Cockroaches

One of the joys of living in south Texas’ tropical clime is the cohabitation we enjoy with large cockroaches.  Big, brown, scurrying, ugly wood roaches.  I have been in places when after dark I could hear the stampeding of hundreds of little clicking feet.  Turn on the light and they scatter, hell-bent for some dark hole or shadow in which to hide.

It has always seemed an appropriate metaphor to me to picture as cockroaches those folks who hate the burning light of truth to shine on them.  When the light comes, they scurry and hide.  They will hide behind anything rather than face that light.  They will seek to create darkness even if it is the darkness of their own shadow.  Anything but the light.

Sadly, our President is a cockroach.  He is fighting tooth and nail to avoid the blinding light of truth from shining on him and it is both a sad and scary sight.

 

In the darkness, he pays to have adulterous sex with a porn star and then pays her to not reveal that fact.  When it comes to light he scurries into darkness.  Cockroach.

 

In the darkness he claims to be a successful business person but when the light seeks his income tax and financial records he scurries into the darkness.  Cockroach.

 

In the darkness, he claims he is a stable genius but when the light seeks his transcripts he scurries into the darkness.  Cockroach. 

In the darkness, he meets secretly with the leaders of hostile nations, and when transcripts of those meetings are sought he says no and scurries into darkness.  Cockroach.

 

In the darkness, he sends his subordinates to cut a deal with WikiLeaks to provide harmful information on a political competitor, but as the light shines on such dealings he scurries into darkness.  Cockroach.

 

In the darkness, he sends his subordinates to negotiate with the Russians regarding influencing the outcome of our elections, but when the light begins to shine on those negotiations he attempts to block even the inquiry.  Cockroach.

 

The number of White House press briefings has shrunk to a record low.  Better to announce the news as you see it in the darkness that Twitter provides.  At press briefings, those damn cameras turn on the lights and one must answer questions, or scurry away.  Cockroach.

As an investigation into his obstruction of justice begins he tells his subordinates not to assist in the investigation and scurries into the darkness.  Cockroach.

 

In the darkness he has spends $3.4 million on each trip to play golf at his own country club, but when the Government Accounting Office asked him for more details, he scurried into darkness and denied the request.  Of his 973 days in office as of April this year he has spent 299 days at his own properties, 231 of which playing golf.  Cockroach.

 

Congress subpoenas executive branch employees and documents and Trump claims Executive Privilege and tells his appointees and employees to ignore the subpoenas.  He scurries away from the light.  Cockroach.

 

As the Mueller investigation ends and the light shines on 10 specific instances of Trump efforts to obstruct justice, in the darkness Trump announces “no obstruction” and scurries into the darkness.  Cockroach.

 

Standing in the darkness of the shadow cast by his supporters Trump makes a host of wild claims at his rallies, takes credit for everything good, accuses the Democrats of everything bad, insults our allies, insults individuals, insults news organizations, insults people recently deceased, mocks people with disabilities, admits lust for his daughter, and complains about being the most picked on President of all time while claiming to be the best President of all time.  When fact checks reveal in the light that he is lying, he scurries into the darkness to await another rally.  Cockroach.

And now a whistleblower claims Trump’s team interacted with Ukraine to get dirt on Joe Biden.  This is a President using the power of his office to undermine a political challenger for personal reasons with the leader of another nation.  Requests for information from the executive branch have been met with denials and claims of executive privilege.  Once more the light of truth heads his way and Trump scurries for the darkness. Cockroach.

There are those who like cockroaches.  In China, they farm cockroaches for food.  The Republican Party has made great efforts to keep the light of truth from shining on the cockroaches and to protect them from extermination.  So sad.

Cockroaches all.  I hear them scurrying in the halls of our democracy at night.  America, please stop providing the shadows for darkness and please turn on the damn lights.