Humoring the headlines: December 13, 2016

By Laurie Baron

Laurie Baron

SAN DIEGO−Donald Trump previously announced that he would divulge his plan for insulating himself from charges of business conflicts of interest as President this Thursday.  Now he has postponed this speech until January (of 2021?).

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Donald Trump decided to appoint Rex Tillerson, the CEO of ExxonMobil, to be his Secretary of State.  Although even Republican Senators are concerned that his company’s extensive oil exploration deal with Russia could hurt his prospects for confirmation, Vladimir Putin welcomed the news by calling Tillerson “Russia’s pipeline to the White House.”

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A classified CIA report allegedly confirms that Russia hacked into the DNC’s computers and leaked embarrassing emails from Hillary Clinton’s inner circle to help Donald Trump get elected.  Is the Kremlin the Grinch that stole the American election, and does that mean Vladimir Putin has earned the nickname Gremlin?

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Donald Trump has selected climate change denier Scott Pruitt to head the EPA.  To signal the changes he intends to make in the agency, he renamed it the Environmental Pollution Abettor and designed a public service announcements with catchy slogans like “Despoil the soil with oil,” “Our mission is emissions,” and, “Breath easy until you can’t!”

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When asked why he doesn’t take his daily security briefings, Donald Trump replied, “I don’t have to be told — you know, I’m, like, a smart person.  I don’t have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years.”  His words remind me of what some students enrolled in my courses told me about why they didn’t need to attend my lectures regularly when they came to my office after the semester was over to protest the F they got in those classes.

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Baron is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com   San Diego Jewish World points out to new readers that this column is satire, and nothing herein should be taken literally.