News yesterday of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s bad behavior at a House committee meeting. Gaetz, alas, is still not house-broken. He was pitching the white-supremacist slogan, “All lives matter,” and extolling the love of parents for their children. Now Gaetz’s office, the records of Congress, documentation everywhere have always stated that Gaetz is unmarried and has no children. That should not, of course, prevent his having opinions about parenting. But then he appeared on the Tucker Carlson show and as if pulling a rabbit from a hat revealed his hitherto unknown, because never-disclosed, kind-of son, the Cubano Nestor.
Nestor is the son of Nestor’s aunt with whom Gaetz once lived. Though he never adopted Nestor, Gaetz considers him his virtual son. Nestor lived with Gaetz for four years upon entering the U.S. at age twelve. Then Nestor left to live with his biological father in Miami until he reached the age of eighteen when he moved back in with Gaetz. Gaetz had earlier described Nestor as his “helper” and as “a local student.” But now Nestor has been promoted to “son.” Any adult male who supports and guides a younger male, i.e., serves as a mentor, is doing good work, and Gaetz is to be admired for doing so. But his sudden revelation of Nestor now transformed into his son borders on exploitation.
Two Trumpists, Governors Abbot of Texas and DeSantis of Florida, repeated the party line that the spike in their states in Covid-19 cases is due to increased testing and to outbreaks among people who, in their view, do not count, sc., in prisons, assisted living facilities, and migrant worker communities. It’s a good thing for the Trumpists that they have no sense of humor, for if they did, they would be unable to say such things without laughing themselves.
Well, I’m sure we are all looking forward to the opening battle of World War Trump on Saturday. Trump has been languishing for want of a pep-rally and large crowd where he can tell his lies without fear of contradiction. His craving for this kind of attention has grown so intense that he is willing to risk a dramatic upsurge in Covid-19 cases and violent racial unrest.
Attendees will be mixing together strains of the virus from all over the country, and taking them all home with them when they return. This will be another large contribution by Trump to the on-going pandemic.
Trump has warned “protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes” to stay away from the rally or else. I guess that by protesters, anarchists, and looters he means the participants in the many demonstrations currently taking place nationwide. As to “lowlifes,” he’d better not use this term lest he alienate his base, the most enthusiastic members of which are life-long lowlifes.