"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

                                                                   

                                                            Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

October 15, 2025

 

“Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation – the test of a first-rate intelligence

is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

                                                                                                                F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

                                                                                                                The Crack-Up, 1945

                                                                                                                collection of essays, published posthumously

 

While the good, the bad, and the ugly seems to me an apt metaphor for Donald Trump, most people would find the title too broad, too encompassing. Either he is loved or he is hated. To his fans, he is, to use his own words, the “Greatest President Ever.” To his opponents, he is an incarnation of Hitler. He is certainly not a Nazi, as his opponents have termed him, and he was not “chosen by God” to lead the United States, as his ardent supporters have said. Hyperbole, so common among todays’ politicians and commentators, is a consequence, at least in part, of the hatred that divides our nation. 

 

I see the good in Mr. Trump in his condemnation of ‘woke’ policies that have corrupted politics, schools, universities, and social organizations – manifested in identity politics, where merit is sidelined by an emphasis on race and/or sex, and where gender is not a biological term. I see it in his signing of the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” that made the 2017 tax cuts permanent. I see it in effectively closing the southern border, so that illegal migration into the U.S. has slowed to a trickle. I see it in his combatting inner-city crime, where victims – as well as perpetrators – are overwhelmingly people of color. I see the good in Mr. Trump in his abiding support for Israel, at a time when anti-Semitism has spread throughout much of the West. And I see it in the unprecedented peace that his plan for Gaza may possibly bring to the Middle East. I see it in his straight talk with our European allies who risk economic and social collapse, with their falling demographics, increased welfarism, an over-emphasis on “green” energy, declining defense spending, excessive regulation, wokeism, and high taxes. While he is what we used to call a motor-mouth, I see good in his availability to the press. And I see the good in some of his cabinet picks, like Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent and Doug Burghum. 

 

I see the bad in Mr. Trump in his support for tariffs, which have raised prices for U.S. consumers, and in his call for lower interest rates, which stroke speculation, discourage savers, and hurt the U.S. Dollar. I see the bad in his attempt to get the Federal Reserve to bow to his demands, and in his refusal to reach out to those who oppose his politics. I see the bad in his failure to increase legal immigration, to acknowledge that the United States is, and always has been, a nation of immigrants. I see the bad in Mr. Trump in his abandonment of conservative principles that call for smaller government, rule of law, less regulation, increased competition, to be accountable, and to encourage greater individual freedom. While I see the good in Mr. Trump’s singling out universities that foster censorship and which have disemboweled conservativism, I see the bad in him demanding adherence to his rules. And I see the bad in some of his cabinet picks, including his Vice President J.D. Vance, but also in Pete Hegseth, Pam Bondi and Robert Kennedy, Jr. (Vance has been a particular disappointment, so different from the decent and respectable advocate for personal responsibility depicted in his autobiography, Hillbilly Elegy, which I read in 2016.) 

 

I see the ugly in his financial self-dealing, including his support for cryptocurrencies and meme coins. I see ugliness in his ego and in his butchering of the English language, and in his proclivity to create chaos when harmony and mutual respect are needed.  I particularly see the ugly in his retribution, in using lawfare to go after those who for eight years used lawfare against him. Mr. Trump has doubled down on one of today’s ugliest political tactics. I recognize that Mr. Trump is nemesis to the entire Democrat establishment, and he sees himself as justified in retribution. But two wrongs do not make a right. On October 7 at Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk, Vivek Ramaswamy spoke of turning the other cheek: “Their brutal tactics should never cause us to change who we are...when we lower ourselves to play according to their rules, when we concede the idea that might makes right, that we settle our disputes with force rather than debate, then we lose the very thing we were fighting for, and that is our identity as Americans.” Amen.

 

Nevertheless, with all his flaws (or at least as I see them), I voted for Mr. Trump three times and, given his opponents, I am glad I did. He is unique among Presidents I have witnessed, and there is much he has done that I support. However, one would be hard-pressed to explain his political philosophy, apart from the fact he is transactional. Keeping one’s opponents off-base may be a good negotiating tactic, but it can wreak havoc among allies and in financial markets. He brings out the extremism in all of us – he is loved and hated in equal measure.

 

It will not be until two or three decades after his death before an unbiased biography will be written, one which will explain the Trump phenomenon. Sadly, those my age will never see it.

"The Passage of Time"

The photograph is of Salvador Dali’s 1931 painting “The Persistence of Memory,” which depicts what was his sense of the fluidity and subjectivity in the nature of time. While my taste in art runs to the more conventional, especially Connecticut Impressionists and grandchildrens’ art, this is a painting I have always found fascinating.

 

It is my belief that we each find the passage of time unique to ourselves.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

More Essays from Essex

“The Passage of Time”

October 12 , 2025

 

“It has all gone so fast, Duke. Like a dream.

How is it the days crawl by and yet the years fly?”

                                                                                                                Lawrence Sanders (1920-1998)

                                                                                                                The Anderson Tapes, 1970

 

When asked about the phrase “the passage of time,” Chat GPT responded, it “...is the perception of the continuous, forward movement of the past through the present and into the future.” When one is happy time passes more quickly than when one is sad, yet the passage of time is real. As the second-hand ticks forward, the present becomes the past.

 

But perception of the lapse of time can differ from reality. While the years since my birth have been historically significant, I don’t think of them in an historical sense, and 1941 does not seem that far back; yet 84 years before I was born it was 1857, which does seem a long time ago. It was the year of the Mountain Meadow massacre in Utah and the year the last Mughal emperor surrendered to the British in Delhi. Franklin Pierce was still President and Lincoln would not be sworn in for another four years.

 

Yet memories consume me. In the wee small hours of the morning, when the bedroom is dark and morning seems eons away, my mind travels backward, in kaleidoscopic-like fashion, to images from long ago – walking with my maternal grandfather to “Bruin’s lair,” a place in the Connecticut woods where he told me a friendly bear lived; having my older sister dress me in her Mary Janes; missing the school bus to which I had had to walk just shy of a mile; watching my father milk the goats, and then, later, slow-walking to his studio to confess I had broken a window. Childhood memories stick with us, perhaps because, as Ian McEwan wrote in The Child in Time: “For children, childhood is timeless. It is always the present.”

 

And there are other memories that collectively depict the passage of time – taking my first flight at age 13, on a DC-3, from Keene, New Hampshire to the Adirondack Airport near Saranac Lake, with a change at newly-named Laguardia Airport; my first car, a 1947 Ford coupe, and being admonished for driving it too fast; a series of flights alone across Canada from Toronto to Fort Nelson, British Columbia at age 19, and an 18-hour drive alone, the next summer, from Falconbridge, