The Age Of Ridiculous Men

I’m writing this during the days in which we honor former president Jimmy Carter. Since his death, his achievements -- both in and out of office – have been praised as well as his bone-deep sense of honor, service, and decency.

Meanwhile, on the same day that Carter’s casket was solemnly placed in the Capitol rotunda, Donald Trump held a 70-minute “press conference.” He discussed forcing Canada to become the 51st state, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and buying Greenland.  The contrast could not be starker and was a clear sign that we have moved into the Age of Ridiculous Men.

Besides Trump, there is Elon Musk, butting into world affairs simply because he’s got more money than anyone else and no one to tell him how deeply obnoxious he is.

Jeff Bezos is currying favor with Trump by having Amazon Prime make a $40 million movie about the “life “of Melania. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook/Meta just announced that the platform will remove fact checking and “work with” Trump for…what, I’m not exactly sure.

Then there is lower-level ****-ups such as Speaker Mike Johnson, the MAGA wing of Congress, and of course, pundits of rightwing media. No amount of unhinged drivel from Dear Leader, like rants about water pressure, sharks, windmills, or invading Panama, moves them to state the obvious: the Emperor has no clothes, not to mention mind.  They practically knock each other over to be the first to tell Trump how great he is.

In short, they are Ridiculous Men (with plenty of women in that category, too).

For good or bad, we saw this before during Trump’s first term. No matter how painful it is, there’s an advantage to enduring it again in that we’ll spot the stupidity, corruption, and sucking up a whole lot quicker. Nothing will surprise us. So now, comes the fun part – namely, calling them out, mocking them, and needling them as much as possible.

Humor is an effective weapon in any fascist regime. In 1940, Charlie Chaplin made The Great Dictator to mock Hitler and Mussolini in biting, brilliant fashion. Ann Telnaes, editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post, recently quit after her illustration of rich guys (including her boss, publisher Jeff Bezos) offering bags of money to Trump was quashed. Clearly, she’d hit a nerve.

Now is the time for each of us to point out that this weak, corrupt crew isn’t fooling anyone.  They’re not smarter than us (looking at you, Elon and Zuck). Rather, they are Ridiculous Men.

So, in the coming years, don’t be cowed by these smug bullies (especially the Bully-In-Chief); make your voice heard on a regular basis: town meetings, letters to the editor, contacting your representatives. And don’t overlook the power of snark, mocking, or a well-timed jibe. Let the Ridiculous Men know that they’re being seen for exactly who and what they are.

Cindy Grogan is a writer, lover of history and "Star Trek" (TOS), and hardcore politics junkie. There was that one time she campaigned for Gerald Ford (yikes), but ever since, she's been devoted to Democratic and progressive policies.