Hiking in the region of the Occoquan – A rare clash between Trump and Fox News – Trump’s alibi – Boat parade in Austin – Evening statistics
I went again with RS today, exploring methods of connecting Occoquan Regional Park to other trails in the Gunston and Mason Neck areas. He did not make it all the way to Ft. Belvoir on his own on the preceding evening, but he got as far as Rte. 1, at which point he was picked up by a friend who lives in the area and was able to take him to the hotel within the fort’s enclosure – where, as a veteran, he is able to stay. I met him at the gate this morning and from there we went to the “Workhouse,” the area that was formerly the Lorton prison and that now has been converted to a collection of art studios. It is close to Occoquan Regional Park, where we proceeded to go, and from there we investigated methods of following the Occoquan River to points east. We covered about 15 miles, with a fair amount of bush-whacking. The latter part of the hike led us to the Meadowood Recreational Area, which I had never seen before, and which has quite an extensive network of trails, about 20 miles in all, plus another 2 miles of paths reserved for mountain biking. RS has actually participated in the routing of some of these trails, so it was quite familiar to him. It is similar to the American Chestnut Land Trust – not striking or dramatic, but full of rich leafy forest watered by numerous little streams that split it into several distinct sections bordered and defined by the gorges. The day was, if not cool, at any rate considerably less hot and humid than the preceding two days and was much more comfortable.
Admirers of Donald Trump will be gratified to know how rapidly he has sprung into action as a result of the backlash he has been receiving about his remarks about persons who have sacrificed their lives in military service being “losers.” The Atlantic, which originally reported the story, has been critical of Trump for some time and admittedly may not be altogether impartial. But Jennifer Griffin, the Fox News national security correspondent, afterwards issued confirmations of this report in a series of tweets. Trump has good reason to be worried about the effect his remarks may be having: according to a recent poll, support from U. S. veterans, once one of the groups who supported him by a large majority (they voted for him in preference to Hillary Clinton by a margin of 2-to-1), has shrunk to a bare 38%. So naturally Trump has called upon Fox News to fire Griffin, although he is not among the Fox News directors and has no authority of any kind to dictate whom they may fire or hire. He can perhaps be excused for believing that this organization will roll over with canine servility at any command that he barks out; it has consistently lavished praise upon him no matter how uninhibited his actions might be. It remains to be seen whether they will display that vestige of self-respect needed to make their own choice in retaining or releasing members of their own staff.
Also, Trump claims that he telephoned Melania in Washington on Thursday night to express his disappointment on being unable to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, where the Marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood are buried. There is a slight problem with this alibi: Melania was with him in Paris at the time and she as well as her husband was originally scheduled to appear at the cemetery before he canceled the visit.
Mary McCarthy once said about Lillian Hellman: “I think every word she utters is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” I beg leave to apply this observation to our President as well.
In the meantime, a boat parade upon Lake Travis in Austin, TX, held as part of a Trump rally has met with all of the success it deserves. The waters seethed like a cauldron, as if Nature herself were protesting such a demonstration; rough waves surged up and crested, tossing the boats about violently; distress calls overwhelmed the local sheriff’s office (one is tempted to say that the office was flooded by them); and at least four boats sunk altogether.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 27,043,160; # of deaths worldwide: 882,986; # of cases U.S.: 6,429,805; # of deaths U.S.: 192,818. We’re back down to a mere 40,000 new cases today and slightly over 700 deaths. Well, I suppose that’s an improvement.