{"id":5904,"date":"2017-02-22T02:53:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T02:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=5904"},"modified":"2025-02-25T23:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T23:46:22","slug":"meet-bizarro-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=5904","title":{"rendered":"“Meet Bizarro Trump?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

At least you could easily tell the\u00a0Bizarro<\/a>\u00a0version – seen above – from the real\u00a0<\/strong>Superman<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

February 22, 2017 – Remember “The Name Game<\/a>?” \u00a0It was a popular song by Shirley Ellis<\/a>, released in 1964. \u00a0it hit #3 on Billboard Charts<\/a>, as a rhyming game that created “variations on a person’s name.” \u00a0So if we played the game today – with the name of our new president – the variation would be: \u00a0“Donald, Donald, bo-bonald, Banana-fana fo-fonald, Fee-fy-mo-monald, Donald!” <\/em>And speaking of\u00a0parlor games<\/a><\/em><\/strong>… Some time ago I planned a post on “Bizarro Trump.” \u00a0(A name that to some people may seem “redundant redundant.”) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0allusion<\/a>\u00a0would be to the\u00a0Bizarro<\/a> Superman<\/a>. \u00a0But as noted, the project is turning out to be way<\/em> <\/strong>more complicated than I ever imagined.* As noted in a previous post, “That\u2019s mostly because it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult these days to tell which version of ‘the Donald<\/a>‘\u00a0is more weird: \u00a0Bizarro Trump or the real thing.”<\/p>\n

Like, during the [2016] campaign Trump threatened to jail Hillary Clinton<\/a> if he won. But once he did<\/em> <\/strong>win, he changed his mind. \u00a0(Trump flips, now opposes prosecution for Clinton<\/a>, posted 11\/22\/16. See also Statement About Putting Hillary in Jail Was a “Quip<\/a>.”) <\/em>Then there was Trump’s red-meat campaign promise to “kill Barack Obama\u2019s unilateral actions to shield hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants from deportation.*” But then just today – February 21 – he mind-changed again. (Trump to spare U.S. ‘dreamer’ immigrants from crackdown<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

So which is the real “Donald,” and which is the “Bizarro Trump?”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In light of the foregoing, here\u2019s another stopgap post<\/a>\u00a0while I figure this guy out.<\/p>\n

Getting back to the new\u00a0“Bizarro Trump\u00a0parlor game<\/a>…” \u00a0The goal in that new game would be to come up with whatever crazy responses, arguments and comments that may pop into your mind. \u00a0And which were – or are – the complete opposite of what the real<\/em> <\/strong>Donald would say. \u00a0But as we’ve seen, that’s getting harder and harder to figure out. \u00a0But there is one thing this Bizarro Trump<\/em> could do: He could blame everything wrong in this country on conservatives.<\/p>\n

That would be the “bizarro opposite” of 70 years of hard-line conservatives blaming liberals<\/em><\/strong> for everything bad in this country these past 70 years. \u00a0(And getting away with it…)<\/em> \u00a0See e.g., Ann Coulter<\/a>‘s books: Every Liberal Cause Is Based on a Lie<\/a>, All Assassins Are Liberals<\/a>,\u00a0Liberals are assaulting America<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Bizarro Trump<\/em> wouldn’t break a sweat in response. \u00a0He’d simply say “No, every conservative<\/em><\/strong> cause is based on a lie, all assassins are conservatives<\/em><\/strong>, and conservatives<\/em><\/strong> are assaulting America!”<\/p>\n

See how easy that is? \u00a0And conservatives have been doing this for 70 years….<\/p>\n

It all seemed to start back in 1947<\/a>. \u00a0Democrats had been in power pretty much since the election of\u00a0Franklin D. Roosevelt<\/a>\u00a0in 1933, and Republicans had been largely marginalized. \u00a0But then came the end of the war, and a strong desire by voters to simply “change horses<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

So for 1947,\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0noted the following\u00a0transformative<\/a>\u00a0events:<\/p>\n

On\u00a0March 12<\/a>\u00a0– “The Truman Doctrine<\/a> is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism<\/a>.” On\u00a0May 22<\/a>\u00a0– “The Cold War<\/a> begins: \u00a0In an effort to fight the spread of Communism<\/a>, President Harry S. Truman<\/a> signs an Act of Congress that implements the Truman Doctrine<\/a>.” \u00a0Later still – and most ominously – under the heading\u00a0November 24<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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McCarthyism<\/a>: \u00a0The United States House of Representatives<\/a> votes 346\u201317 to approve citations of Contempt of Congress against the “Hollywood Ten<\/a>” after the screenwriters and directors refuse to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee<\/a> concerning allegations of communist<\/a> influences in the movie business. \u00a0The ten men are blacklisted<\/a> by the Hollywood<\/a> movie studios on the following day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That was followed by a note under “date unknown:” \u00a0The already-noted “House Un-American Activities Committee<\/a> begins its investigations into communism<\/a> in Hollywood<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

In other words, you could say that 1947 was the year conservatives started blaming liberals for everything bad in this country. \u00a0And that trend would continue in the election of 1950. \u00a0(And beyond…)<\/em><\/p>\n

That is, 1950 was when “Tricky Dick” Nixon accused his opponent in the California Senate race of being “pink<\/a> right down to her underwear.” This suggestion that his opponent “sympathized with the Soviet Union<\/a>” referred to Helen Gahagan Douglas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0noted,\u00a0Nixon implied that Douglas was a Communist “fellow traveler<\/a>.” \u00a0The end result? \u00a0Nixon won the election with more than 59 percent of the vote, and Gahagan Douglas’ political career came to an end.<\/p>\n

