The Ronald: Follow the
Macy’s Parade
By
Leonard Zwelling
God bless Donald Trump (aka The Donald). In a sea of Republican mediocrity,
he rises like a phoenix to tickle our funny bones and insult our intelligence.
Who could ask for anything more?
And God bless NBC, Univision, Flo Rida and Macy’s for dealing with his
intemperate and racist remarks by cutting off relationships with him. The two best
ways to deal with bigotry are to give it TV time and then to turn off the set.
Donald Trump has proven yet again that just because you are
successful in one walk of life doesn’t mean you will automatically be
successful in every walk of life. I guess he’s a real estate genius and money
making machine. His television show appears to be successful. I cannot vouch
for its quality for I have never seen it so I am reluctant to criticize it in
any way, but I believe he did corner a fair number of viewers. That makes him
good at two things, making money and entertaining. Neither of these requires
great intellect necessarily and certainly not political skills. Even if Trump
has an IQ of 200 and everyone who meets him likes him, his remarks about
Mexicans and other immigrants are insulting, degrading and way below acceptable
discourse for a Presidential candidate. He should be disqualified on taste
grounds alone, but let him run. Who cares? Besides, how can you discuss his
taste when he has hair like that? Can’t he afford a barber?
But
those with whom he does business and who also do business with people insulted
by his language have voted with their feet and thrown him under the nearest
bus—where he belongs. (Too many metaphors, again?)
If Macy’s can do it with the Donald, why can’t MD Anderson
do it with the Ronald?
All of you who think that Dr. DePinho is a net positive for
cancer research, cancer care or MD Anderson raise your hands. Oh, a sea of
hands! Not!
Listen, this guy is an angry man for whatever reason. His
expertise appears to be in nepotism (Lynda), self-dealing (CNBC) and abuse of
power (the vetoing of the tenure renewal for two deserving faculty members). He
thinks he’s a people person but I have yet to meet the people who think so.
He’s rude in his demeanor and ridiculous in his statements about cancer, moon
shots and the history of the 1960’s. He’s no Jack Kennedy. Hell, he’s no Teddy
Kennedy although we can assume he’s a better driver as Lynda is still with us
which is more than can be said for some of those who rode shotgun with Teddy
Kennedy.
The many partners of Trump just said no and that’s what the
faculty ought to do at Anderson. No patients. No research. No teaching until The Ronald is gone and he can take his toys and playmates with him. This was simply a
major error by the past Executive Vice Chancellor of Health Affairs, the past
Chancellor and the past Board of Regents. We have a new EVC and C and a few new
Regents. Let them act and since they seem to be unable or unwilling to do so,
the faculty needs to wake them up to the plight of the Anderson.
I understand the white paper has made its way to Austin and
the Chancellor has requested some prioritization by the Senate on how to start
the process of Anderson Redux. The first step is the one suggested by President
Reagan during his 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter.
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is
when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
Substitute The
Ronald for Jimmy Carter and you have started the recovery.
