Apple Pecan Sweet Potatoes

 

Eat a healthy diet, do a little (nonverbal) exercise, listen to your lawyers.

 

And try to understand that perhaps the best way to make America great again, is to make words have meaning again.

Apple Pecan Sweet Potatoes         

                                                                                 ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3 medium sweet potatoes

salt and pepper to taste

1 large apple

1 TBSP butter

1 TBSP brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
*Rinse, dry, and pierce sweet potatoes with a fork. Cook in the microwave or oven until soft. Remove the skin and, in a serving bowl, mash with salt and pepper to tast. Keep warm.

*While the sweet potatoes are cooking, core, peel, and chop the apple. Heat the butter in a small skillet. Add the apple, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring now and then, until the apples soften, about 10 minutes.

*Drain the liquid from the apples into the bowl with the sweet potatoes. Mix well. Top with the apples and chopped pecans.

 

Liver Cake and Lies

Lies don’t matter. They did when I was growing up. Or maybe that’s just a lie my mother told me?

But one thing's for sure, they certainly don’t matter now. In fact, they’d become so prevalent, especially in our politics, that just as many believe them as those of us who seek out the truth, use logic, see them for the blatant manipulation that they are.

There seems to be some kind of contest going on, who can get away with the most absurd lie. And although there are a lot of front runners (it’s been neck and neck for years now) with trump barely leading the way, seems he’s being pushed aside. George Santos is currently in the lead. Which is impressive considering that the rest of the party cult seems to live by the watchword “no lie is too small, no lie is too large.” 

My only hope is that prize for winning is a room with bars on the door.

But listen, I’ve tried to be an honest person, and mostly succeeded, I think. But if our current culture is a no-hold-barred, throw out that filter and let ‘em rip lie fest, I may just try out a few. You know, in the name of science (well, if you’re one of the few people who still believe in science).

So, in keeping with what is apparently the new Golden Rule "lie unto others as you have seen others lie unto you," here goes:

 

To the family:

~ I just got home but sure, I'll do the laundry, you’ll have plenty of clean underwear in the morning.

Followed the next day by:

~ No, those shorts aren’t see-through, I can’t at all tell you had to go commando today.

 

~ That isn't Cheetos dust around my mouth, it's a new makeup I'm trying. Yes, on my fingers too.

~ I'm not still upset about our argument, and no, I haven't seen the remote to the TV down in your man cave.

~ I was just about to take pictures for the blog, but sure, go ahead and try the cake, I made it for an April Fools blog post, there's a little bit of chopped liver and barely a hint of onion, let me know what you think.

 

Pineapple Cake with Dark Cherries

 

 

To no one and every one:

 

~ I have no problem with people giving away the ending of a book in their book reviews. 

~ Go ahead and pretend you didn't see your dog using my lawn as a toilet. You're actually doing me a favor. After all, it's free fertilizer.

~ Politicians should not be held accountable when their lies threaten the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of Americans. After all, it's in the job description.

 

~ What was in the minds of our forefathers, when writing the constitution, was that the right to bear arms not be intended as a means to defend our country, but to ensure the freedom of future citizens to carry assault weapons into schools, grocery stores, and movie theaters. 

~ Lies in particular, and dishonesty in general, help build a cohesive, healthy, productive society. 

I may have choked on that last one. 

 

OK, I may not quite be up to the task of being the new front runner.

That's alright, I didn't want to spend the next few years in a room with an exposed toilet, anyway.

And as much as lying may have provided momentary amusement, none of my lies had any real, life altering impact. No one's grandma died while I was vehemently, publicly denying the existence of a deadly virus.

But they were still lies, still meant, not so much to manipulate, but to deceive. And in the end, they are harmful, even if only to my own self-esteem.

Truth.

Pineapple Cake with Dark Cherries         

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
7 frozen pitted dark cherries

1 can (8 oz) pineapple chunks

1 box yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1 can (16 oz) cream cheese frosting

2 TBSP yellow sanding sugar, 

1 TBSP powdered sugar, 

1/2 tsp pineapple extract

2 TBSP pineapple juice

Directions:

*Chop the cherries and thaw on paper towels.

*Drain the pineapple well, chop (don't shred), and place on paper towels.

*Grease and flour a 9 X 13 baking pan.

*Beat the cake mix, eggs, oil, milk, and 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice for 2 minutes. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

*Pat the chopped pineapple and cherries as dry as possile and sprinkle over the batter.

*Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the center springs back to the touch. Cool completely. Cut into 24 squares.

*Mix the cream cheese frosting with the sanding sugar, powdered sugar, pineapple extract, and remaining 2 TBSP pineapple juice. Place into a piping bag and pipe onto the squares.