A week ago I started a new Oy! feature in this space to highlight those things in life that make you go…Oy! It occurred to me that there also are, of course, positive things in life that deserve a shout out. So, today we begin the Oy! .. Yo! feature, where those Yo! moments will be highlighted too. Be prepared, my nature (as those who know me personally understand) is to hear Oy! moments more frequently.
So let’s start with a Yo!
A Yo! goes out to the Rev. Faith Green Timmons, pastor of the predominantly African American Bethel United Church in Flint, Mich. Donald Trump visited the church yesterday with the expectation he would congratulate church members on their work in the water-challenged city, where tainted water is making adults and children very ill, with long-term implications. A pamphlet was distributed to church members saying Trump’s visit “in no way represents an endorsement." Trump began his remarks including his standard attack on Hillary Clinton and Pastor Timmons interrupted him to say “Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us not make a political speech.” Trump, to his credit, thanked her politely and skipped the attack to talk about the water. To Pastor Timmons, five Yos! for holding Trump to the commitment he made and having the fortitude to interrupt him when his attack began. So, Pastor, Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo!
All today’s Oys! go to Trump or his campaign (shocking, I know).
Trump nearly earned a Yo! for being so gracious when Pastor Simmons interrupted him. But he turned that into an Oy! this morning when he returned to his old self and was critical of the Pastor for what he intimated was her nervousness (understandable when introducing a presidential candidate) and alleging that her behavior was planned, so he was set up. Let’s say four Oys!, only because we’ve come to expect this behavior from him so the number of Oys! isn’t what it would be for the “normal” person. So, Mr. Trump, Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy!.
We, I hope, won’t have Trump to kick around much longer so he gets three more Oys! because he said efforts by previous campaign leaders to remake him into a politician were “dishonest.” The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump said he resisted these efforts at times by misbehaving and going off script. Since he’s more comfortable with his new team, he said, he now is following their advice, which in most cases is the same as the advice he was given by his previous team(s). Result: fewer headlines over impolitic comments. So Trump, like an immature child, didn’t like his previous parents and acted out against them but now he likes his new parents so he follows their advice. Mr. Trump, Oy! Oy! Oy!
Trump’s newest campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, gets five Oys! herself for defending Trump’s (until this morning) failure to disclose detailed health records by saying, “I don’t know why we need such extensive medical reporting when we all have a right to privacy.” Wrong on a couple of points, Ms. Conway. First, we do deserve to know the health, and I think psychological history, of the folks we are interviewing to be our president, especially when they would be the first or third oldest ever elected. And, we have a right to see their tax records, too, especially Trump’s who claims to be (1) a billionaire, (2) give of “tens of millions of dollars” to charity in his life, and (3) because we have a right to know what, if any, conflicts exist between his many international business interests and the issues he’d face as President. Also, by the way, did we really “deserve” to see President Obama’s birth certificate as your boss demanded a few years ago? Ms. Conway, Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy!
So let’s start with a Yo!
A Yo! goes out to the Rev. Faith Green Timmons, pastor of the predominantly African American Bethel United Church in Flint, Mich. Donald Trump visited the church yesterday with the expectation he would congratulate church members on their work in the water-challenged city, where tainted water is making adults and children very ill, with long-term implications. A pamphlet was distributed to church members saying Trump’s visit “in no way represents an endorsement." Trump began his remarks including his standard attack on Hillary Clinton and Pastor Timmons interrupted him to say “Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us not make a political speech.” Trump, to his credit, thanked her politely and skipped the attack to talk about the water. To Pastor Timmons, five Yos! for holding Trump to the commitment he made and having the fortitude to interrupt him when his attack began. So, Pastor, Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo! Yo!
All today’s Oys! go to Trump or his campaign (shocking, I know).
Trump nearly earned a Yo! for being so gracious when Pastor Simmons interrupted him. But he turned that into an Oy! this morning when he returned to his old self and was critical of the Pastor for what he intimated was her nervousness (understandable when introducing a presidential candidate) and alleging that her behavior was planned, so he was set up. Let’s say four Oys!, only because we’ve come to expect this behavior from him so the number of Oys! isn’t what it would be for the “normal” person. So, Mr. Trump, Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy!.
We, I hope, won’t have Trump to kick around much longer so he gets three more Oys! because he said efforts by previous campaign leaders to remake him into a politician were “dishonest.” The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump said he resisted these efforts at times by misbehaving and going off script. Since he’s more comfortable with his new team, he said, he now is following their advice, which in most cases is the same as the advice he was given by his previous team(s). Result: fewer headlines over impolitic comments. So Trump, like an immature child, didn’t like his previous parents and acted out against them but now he likes his new parents so he follows their advice. Mr. Trump, Oy! Oy! Oy!
Trump’s newest campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, gets five Oys! herself for defending Trump’s (until this morning) failure to disclose detailed health records by saying, “I don’t know why we need such extensive medical reporting when we all have a right to privacy.” Wrong on a couple of points, Ms. Conway. First, we do deserve to know the health, and I think psychological history, of the folks we are interviewing to be our president, especially when they would be the first or third oldest ever elected. And, we have a right to see their tax records, too, especially Trump’s who claims to be (1) a billionaire, (2) give of “tens of millions of dollars” to charity in his life, and (3) because we have a right to know what, if any, conflicts exist between his many international business interests and the issues he’d face as President. Also, by the way, did we really “deserve” to see President Obama’s birth certificate as your boss demanded a few years ago? Ms. Conway, Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy! Oy!
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