November 19, 2020

A long hike – Social Security – The sad story of Rudy Giuliani – Evening statistics

After going with RS from the “Workhouse” (the former prison at Lorton that has been converted for use as artists’ studios) to Belle Haven via Fort Belvoir for over 30 miles, I arrived home very late yesterday, and was too tired to write a journal entry.  It was a good hike, on a brisk although not frigid day, but the route turned out to be somewhat longer than expected.  But we had fine views of the Potomac just as dusk was beginning and very pleasant walking on the trails in the area at and surrounding Meadowood. 

Today I’ve been taking matters somewhat more easily, but still not without labor, attending to various chores such as laundry and shopping and lawn-tending, as well as settling accounts.  Today marked my first Social Security payment.  It is a bit disturbing to realize that for many people such payments are their only source of income after retirement.  It is a very useful supplement, but it would not be sufficient in itself to live on.  I do not mean to complain, however.  It will undoubtedly make matters easier.  For several months I have managed to live on my income and even have enough for menus plaisirs, but I have had to avoid larger expenses.  Now I will be able to make certain improvements that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time (getting a new garbage disposer, for instance, or getting an old maple tree in the backyard cut down before it collapses). 

At this point Trump’s lawsuits have become so frequent even the news headlines are weary of them and are giving them less prominence.  I cannot forbear, however, remarking on the sorry deterioration of Rudy Giuliani, who has been spearheading the effort to bring them to the courts.  In 2001 his leadership of New York City after the 9/11 attack was inspiring.  This is not simply my personal assessment; he was listed as the “Person of the Year” by Time magazine and he received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II, as well as many other honors from both our country and other nations.  Now, nearly two decades later, he has become Trump’s stooge, stooping to the most blatant falsehoods and most frivolous claims in order to bolster Trump’s flailing attempts to remain in office illegally.  What can he hope to gain from such a course?  He is already a wealthy man, his assets amounting to about $45 million.  He is 76 years old and has undergone treatments for prostate cancer, a disease that claimed the life of his father at the age of 73; so it is unlikely that he has many future years of life to provide for.  Yet he clings to his position of Trump’s legal advisor as avidly as if he were a young man whose career and income for decades into the future depended upon it. 

He is a good example of the phenomenon about the Trump administration that continually puzzles me:  how is a man of such base character and limited intellect able to inspire undying loyalty among men and women whose natural abilities are greatly superior to his own?

The extent to which Giuliani has declined under Trump’s influence was made evident when he unintentionally became involved in the new Borat film.  The scene indeed was something a sting operation.  The actress playing the role of Borat’s young daughter, posing as a TV journalist, gave him an obsequious interview and afterwards invited him to have a drink with her in a hotel room (which was rigged with concealed cameras).  After she removed his microphone, Giuliani reclined on the room’s bed, fiddled with his untucked shirt, and reached into his trousers, apparently to stimulate his genitals. At this point Borat interrupted them by running in and saying: “She 15. She too old for you.”

Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide 57,216,034; # of deaths worldwide: 1,364,814; # of cases U.S.: 12,064,025; # of deaths; U.S.: 258,282.  Today’s death toll in this country was over 2,000.  The amount of the population infected with the virus is now over 3.6%, or more than one person in every 28.