One dream from my father

Paul deliberates over President Trump’s attack on Joe Scarborough and Mika B. in a nearby post (with a comment by John). I have nothing to add to what they wrote.

I think that Trump’s tweet was triggered in part by Scarborough and Mika B.’s mockery of a fake Time cover that has been on display at five Trump golf clubs. The Washington Post blew the lid off this scandal earlier this week. Add it to the list of high crimes and misdemeanors uncovered by the Post as it seeks to recapture its glory days taking down President Nixon.

For me the story brought back a buried memory of my father, a small businessman who owned a modest motel/restaurant in the Twin Cities. Working like a dog, he made a good living from it. In high school I would hear him returning from work late at night when the garage door opened after I had already gone to bed.

In law school I would occasionally meet him for lunch at the restaurant. He sweated it out in the kitchen pushing to have plates delivered to customers while the food was hot. When I tracked him down in the kitchen on one such occasion, he mopped his brow and told me, “Scott, this is my punishment for my lack of education.”

“Dad,” I said, “the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”

In 1966 my dad asked one of his customers to paint the Time cover below and insert him into it. He gave her a photograph of himself with which to work. The customer came through bigly, placing him right in the middle with a perfect likeness of my dad beaming exactly like Harold Prince.

I should add that it was a joke. In my dad’s case it wasn’t remotely true. He intended the fake cover to be a humorous conversation piece for visitors. Perhaps President Trump had the same idea.

Looking back at the cover now, I am struck by how unbelievably dated it is. Today for something comparable we would need “Billionaires Under 30.” Maybe President Trump could commission an updated version to be unmasked by the fearless sleuths of the Washington Post.

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