Do you remember that wonderful book by Ursula K. LeGuin that was made into a movie, The Lathe Of Heaven? It begins with a quote, “To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven.” I’ve been trying to figure out Donald Trump for eight years now and I cannot do it. I think the lathe of heaven may just be ready to chew me up for good — and I’m surprised it’s taken this long, frankly.
WHAT the actual fuck is WRONG with this man? He’s got some obsession with a summer job that Kamala Harris held once. Of what possible signficance is that? Who cares if Harris made pommes frites or shoveled horse manure when she was a young gal? We all worked at fast food restaurants or picked fruit or bailed hay, or bagged groceries or stocked shelves. It just mattered where you lived and city kids did city jobs, country kids did country jobs. But for reasons known only to Donald Trump, Harris’s old job at McDonald’s has become an all-consuming obsession. So much so that he had to stage a photo op in Pennsylvania today, where he put on a show of working at McDonalds.
Now make no mistake here: the restaurant was shut down for several hours and we’ll show you the letter from the manager saying so. And Secret Service agents were on the rooftops of nearby businesses so that Donald could have his McMoment. And the people at the driv-thru were not normal people off the street. This is all staged.
The place wasn’t open so again he’s waving to… no one. pic.twitter.com/ZST243lPY4
— Dana Goldberg (@DGComedy) October 20, 2024
I guess the idea of this is Trump as Man Of The People. If anybody else has a better idea, let me know. This is happy Trump serving Happy Meals to the cult.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) October 20, 2024
The takeaway here is that Trump’s campaign is spinning this as a Norman Rockwell moment. Trump, Man Of The People, working at a McDonald’s. Can you get any more relatable, any more down home? This is the thinking of Team Trump. The thinking of the rest of us is Whut??? But seriously, this is expected to get Trump crucial votes. Maybe this is his October Surprise?
🇺🇸💯🇺🇸💯🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/pGp4tNgJgF
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 20, 2024
You may seriously be looking at Trump’s best shot to turn this election around. This could be it.
Trump & Vance are stalkers!
I’ll never eat at McDonald’s again. Sure. I’ve an adopted 8 year old who’s a very effective lobbyist. Let’s hope We Won’t Get Fooled Again! Right Pete?
I flipped a lot of burgers for McDonald’s. all for 3.35 an hour.
Two strikes against you already Donnie…..
1. McDonald’s doesn’t hire convicted felons.
2. They already have one clown on the payroll.
*smirk*
The wave is stupid. I have *never* seen a worker at *any* fast food place wave to customers out the window. He doesn’t have a clue how real people act, so he has to make it up.
The full quote from the book (heading for Chapter 3) is:
“Those whom heaven helps we call the sons of heaven. They do not learn this by learning. They do not work it by working. They do not reason it by using reason. To let understanding stop at what cannot be understood is a high attainment. Those who cannot do it will be destroyed on the lathe of heaven.”
— CHUANG TSE : XXIII
Even more valid than the movie intro
I’m beginning to feel sorry for ol’ Normy Rockwell. At least his heart was actually in the right place. And like his work or not, he could paint.
Does anyone remember when he went to the manufacturing plant that made the swabs for covid tests I believe in Maine, but that is beside the point. He refused to wear PPE, mask, gloves, etc. and the entire BATCH for the day had to be destroyed. He is an ass. He just wants his photo ops. And yet good chance he will be resident again. Holy shiiiiit!
I believe he is making his way thru his version of the Villiage People. One day, an auto worker, then a MacDonalds worker, that night a football player, tomorrow, a biker or a Native American.
Hey, the guy looks good in an apron! Maybe with all this food service experience, he can get a job in the prison cafeteria.
I didn’t do McDonald’s. I did inventory in an un-air conditioned warehouse, was a day camp counselor, worked in a dry cleaner’s, did retail. No fries, but lots of sweat.
My parents believed if you weren’t in school (college and grad school counted),you had a job. Too bad Daddy Trump didn’t require Traitor Tot to.push a broom.as a super in a couple of his buildings.
I worked all manner of jobs back in the day. Never at Mickey D’s but at least at a local non-franchise place. I worked at a grocery store stocking shelves and bagging & carrying groceries to people’s cars. I worked as a kennelman at a vet. I picked up hay, detasseled corn and other stuff. It’s hard to remember it all now. Eventually in college I got a pretty good student job. Most days it was easy but sometimes we’d get in a tractor trailor load of something like boxes of trash can liners. The driver would unload onto the main floor of the “General Stores” satelite building but yours truly had to move all that shit downstairs into my domain. Sometimes by boss Pat would have time to help but mostly that kind of task was all on me. The point is that I did a lot of stuff to help pay my way through the latter half of my higher education. And in fact started working as a kid back in grade school. Mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow etc. I had a paper route too. If I wanted more fishing gear I had to earn the money myself. For some items my mom made a deal that if I came up with half the money she’d come up with the other half. My story is a common one for small town American kids of my age. Thinking about it right now as I write this I’ve actually rediscovered a small sense of pride. My sister doesn’t want to believe it, and still sometimes I get the strong feeling from her that as the “baby of the family” I had things handed to me but that’s not the case. I WORKED for what I got including my degree. Yes, I got to live rent free but once I decided to major in psychology my dad never paid a dime for my education. It was up to me. I paid tuition and fees and for my books. I paid for my vehicles and the insurance which is exorbitant for young umarried men. Or at lease was back then. I bought my own food. (Dad almost always at out and only snacked at home – and i wanted no part of his pickled pig’s feet!) I bought my own clothes. My sister has never wanted to hear or accept all that. Oh well. I know what I did.
Would you like lies with that?