I am so mad at Donald Trump. I was really looking
forward to seeing Bill Clinton as First Gentleman (or First Dude or First
Bubba, or whatever) in the White House this year. I feel sure that he could
have proven, once and for all, that a man has what it takes to fulfill this
demanding role as well as any woman could.
Disappointed.
But what does the President’s Spouse role actually
amount to? According to The Washington
Post, a First Lady is expected to “…act as a hostess, and [have] a substantial
paid staff (up to two dozen) to assist in planning massive lunches and dinners,
supporting whatever cause she adopts and representing the country on goodwill
tours.”
I feel Bill could have done all of these things,
but now, thanks to President-Won-on-a-Technicality, we’ll never know for sure.
Of course there are those who consider certain
aspects of the role of First Lady to be a bit of an anachronism. For example,
my wife declared that these aspects amounted to (I am paraphrasing here) a bunch of @#&ing sexist bullshit.*
Still the question remains, who will fulfill this
key position, now that Melania has decided that, like most normal human beings,
she doesn’t want to live with Donald. For sure, Ivanka won’t do it. She has her
hands full helping her dad in his campaign to hide his taxes, silence the
media, and intimidate judges. These activities take a lot of energy and we can't expect Ivanka and husband Jared to do all that and cover the First Lady front as well. Meanwhile the
boys, Eric and Donald Jr., need to make sure Trump’s economic policies continue to fill
his gleaming coffers and ensure a fat inheritance for themselves.
Trump himself must spend his time continuing to
“Make People Think He Will Make America Great Again,” in the hopes that he can
dupe his Stockholm-syndrome-afflicted base into voting for him in 2020.
Who then, can we find to fulfill the First Lady
role? How about Ivana? She might be encouraged to step up and help her former
spouse. If patriotic duty isn’t enough to get her to commit, maybe she could take
on the role in exchange for a rewrite of her original prenup with Donald.
If Ivana won’t help out, the only option left might be someone from among those various women whom Trump
has “touched in a special way.”
It’s not impossible, I think, that we could count
on a volunteer from among the ranks of such victimized women to step forward. If
necessary, I’m sure we could provide a special secret service detail to protect
this brave soul from further grabbing on the part of the president. I know, I
know - such protection would undoubtedly cost many thousands of dollars. But is
this too high a price to pay? I, for one, think not, especially in light of the
money we are already spending just to keep Melania in New York: namely, one million
dollars per day.
* Paraphrasing a little because I promised
her that I would not let on that blatant sexism can provoke her to the point
where she wants to swear like a raging stevedore.
