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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017
YOUR 100 WORDS ON TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS
Transfixed by trials
L
ast November, Trump tri-
umphed. Now, 100 days into his
term, a truculent, troubled Trump is
transfixed by trials and tribulations
with Congress, the courts, and even
his own troops.
His tries to transform trade, taxes,
immigration, medical care and the
environment aren’t translating. He
transcended himself by welcoming a
treacherous, traitorous Trojan (Rus-
sian) horse, to the trough.
His tweets and travails in gov-
erning have become a trite travesty
— and yet, in spite of his trifecta, he
triples down. A dose of The Donald
triggering traditional values, truth-
fulness and transparency would,
in his own words, be huge — even
terrific!
DAVE ZUNKEL
Warrenton
How did it come to this?
Consider the common good
before yourself and your clan.
Vote, be vigilant, speak up,
Resist, protest, endure.
Embrace diversity, accept
differences,
Live ethically, be honest, be
kind.
Happy days will come again.
Don’t give up, don’t lose hope,
and don’t give in.
And by the way, save the parks
and public radio.
JANET BOWLER
Astoria
Trump’s ABCs
resident Trump keeps his word.
He’s appointed Justice Gorsuch
and an expert cabinet. He continues
to eliminate regulations that have
stifled economic growth; enforce
immigration laws; change for-
eign policy for America’s security;
change policies for stronger defense
and needs of veterans; change
energy policy toward oil indepen-
dence; change law enforcement pol-
icies for safer communities; and
set stronger policies against drug
trafficking.
President Trump is working
closely with Congress to revise the
tax system and health care system.
And, he’s rebuffed unprecedented
attempts by disappointed Demo-
crats and outrageously biased jour-
nalists to negate his election.
All-in-all a most successful first
100 days.
DON HASKELL
Astoria
BCs of Trump’s first 100 days
Authoritarianism
Bigotry
Corruption
Disrespect, danger, defunding
diplomacy
Empty promises
Family enrichment
Great is what America won’t be
Hidden agendas
Ikea makes better cabinets
Jared and Ivanka: chief
brand-protectors, babysitters
Keeping secret Trump’s taxes,
Russian ties, visitor logs
Lies and lies about the lies
Mean-spirited: misogyny,
migrants, Muslims, medical care
Nationalistic, nativist nightmare
Oligarchs: American, Russian
Puppets of far-right extremists
Quit already!
Resist and Persist!
Stolen Supreme Court seat
Tiny hands, mind, soul
Undoing Bill of Rights
Vladimar Putin
Working to cash in
X-ing out truth, facts, science
Yo-yo policies, practices
Zoo: the White House
LAURIE CAPLAN
Astoria
Still pondering
Spicer will explain
P
T
Kept his word
P
onderings. Sourdough starter is
just getting good in 100 days.
Give it a year or two; then taste
those biscuits. Maybe President
Trump just needs time to marinate.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
became president of my “world”
in 1933. I was 1 year old. In April
1945, he suddenly died. Mother
was crying; father was saying bad
words. We sat soberly around the
radio.
President Roosevelt was only
82 days into his fourth term. Dem-
ocrat or Republican, didn’t seem to
matter back then. We loved him. No
television to tell us otherwise.
One hundred days behind us?
Still pondering.
EMMA V. EDWARDS
Warrenton
New circus in town
ome one, come all! There’s a
new circus in town. It’s huge,
tremendous and big league. Besides
the unusual cast of characters,
whose talents are untried and really
dangerous, there is now an unpresi-
dented new ringleader.
True, he looks like a clown and
acts like one, too, but consider his
amazing feats of accomplishment
in just 100 days of leadership: The
jugglers perform upside down.
Really. The acrobats even know
how to spin the truth. The animals
are running faster for their lives
than ever before. And chain smok-
ing inside is OK now, too, because
everyone is already choking.
CYNTHIA ADAMSON
Warrenton
C
The real Trump
T
o make Donald Trump appear
real, I turn to fiction. In Knut
Hamsun’s novel “Mysteries,” the
main character says he’ll stand
against the world and never give
up because he is right. When chal-
lenged, he says he will discard what
he said, and come up with some-
thing better.
Ogden Nash ends his poem
“Who Did Which? Or Who
Indeed?” with, “And I’d rather have
my facts all wrong than have no
facts whatever.”
