My mother was a librarian. My sister was a librarian. I grew up with a deep appreciation for the written word, writers, and books. Not just what was written in the books, but the physical object itself – no bending the book backwards, no folding the corners of the pages, and no writing in the book. Books were (are) sacred.

It wasn’t just the books. The library was a special place. At the Hazleton Public Library, the kid’s section had a separate entrance and a separate level. Plus, you could check out as many as 5 books at a time. I don’t want to brag, but I had my own card. And the librarians knew me by name. I was quite popular at the library. Love the library. The library’s reason for existence is to share knowledge. That’s it. What a wonderful mission. What a wonderful place.

Presidential libraries are exceptionally neat places. Like all libraries, the purpose of presidential libraries is also to share information with the public and with scholars, although the information in these cases is focused on a particular man (yes, they are still all men) and his administration. Sometimes the information presented to the public seems a bit biased towards the positive, but the papers in the archives include everything, warts and all, just ask Lyndon Johnson after Robert Caro is finally through with him. I’ve been lucky enough to visit 2 presidential libraries – John F. Kennedy’s and Jimmy Carter’s. Both great. In fact, I visited Carter’s many times and always found those visits exciting.

Which brings me to today. I have 2 quick stories concerning these institutions, both incredibly revelatory of our current situation and of the orange blob in the White House.

Trump wanted to have a special gift for King Charles. I guess since Charles likes him so much. He wanted something that concerned Dwight Eisenhower’s role as Supreme Commander during World War II. He may even have mentioned a sword. Why? I have no idea, but that’s what he wanted. So, out went his flying monkeys to find this gift from an incoherent American President to an inbred of Royal personage. The request from the State Department came to the librarian of the Eisenhower Presidential Library from an email address entitled “giftgirl2025” and said they were looking for “like a sword or something”. (I’m not making any of this up.) The library had one sword that had been given to General Eisenhower by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The library, quite rightly, refused to release it on the grounds that it is the property of the US Government and the library is obligated by law to preserve it for the American public. In a nutshell, Trump wanted to rob an artifact from a previous President so he could look good to King Charles. The week Trump returned from his UK visit, the librarian of the Eisenhower library, Todd Arrington, was fired. Not for this incident, though, of course.

The second story is even more Trumpian. Trump’s people, including his sons, have been looking around Florida for a site to build HIS library (can you imagine what that place will be like? How many of the books will already be colored, do you think?) Many sites have already been rejected, but they have focused on a waterfront site facing Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami. The problem is that the site is owned by Miami Dade College and is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Trump family doesn’t like to spend hundreds of millions of dollars. Problem solved. After receiving a directive from Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, the College trustees conveyed the property to the state and the Governor immediately conveyed it to a nonprofit established by Trump’s son, Eric. Property valued in hundreds of millions was stolen from the citizens of Florida and conveyed to a billionaire grifter to ostensibly build his presidential library. However, and this is a really neat Trumpian twist, only part of the 2.6 acre parcel would be required to house the library. The rest of the land could house other ventures, like a (surprise) hotel. Condos and restaurants could also spring up. But, don’t worry. Miami will benefit because, according to ol’ Eric, “Consistent with our families DNA, this will be one of the most beautiful building ever built”. Now that you know that, Florida, this seems like a real bargain. Right?

So, those are just 2 quick stories of Trump’s interactions with libraries. In the first, he tried to steal a sword given a former President for his unselfish service and in the second he grifted and grafted his way into a land swindle. I’m also certain that these were the only 2 interactions with any libraries that Trump ever had in his sorry life. The bastard has done something I didn’t think even he was capable of, he has sullied libraries. What a clown. What a dangerous, dangerous clown.

Post Notes

“And all this science/ I don’t understand/ It’s just my job/ 5 days a week.” RFK jr.

I found the following in my personal scribble on the back of a legal pad that I was working on: “a cartoonish character full of bluster and braggadocio surrounded by a cadre of incompetent sycophants and a few individuals of pure evil.” I have no idea what this could refer to. Any ideas? I gotta admit, I like the writing.

I think Autumn might be finally heading our way here in the Lowcountry. Fall is really something down here. A time to relish. Don’t know how many more Lowcountry Octobers that I have left, somewhere between 1 and 18, so I need to enjoy them all.

Time to make some lunch and get out on the bike. Just like when I was 8. Not much has really changed.

Take care and stay healthy.