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Nancy Meyer's avatar

It nauseates me to concede that D.T. already has outlived Mr. (Fred) Rogers, who didn't survive quite to 75. But for the sake of the Gene Pool Gene Poll, let's compare their appearances at roughly the same age.

Quite apart from his silly hair and makeup, D.T.always looks aggrieved and combative, neither of which ever will be aesthetic. Mr. Rogers, in contrast, consistently radiated kindness, warmth, and good humor. Even if his face had been pocked with warts and mange, he would have appeared more handsome than D.T. ever can aspire to.

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Ellen Goodman's avatar

Rogers is a high standard. EVERY president in the 20th and 21st century had at least a modicum of civility. Even Nixon seemed like a decent person as a person. I could see having a beer with him and talking about how we need to make the country and the world a better place to be. He didn't hate people in general. He seemed to be relatively down to earth in everyday life. I could be wrong, but from what I've read he sounded like not a great politician but not an evil dictator who wanted to take over the world. He appears to have had something resembling a sense of humor. And he was probably the worst president in the 20th century. Maybe tied with Hoover, who also does not seem like a horrible dictator, just not a great president. I realize Wilson wasn't such a great person, but again not a dictator who wanted to take over the world and end all social programs. All the other 20th and 21st century presidents absolutely had senses of humor, a sense of humanity, cared about America, had no problem upholding the constitution, etc. None were perfect, but they were not horrible people. IMO.

20th-21st century presidents:

William McKinley

Theodore Roosevelt

William H. Taft

Woodrow Wilson

Warren G. Harding

Calvin Coolidge

Herbert Hoover

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Harry S. Truman

Dwight D. Eisenhower

John F. Kennedy

Lyndon B. Johnson

Richard M. Nixon

Gerald R. Ford

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

George H. W. Bush

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush

Barack Obama

Joseph R. Biden

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Just Lil Ole Me's avatar

There once was a reader unknown,

“I can’t stand Gene’s writing,” he’d moan.

But Gene is a whiz,

About the best that there is.

So dear reader, please leave him alone!

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Marc Davis's avatar

But Please send him MONEY. He says "If you can afford the support, I need it." I already do it

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Leila Smith's avatar

And note that Dear Reader is still reading....

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Just Lil Ole Me's avatar

So who reads something they find annoying? And then takes the time to write a poem about it? Get a life!

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Richard Alexander's avatar

What makes him ugly is his dyed face and whatever stupid stuff he does to his hair. Eliminate that, and he still wouldn't be handsome, but at least he'd be OK-looking.

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Martha Baine's avatar

His eyes make him look like a dying reptile.

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Leslie Franson's avatar

His ugliness stems from the fact that his expression reveals what is in his heart and his mind, and it is always pure ugliness, whether he is scowling, smirking, or giving that fake smile that never reaches his eyes.

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Roger DALRYMPLE's avatar

I don't personally know anyone who thinks he looks smart, sharp, fit, healthy, yada yada, nothing of the sort; he doesn't even know how to properly tie his neck tie, which hangs below the belt, where it could, and probably has, gotten caught in his zipper from time to time. really, he looks like the para-medics should be about a half-step behind, ready to go into action at a moments notice. Is that too harsh? No? Then how about this -- a whale that washed up on a shore some place recently looked healthier than DT normally does.

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Louise's avatar

The mental image of Trump with his tie caught in his fly caused me to snort Diet A&W root beer out through my nose. Trust me on this, root beer is way worse than coffee.

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Carol's avatar

St Jerome said “The face is the mirror of the mind.” How could Trump look anything but hideous and degenerate?

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Dale of Green Gables's avatar

Looks? The usual suspects all look like either blow-up dolls or cardboard standees. The issue is which is the "Most Slappable." With Matt Gaetz now out of the running, I'm sticking with the DOJ and going with Pamela Jo, although "Crash" Patel is a close second. Come to think of it, Karoline Leavitt is up there as well, if only for continuously misspelling her first name on purpose.

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Sam Mertens's avatar

You know the tired phrase about living rent free in somebody’s head? I think Gene is doing just that to some poor simp out there. Probably somebody who allowed themselves to get all wound up about a curry joke that didn’t land the way Gene had intended. But that’s pure speculation on my part.

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Dale of Green Gables's avatar

The maven of verse,

With head in hand,

Racked his brains to understand,

How someone,

Could send for a second time,

A poison pen poem,

That doesn't rhyme.

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Linda Wallers's avatar

When the felon is in full tantrum mode, his tiny fists are tightly closed as he moves them around to make his non-points. funny, but he has closed fists when he is "dancing"/swaying side-to-side to a mysterious imagined rhythm, too. I wonder if his fists are telling us how tightly wound up he is, how frustrated and angry he is, internally, at his inability to get the recognition he feels he deserves. I think the felon seethes, and his tiny, tightly closed fists are a "tell".

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Dale of Green Gables's avatar

That thing resembling a smile. Always reminds me of an infant with gas pains.

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Julia Griffin's avatar

Yes - people who don't write light verse sometimes imagine it's easy to do, and so prove their mistake ...

That's one of the worst examples I've seen. I would be indignant on your behalf if I weren't too busy being embarrassed for the writer.

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MitchF's avatar

I hope the “poet” is a paid subscriber.

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Gene Weingarten's avatar

haha. probably not.

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Richard Brown's avatar

I'm halfway through "The Fiddler on the Subway" and loving it, so screw that anonymous "poet."

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Alyson Ward's avatar

At least the writer didn’t try to write it as a limerick. There’s a special place in Hell for people who massacre that particular form of verse.

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Helena Handbasket's avatar

I'd love to see a double-dactyl version.

Higgledy-Piggledy

Mean ol' Gene Weingarten . . .

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Julia Griffin's avatar

Writes nasty pieces where

TRUMP is maligned:

I, as a consequence,

Hyper-poetically,

Fight back with valorous

Verses (unsigned).

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Gene Weingarten's avatar

I'd make it "pseudo" poetically.

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Julia Griffin's avatar

I wrote that originally, then reflected that the author was unlikely to have such self-knowledge ...

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Gene Weingarten's avatar

That is really good, Ms. Griffin.

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Julia Griffin's avatar

Thank you, Mr. W!

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Helena Handbasket's avatar

FABULOUS!!!

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Julia Griffin's avatar

Thank you, Fabulous Helena!

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Lynne Larkin's avatar

Yes, applause to both of you!

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