Shakespeare’s Henry IV shows
that kings often use a foreign war
to distract subjects from domestic
problems. These authors wall in the
true Donald Trump.
REX AMOS
Cannon Beach
Don’t give up
W
e all deserve better than Don-
ald Trump.
History, the world, the nation,
Our community, the
environment,
Women, elderly, children,
Teachers, artists, musicians,
Workers, retirees, immigrants,
The poor, the sick,
Democrats and even
Republicans.
A
his not so massive missive con-
cerns The Donald’s rotten, no
good, horrible, very bad 100 days.
He had discovered an amazing,
sad mess! He would instantly build
a wall, re-employ coal miners, ban-
ish illegals of color, cancel obsolete
alliances, expose the hoax of global
warming.
This total disgrace was plot-
ted by that wiretapping foreigner
from Hawaii, Obama, conspir-
ing with nasty, lying loser Hillary,
using alternative facts. He had been
cheated! Instant success and adora-
tion was not forthcoming.
He would get even. Golf, tweets,
a call to Bannon. This would
change disaster to brilliant revenge.
Mexico would pay. Spicer would
explain.
JOHN and SHERRI
CRAWFORD
Astoria
‘Major conflict’
A
rrogance, insults, mockery,
intolerance, fear, division,
hate, “drain the swamp,” indiffer-
ence, AltRight, nationalism, preju-
dice, KKK, dog whistle, “lock her
up,” misogyny, threats, bully pulpit,
tweets, Russian interference, deni-
als, “pussy,” lies, brag, manipula-
tion, deception, tax returns, scams,
Trump University, “fake news,”
“wiretaps,” “Muslim ban,” “repeal
Obamacare,” “build the wall,”
contradictions, ratings, executive
orders, “so-called judges,” media
the “enemy,” immigrants, Putin,
spies, money, emoluments, nepo-
tism, paranoia, investigations, bil-
lionaires, women’s march, DAPL,
coal, jobs, global protests, resist,
“alternate facts,” sanctions, scan-
dal, climate change denial, bombs,
antagonism, “boy talk,” revenge,
money, power, national security,
accountability, NATO, cover up,
“major, major conflict.”
CONNIE CROSSLEY
Astoria
My awakening
he first 100 days of the Trump
presidency have forced me to
recognize that he really is a scoun-
drel and a charlatan. He threatens
world peace, Mother Earth and our
precious democracy, especially the
principles of liberty and equality.
In the first 100 days of his
administration he has pushed me
to attend city council meetings, a
town hall, an indivisibility meeting,
the women’s march, and the Earth
Say rally. I have joined the ACLU,
Planned Parenthood, the Southern
Poverty Law Center and the Natu-
ral Resources Defense Council. My
awakening is an accomplishment of
the president’s first 100 days.
CATHY CRUIKSHANK
Astoria
T
‘Power corrupts’
T
rump No. 45 is an embarrass-
ment to our country. The only
good is that he is making the come-
dians popular. Signing executive
orders is an easy way out, since no
congressional approval is needed.
An abuse of power: “Power cor-
rupts; absolute power corrupts
absolutely.”
Millions and millions of dollars
are being spent protecting his fam-
ily — that money could be spent in
many other ways. It is a waste of
taxpayer dollars.
He is a disgrace — insisting that
Obama wiretapped Trump Tower.
How low can a person go?
CHERRY HARRIS
Gearhart
An embarrassment
T
rump is a vulgar, venal man
with a very limited vocabu-
lary and no real vision for America.
He stages rallies to boost his frag-
ile self-esteem. He makes irrational
promises, such as that he will build
a wall that Mexico will pay for.
He is not president to serve his
country. He became president to
advance his ego, his position and
his company, and that is all he has
done since he became president. He
has not done the hard work of figur-
ing out compromises so important
legislation can be passed. He is an
embarrassment to America around
the world.
JEAN HOOGE
Astoria
Thank God
A
mericans can thank God that he
has given us a Christian presi-
dent —Donald J. Trump.
President Trump has placed a
pro-life judge, Neil Gorsuch, on
the U.S. Supreme Court. The 14th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitu-
tion protects the life of the unborn
person. Life begins at conception.
Abortion stops a beating heart and
is murder.
2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my peo-
ple, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear
from heaven, and will forgive their
sin, and will heal their land.”
