Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

– Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky

*. *. *

Lewis Carroll penned those intentionally indecipherable words around 1855 — some say, while in the midst of a hallucinogenic experience, either drug- or migraine-induced — as part of his immortal classic, Alice In Wonderland. The poem’s title, Jabberwocky, has long since found its way into English-language dictionaries as a synonym for double-talk, drivel, gibberish, jabber, nonsense, mumbo-jumbo, and the like.

And I would like to add a definition to the list: “Trump-talk.”

Trump-talk is not just Donald Trump’s inability to string more than three words together to form a coherent sentence; it is also the uncanny ability of his team of Wonderland Washingtonians to twist perfectly good groups of words into combinations that are the total opposite of anything resembling fact.

And coming from the man who claims to be the leader of the free world, it is both alarming and — on the world stage — embarrassing as hell. Such as, when he referred to the African nation of Namibia as “Nambia,” likely confusing it with the nearby nation of Zambia. And I shudder to think of what he’d do with Nigeria and Niger . . . or whether he even knows they’re two separate countries. (Or, for that matter, how Niger is actually pronounced.)

But though we may make fun of the malapropisms and the utter absurdities emanating from the mouth of a man who spent the last four years denigrating his predecessor for every stumble and slip-up, they’re not always amusing. In fact, they can be downright dangerous.

For example, there was the stunning comment he made during his first administration, following his now-infamous Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin in 2018. Despite the dire warnings from U.S. intelligence sources, from Congress, and from his advisers concerning Russian interference in U.S. elections, he said the following:

“My people came to me. Dan Coats [then U.S. Director of National Intelligence] came to me, and some others. They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

I wondered at the time whether he meant to say “why it wouldn’t be,” because — like the rest of the country — I didn’t want to believe he could be that gullible. But whether it was inadvertent or intentional, that one word — “would” instead of “wouldn’t” — started a firestorm of accusations against Trump: accusations of collusion, and even mentions of treason.

And it was the biggest, bestest gift he could have given Putin, all tied up in a big red bow.

*. *. *

What made me think of all this . . . beginning with the Jabberwocky . . . was Trump’s comment to the press on his way back to Washington yesterday aboard Air Force One, when they asked about the failure of the Russia-Ukraine talks at Istanbul that day. On the basis of his earlier statements that nothing was likely to be accomplished until he and Putin sat down together, he said that he might call Putin soon, adding:

“He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it or maybe not.” [RFE/RL, May 16, 2025.]

“ . . . I think we’ll solve it or maybe not” ??!!!

Now, isn’t that just the kind of decisive, clear-headed thinking we need from our leaders?

*. *. *

Beware the Jabberwock, my friends. Beware the Jabberwock.

The Frumious Bandersnatch, the Jabberwock, and the Jubjub Bird

Oh, well . . . it’s only another three years and eight months. But who’s counting?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/17/25