Villager, during the transition period after the 2016 elections I had a dream where I saw Trump seated alone under the rotunda of the US capitol. It seemed like he was expecting some big event of government pageantry or state visit, but he was all alone and no one was showing up to give him the adulation he thought he deserved. For whatever reason, reams of government documents started pouring from the top of the rotunda (like a mocking version of confetti). My perspective then switched to the National Mall, where I saw the US Capitol dome fall over onto its side. When I looked around, Washington DC was dark and empty, completely devoid of people.
So yes, I would say Trump is alone and isolated, and if the State of the Union is indeed called off/delayed, then that would seem to fit with my dream of cancelled "pageantry" that trump was looking forward to. A dark and empty Washington fits with the current shutdown and the general trend people on this site have been seeing of the nation turning away from D.C. and adopting a more local perspective in the years to come. But I don't think Trump is unaffected. His behavior has gotten even more off the wall in the past year as trusted aides depart/turn on him and investigators "circle the wagons." What I saw in my dream, and what others here are seeing in their meditations/visions, is that being president is turning out to be a far departure from what Trump imagined it to be. So while he is trying to create an image of confidence for his base, in reality he is lashing out in fear, and the shutdown is one of his vain defenses.
I kind of like to think that the sizzling egg/meat is actually the sound of his limited intellect melting down as he tries to grasp how he got himself in this situation.
@Coyote, the image of 'his limited intellect melting down' made me laugh. You are right of course, he is not unaffected regarding his own situation, he just comes across as completely unaffected regarding the suffering felt by federal workers and others who depend on the government. Your dream fits the current situation to a T. I like to think of the recent unredacted slip up by Manafort's lawyers as confetti, and I am sure there is more to come.
Maybe related to Trump being alone: Today, Pompeo and McConnell are floating to the press a story that McConnell is trying to talk Pompeo into quitting as Secretary of State so he can run for a Senate seat in Kansas opening up in 2020.
The timing of these stories on the same day as the Cohen story is breaking suggests that maybe Pompeo is looking for an excuse to get out of the Trump White House before the FULL crapola hits the fan in order to preserve his political career.
Coyote, I very much admire both your dream and your reflections. Your (inadvertent?) wall pun--underscoring the absurdness of a vanity wall and the direct connection to the escalating absurdness of his behavior--made me laugh: "But I don't think Trump is unaffected. His behavior has gotten even more off the wall in the past year as trusted aides depart/turn on him and investigators "circle the wagons."
As for the sizzling--such a creepy, super-sensory sound to experience in a dream--I think you are spot on: "I kind of like to think that the sizzling egg/meat is actually the sound of his limited intellect melting down as he tries to grasp how he got himself in this situation." What also just came to mind is the '87 anti-narcotics campaign commercial depicting a brain on drugs as a frying egg. I feel certain Trump takes some kind(s) of drugs. And in addition, there's his longstanding dependence on/addiction to unchecked delusional hubris that's like a habitual drug for him. But now, as he's feeling trapped by the presidency (self inflicted), while, as you said, trying to project confidence and strength to his base, the flimsiness of his hubris is becoming exposed for the non-productive, toxic, self destructive, brain-sizzling "drug" that it is. He's fast becoming inner-resourceless.
Again, spending time thinking about and then writing about such dark behavior is so not in my comfort zone. Today (and every day!), I'd much rather focus on the kinds of Light- and nature- based truths and reflections found in Mary Oliver's poetry. Yesterday, she passed away. But her work continues on as a source of joy and guidance and inspiration.
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
― Mary Oliver
Tragically, Trump's choice of how to use the gift of his "one wild and precious life" is negatively, even cruelly, impacting a growing number lives.
Why thank you, CDeanne for your response. There's lots of light on display in the way many restaurants and food pantries are opening their doors to out-of-work government employees. I think acts like these point the way to how communities will be the major problem solvers in the years to come.
(Also, let's not forget the Canadian air traffic controllers who ordered free pizzas for their American colleagues. You can always count on a Canuck for some light.)
When I read about the sound of sizzling the statement "his goose is cooked" resonated in my thoughts.
So many things you all are saying are resonating with me.
Villager, that bank vault vision has haunted me, along with another vision I had around the same time of a boarded up closet in one of the Trump Towers that had secret documents in it. That vision too was marked as a hit when a New York Times reporter overheard one of Trump's top two lawyers saying he had withheld documents locked in a vault that Mueller wanted.
Alec's vision of Trump locked in a vault and saying, "That's all folks," and meat sizzling does bring to mind his brain frying. I had a vision this week of Trump with arms folded and body stiff being carried sideways out the door, as if he were one of those cardboard people posters. He's become rigid.
MAS your mention of Perry returning and Trump immediately declassifying the FBI surveillance information reminds me that from the beginning I have felt strongly that Trump gets his playbook directly from Putin for how to manipulate this country.
Putin tells him what to do. Putin controls the puppet strings. Putin knows much more about how to distract the public and the press, how to sideline opponents, how to get some of the more ignorant public to adore him. When Jared was caught on tape early on trying to get the Russian ambassador to set up a back-channel line of communication with the Kremlin, I kept wonderful if it was possible for Trump to have a back channel somewhere.
I think the answer is yes Jeanne. I just read your post and this popped into my head, all at one time: The intelligence services of the US and other countries know it because they've picked up on the conversations through whatever means they usually employ. We may not even know the magnitude of it for years to come since it could remain classified, even by subsequent presidents.