JEAN JOHNSON
Warrenton
It’s not normal
T
he climate-change-denier (who
I did not vote for) has shown
that he is an impulsive narcissist,
divisive bombastic buffoon, misog-
ynist lacking sensitivity, delusional
obnoxious egotist, arrogant racist,
attention-seeking braggart, clueless
bigot, short-sighted egomaniac and
an offensive liar who is reckless,
dangerous and scary.
His abrasive phony con game
is a disgrace, unpresidential and
shows he is untrustworthy, and a
pathetic opportunist who is discon-
nected, dysfunctional, unprepared
and an embarrassment to the office
of U.S. President. It’s not normal.
Where are his taxes? Stop with
the tweeting and social media
already! Support clean renewable
energy for jobs; coal is yesterday.
LaREE JOHNSON
Astoria
Just less
L
ess respect from the world. Less
security. Less inclusive. Less
kind. Less informed. Less knowl-
edgeable. Less involved. Less cour-
age. Less humor. Less of a leader.
Less facts. Less than he promised.
Less class. Less for science. Less for
clean air. Less for clean water. Less
for our national parks. Less safety
in the workplace. Less respect for
women. Less help for those that suf-
fer. Less for art. Less for science.
Less hope from our historic light of
freedom shining in the world.
RICH KRAFT
Astoria
’Nuff said
D
onald Trump: I cannot share
my tax returns because I’m
being audited and my very expen-
sive, quality, financial advisers tell
me so. Also, I know the tax code
better than anyone else.
Mr. John Koskinen, commis-
sioner of the IRS has stated clearly
in public that they have no restric-
tions on any taxpayer releasing their
tax returns to the press, or anyone
else, whether or not they are being
audited.
Mexico is going to pay for the
wall. We’ll use taxpayers’ money
for it?
Trump, Republican health plans
— missing in action?
’Nuff said.
CHUCK MEYER
Astoria
Signs of the times
A
storia Women’s March signs of
the times:
Walk with us if you believe in
democracy.
Safety, civility, and a healthy
planet.
Dissent is patriotic.
Nasty women and men stand
together.
Adam and even
Ovaries are not a pre-existing
condition.
I stand with Planned Parenthood.
Immigrants are welcome!
Build bridges, not walls.
Community not categories.
Dignity for all.
Injustice anywhere is a threat
To justice everywhere!
Support a principled press.
Pay attention – make noise.
Be fierce!
Speak truth even if your voice
shakes.
Science is not fiction.
We the people.
Make America kind again.
Nice matters.
My planet, my future.
MARY NEERHOUT
Seaside
Three words
B
igly disaster. Sad.
BEATRICE MICHEL
Tillamook
Still protected
T
rump’s term is horrifying. How-
ever, it occurs that this man is
a gift to us all. Yes, he is morally
and ethically impoverished, appear-
ing to have the social skills of a
second-grader. Almost every issue
he backs spells disaster for many,
or the earth itself. Yet, his blanket
refusal to accept any authority but
his own has reminded the nation
that citizens are still protected from
his ilk. By our Constitution.
The laws he seeks to abolish
were established long before he was
elected, and will protect life, liberty
and the pursuit of justice long after
he is gone.
SANDY REA
Seaside
Two things
T
rump has successfully accom-
plished two things in his first
100 days:
1. To bring out of the closet and
condone the darkest side of our con-
fused society; flaunting selfishness,
greed, bigotry, misogyny and indif-
ference to poverty and illness, play-
ing on hatred and fear. The seeds of
the Third Reich were planted with
the slogan, “Make Germany Great
Again.” That was not so great.
2. Awakening a renewed com-
passion to rectify this nightmare
by resistance to this destructive
agenda, and extend kindness to
those less fortunate than we are.
There is light on the other side
of this darkness.
TERRIE REMINGTON
Astoria
Schoolyard bully
S
ince this awful man, who seems
to dislike us all, even his beau-
tiful wife, became the leader of the
free world, it’s the only time in my
life when I can honestly say that I
have hated being right. I knew what
a jackass he would be. Once he
won, I started hoping for the best,
wishing somehow this overly enti-
tled schoolyard bully would be
chastened by the enormity of his
task. That he would wise up, dis-
play strengths we never knew he
had, and pull something deeper out
of himself. I’m desolate again to
realize I was wrong.
JOANNE RIDEOUT
Astoria
Anarchy and chaos
‘M
ake America Great Again”?
