To date, the crazed vengeful maniac known in some quarters as Yambo has not tried to rename the state of New Mexico. If he did, the purported state of “New America” (or “Trumpiana”?) would possibly put up some resistance. The Gulf of Mexico, on the other hand—a humble body of water with no attorney general—cannot push back on being renamed. It can, however, send ever more powerful storms into what continues to erroneously bill itself as “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Revenge, yes. Unfortunately, this will only add to the misery inflicted on a woolly-eyed nation that elected a narcissistic bully. Yambo himself will be gone, sooner or later, leaving the sodden wreckage for generations to come.
This may seem trivial, in view of the truly horrendous things being perpetrated by the sinister minister without portfolio Elon Musk. In fact, geographical renaming stunts are most likely meant to distract us from the deeply damaging attacks on, and hyperpartisan infiltration into, the country’s public institutions. What’s disturbing is the compliance. It seems glaringly obvious that Trump has no authority to rename an international body of water. The world, looking on in bemused alarm, will continue to call it what everyone calls it. But if the hack he installed at an agency says to his staff, “Rename it,” someone on staff will be able to do it, and possibly be promoted for it.
On the plus side, we are seeing isolated attempts at resistance to what are clearly illegal or highly inappropriate actions. It is hard to believe they will be enough. If there is no snowball effect, leading to an avalanche, they will be the squeaks of mice under the elephant’s foot.
In case you didn’t already know it, Letitia James is a true American hero.
Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced plans to rename Lake Michigan. “The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a great lake deserves to be named after a great state,” Pritzker said. “So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change.”
He also tongue-in-cheekingly said Illinois plans to annex Green Bay, Wisconsin, “to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic” (i.e., the Packers).
But wait! There’s more. “I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River,” he said. “God bless America and bear down.”
This may seem “trivial,” but it’s not. Today the AP was barred from covering yet another Trump executive order signing because it has not changed its style manual to say the body of water down there is called what Trump wants to call it. The style guide is used by reporters and editors worldwide. Will other reporters refrain from lending their stenographic presence to future Trump events out of solidarity with the AP? Will there be a lawsuit? It’s the Gulf of Mexico. Am I next?
The White House Correspondents’ Association has protested the AP ban. “The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” association president Eugene Daniels said on Tuesday in a statement posted on X.
I have second thoughts about the notion that this silly stuff is meant to be a distraction from the “real stuff.” I think it’s part and parcel of Trump’s attempt to project a sense of his dominance, like the alpha ape he thinks he is. (And too many take him to be, or pretend to, feeding his alpha-apeness.) This is not a side issue with Trump—it is Trump, and it imbues Trumpism.