Which seems especially ironic given the results of the 2016 presidential election. \u00a0(When hard-line conservatives seemed to say it was fine if the Russians affected election results, so long as their candidate won. \u00a0And a historical note: \u00a0Gahagan Douglas, “in return, popularized a nickname for Nixon which became one of the most enduring nicknames in American politics: “Tricky Dick<\/a>.”)<\/em><\/p>\n

But we seem to be digressing…<\/p>\n

The idea for this\u00a0Bizarro Trump<\/em><\/strong> came when I remembered an old\u00a0Seinfeld<\/a>\u00a0TV episode,\u00a0The Bizarro Jerry<\/a>. \u00a0The Seinfeld episode in turn referred to the earlier twin concepts of both the\u00a0Bizarro<\/a> Superman<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Bizarro World<\/a>, as described in\u00a0by DC Comics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Bizarro is depicted as having all the abilities of Superman, although these traits are reversed,<\/strong> such as[:] \u00a0“freeze vision” instead of heat vision[;] \u00a0“flame breath” instead of freeze breath[; and]\u00a0“vacuum breath” instead of super breath…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the case of the real<\/em> Donald, he campaigned as pretty much “the ultimate anti-Obama.” \u00a0(Or perhaps the “BIzarro Obama…”)<\/em> \u00a0Which means the reverse-trait Bizarro Trump<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0should be the very model of moderation, cooperation and compromise. \u00a0(See\u00a0“Frankentrump” … Trump [As] Manifestation Of The GOP’s Obstructionism And Extremism<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

But that probably isn’t going to happen any time soon.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to the Bizarro Jerry<\/a>\u00a0episode prompting this post. \u00a0It showed Jerry, George and Kramer meeting their “weird” – to them – doppelg\u00e4ngers<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Kevin, Gene and Feldman:<\/p>\n

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Kevin [is] Jerry’s opposite since Kevin is reliable and kind, contrasted to Jerry’s forgetfulness and indifference. Gene is shown to be quiet, courteous, charitable and well-dressed as opposed to George being loud, obnoxious, cheap and slobbish. Feldman acts generously to his friends… He also always knocks on Kevin’s door and waits for him to unlock it[, unlike] Kramer, who constantly takes Jerry’s groceries and bursts through his door without warning.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now about those\u00a0doppelg\u00e4ngers<\/a>. They’re kind of “bizarro opposites” as well. For example, Edgar Allan Poe<\/a> described a “bizarro double” has having the “sinister, demonic qualities of a pursuer or challenger of the real self.” Dostoyevsky<\/a>\u00a0represented a doppelg\u00e4nger as an “opposite personality who exploits the character failings of the protagonist to take over his life.” \u00a0And in\u00a0Alfred Hitchcock<\/a>‘s\u00a0The Case of Mr. Pelham<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0the title character “has a paranoid suspicion that he has a double who is slowly taking over his life.”<\/p>\n

All of which may sound vaguely familiar to anyone keeping up with politics these days. In the end, it’s hard to imagine what kind of “real Donald” will emerge over the next four years. (Or less. See Professor predicts President Trump will be impeached<\/a>.) <\/em>But who knows? Some day soon we may see a “bizarro” confrontation in politics like the one below…<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kramer, George and Jerry meet their “bizarro opposites…”<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/h3>\n

The upper image is courtesy o<\/em>f Bizarro Superman\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>. The original post – I tweaked it on February 26, 2025 – had a lead image from<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>kotobukiya created a statue that the bizarro version of jerry seinfeld would totally get on board with …<\/a>\u00a0dailydead.com<\/a>: “Standing eight inches tall, this Bizarro anti-Superman statue is based on DC Comics\u2019 New 52 version of the popular villain and will be released in November [2016].” \u00a0(Which is actually kind of appropriate…)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNote\u201d also that an asterisk in the main text indicates a statement supported by a reference detailed further in this \u201cnotes\u201d section. \u00a0Thus as to\u00a0the “project [being] more complicated than I imagined<\/em>,” see the beginning of \u00a0the last post,\u00a0\u201cThat which doesn\u2019t kill me\u2026\u201d<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Also, as to\u00a0Parlor games<\/a>\u00a0[spelled “p-a-r-l-o-u<\/strong>-r” in the article],\u00a0<\/em>Wikipedia<\/a> defined a “group game<\/a> played indoors. During the Victorian era<\/a> in Great Britain<\/a> and in the United States<\/a>, these games were extremely popular among the upper and middle classes. They were often played in a parlour<\/a>, hence the name.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: Trump\u2019s promise to \u201ckill Barack Obama\u2019s unilateral actions to shield\u2026\u201d See Immigration hard-liners angered by Trump\u2019s softer tone \u201cDreamers<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The “Tricky Dick and Pink Lady” image is courtesy of<\/em>\u00a0Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon vs. Helen Gahagan Douglas …<\/a>barnesandnoble.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: The “old Seinfeld<\/a>\u00a0episode,\u00a0Bizarro Jerry<\/a>.” \u00a0It was the\u00a0137th episode<\/a>, and\u00a0the third episode for the eighth season. \u00a0Originally aired on October 3, 1996, the \u201ctitle and plot extensively reference the Bizarro<\/a> (the polar opposite of Superman<\/a>) and Bizarro-Earth<\/a> concepts that originally appeared in various comic books<\/a> published by DC Comics<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of Bizarro Jerry Episode Images- Image Results<\/a>. See also Bizarro Jerry – WikiSein, the Seinfeld Encyclopedia<\/a>seinfeld.wikia.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 At least you could easily tell the\u00a0Bizarro\u00a0version – seen above – from the real\u00a0Superman… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * February 22, 2017 – Remember “The Name Game?” \u00a0It was a popular song by Shirley Ellis, released in 1964. \u00a0it hit #3 on Billboard Charts, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5904"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22191,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions\/22191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}