If the goal of Trump sup-
porters was anarchy and chaos, they
should be well pleased. The rest of
the world continues to stare, mouths
agape at Trump’s bullying, lies
and atrocious behavior. His abys-
mal treatment of the fourth estate
makes one wonder what other
debauchery he is trying to cover up.
The man’s racism and bigotry has
encouraged the same in people who
strive to emulate him. Once some-
one exhibits these traits, when their
true feelings are unmasked, it can’t
be unseen — causing more distrust
and division, further tearing the
very fabric of our nation.
MARY SCHNASE
Astoria
Notice to Trump
‘B
eware the Ides of Trump,” an
acrostic poem
Omen
Notice to Trump … No. 1 —
Gutting the
Environmental Protection
Agency.
How can clean air, water, cli-
mate make him
Utter, “They’re
Not necessary.”
Deciding to redirect Planned
Parenthood,
Returning to times of no caring.
Education … What’s that?
Putting
Devos in as secretary.
Declaring that public lands
And monuments are up for
grabs.
Yes, reopening the XL Pipeline
through
Sioux tribal lands, and
Offering no moral reasons; only
Follow the money without
Thinking about our people, our
land, our planet.
Raising a border wall between
Mexico and the
United States: Immigrants are
not people. And last,
Mounting military
Presence with North Korea.
MARTHA WILLIAMS
Long Beach, Washington
The clown wins
A
merica, fed up to here with a
corrupt, bought-and-paid-for
political establishment in Washing-
ton, D.C., elected a flamboyant and
narcissistic huckster, famous mostly
for being famous and ostentatiously
flaunting the vast wealth he inher-
ited from his dad. Given a choice
between this evil clown and the
status quo … well, of course they
chose the clown. I think this says
more about the state of our poli-
tics than it does about the American
people or Donald Trump.
“When I was a boy I was told
that anybody could become Presi-
dent; I’m beginning to believe it.”
Clarence Darrow (1857-1938)
JOSEPH STEVENSON
Astoria
Apologies
I
feel the need to apologize to all the
immigrants, especially Hispanics,
in our community, for the additional
stress and fear they are enduring due
to our crazy politics. I know Trump
and his policies scare you. They
scare me, too. As a patriot, I find it
deeply ironic that you are made to
feel unwelcome here at the very time
our country is in such need of what
you bring to us: We need your sense
of honor, your hatred of injustice and
your corazon. We need your good
cooking, too.
JOSEPH WEBB
Astoria
Oblivious
T
rump is the most embarrass-
ing leader of the U.S. I’ve
seen in my 63 as a naturalized cit-
izen. I mention that so he doesn’t
try to deport me somewhere. He’s
an aggressive, bullying, bombas-
tic, hypocritical, misinformed, unin-
formed boob. Pathological lying is
his trademark.
Nepotism, favoritism, and lucra-
tive business deals for the presi-
dency are the new themes of the
White House. Apathy to the ecol-
ogy of our country, as well as the
rest of the world, are Trump’s
themes. He is an elitist, bigoted,
narcissist, oblivious to ever hav-
ing had to live a normal working
man’s life.
TOM DENT
Vancouver, Washington
Pick up your game
he first season of the new real-
ity show “Washington Train
Wreck” wound up last week with
‘The Donald’ still tripping over
his own feet and spewing the
same tired platitudes and incoher-
ent tweets that initially made him a
household favorite with TV viewers
everywhere. Fans and world lead-
ers wait and wonder: what crazy
stuff will this nincompoop say or do
next? Open up a casino in the base-
ment of the White House? How
about another war to spice up sea-
son two — the four we’re fight-
ing now are getting boooooring!
Pick up your game Donny or we’re
gonna change the channel.
ALAN GRIMSTOCK
Astoria
T
Long overdue
I
f liberty means anything, it’s the
right to tell people what they
don’t want to hear. Donald Trump
has done exactly that.
From his executive order ban-
ning people from certain Muslim
countries; to putting sanctuary cities
on notice that they are breaking the
law; slowing H1B visas where U.S.
companies hire foreign over native-
born and trying to secure our south-
ern border.
What he is doing is long over-
due, regardless of what the left, and
some on the right, say.
Trump has done more for this
country and the working class in 100
days than Obama did in eight years.
ROBERT L. BOEHM
Clifton