Journal of the Plague Year Issue 5
Started the day with a look at Twitter, and that was probably a mistake. The clusterfuck that is the Victorian DPP’s handling of the Pell case dominates Australian reactions; and that stuff is not over yet, because the civil cases will drag on for years. The anger from those damaged by the Church should haunt the bishops who supported him for decades; and we haven’t seen the redacted bits of the Royal Commission yet. Who’d work in a Catholic Institution over the next decade?
While I respect the High Court decision I will never respect an institution, system and individual that allowed the abuse in Ballarat to not only occur but to be covered up. Love to all of our courageous survivors. https://t.co/nrtL6ZsU1m
— Catherine King MP (@CatherineKingMP) April 7, 2020
Then, the US Twitterati (and I must admit that my feed has a left-wing bias—who would have thought?) is going ape about Trumps behaviours at his press conferences. Seriously, what parts of rude and boorish and stupid do the Republicans not get? Or does sociopathic narcissism infect the entire administration? Answer, probably yes, after the Acting SECNAV was forced to resign.
So you have to agree with Larry Charles when he calls Trump’s behaviour at one conference a “trivial infantile tantrum”.
He is responsible for 3 times the deaths of Americans on American soil as Osama Bin Laden. This is one of the gravest moments in American history, no pun intended. Yet, this is how he behaves, this trivial infantile tantrum while a desperate frightened dying America looks on. pic.twitter.com/PvLMkkHa8C
— Larry Charles (@larrycharlesism) April 7, 2020
There are always things to be thankful for, however, and the joy of teaching wins today. I had a ball conferencing via zoom with my extension kids over their Gothic rip-off stories—technically, appropriations showing a strong grasp of Gothic conventions and employing intertexuality to connect with a major Gothic text. The best idea was to pinch the account of the first execution by electric chair and translate that into a the part of the possessed killer, who also happens to be an unreliable narrator. Fantastic! The thematic virtual background always helps.
And, finally, the joke of the day:
Day 22: HMS SELF-ISOLATION
Donald Trump met with the Queen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (to say “England” is erroneous) and he asked her, “Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give me?”
“Well,” replied the Queen, “the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people.”
Trump frowned, and then asked, “But how do I know the people around you are really intelligent?”
The Queen took a sip of tea. “Oh, that’s easy; you just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle.”
The Queen pushed a button on her intercom. “Please send Boris Johnson in here, would you?”
The Prime Minster walked into the room and said, “Yes, Your Majesty?”
The Queen smiled and said, “Answer me this, if you would, Boris. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?”
Without pausing for a moment, he answered, “That would be me.”
“Yes! Very good,” said the Queen.
Trump went back home to ask Mike Pence the same question. “ Mike, answer this for me. Your mother and your father have a child. It’s not your brother and it’s not your sister. Who is it?”
“I’m not sure,” said Pence. “Let me get back to you on that one.” He went to his advisers and asked everyone, but none could give him an answer.
Finally, Pence ran in to his friend Jack Murphy in a restaurant the next night. Pence asked, “Jack, can you answer this for me? Your mother and father have a child and it’s not your brother or your sister. Who is it?”
Jack Murphy answered right back, “That’s easy, it’s me!”
Pence smiled, and said, “Thanks!”
Pence then went back to speak with Trump. “Say, I did some research and I have the answer to that riddle: It’s my friend Jack Murphy!”
Trump got up, stomped over to Pence, and angrily yelled, “No, you idiot! It’s Boris Johnson!”
