The illusion of Trump

Donald Trump has assumed power and now his interior monologue will become specific actions, and we will all see whether we can approve.

The most interesting aspect of his campaign is how immediate on the internet and television his most interior consciousness seems to be to each of us.

But this is really not so of power. In high school I went to the mayor to get a scholarship recommendation. I went up a huge staircase at City Hall and went into the outer office where the secretary took me to the mayor within. He sat behind a large desk. I sat down, when asked, on the other side, told him what I needed. He drafted my recommendation. I gave him the envelope. He mailed it. I got the scholarship.

There was very little interior intimacy between us. But there, real power was transacted, in mutual respect.

Since Greece, the artwork has given us this magic sense of immediate interior intimacy. But it is always couched in illusion.

We are all really more distant from one another than that, and then can choose to come closer. The figures of the stage are always in mask. So it is, so far, with the great showman we have elected.

Let us break the illusion and recover ourselves in our real time and place.

There, now that the president finally acts, we can see when to cooperate, and when to oppose.

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 10:43 PM with the headline "The illusion of Trump."