We may be missing what’s most remarkable about this President because we focus on his most recent, outlandish lies. We’ve become completely desensitized to his publicly and regularly calling people names like “Crazy”, “Sleepy”, and “Pocahontas”. Sure Presidents have done it in the past, but sporadically, and in private. This new normal is not normal. At all.

Imagine if, in faculty meetings, a school principal regularly referred to one teacher as Crazy, another as Sleepy, and still another as Pocahontas. And then to top it off, used racial slurs like Kung Flu when discussing the coronavirus. Imagine if a pastor had derogatory names for her staff or if you routinely referred to a co-worker as Crazy. Imagine if your boss did. How long would they last?

And yet, like political signage at this time of year, it’s just become a part of the landscape.

Yesterday, I did it to myself again. The President’s press conferences are really bad reality television not just because he’s taken leave of his senses when it comes to Covid-19, but because you’d think the “journalists” are part of a Saturday Night Live sketch. How did they ever get jobs in a shrinking, cutthroat field?

Nevermind the virus, rising unemployment, and need for policing reform, yesterday’s first question was about Kanye West’s state of mind. Someone PLEASE permanently revoke that dude’s press credential.

Of course, on the rare occasion that a real journalist is allowed in and then called upon, the President’s answer is always the same, “Thank you for coming.”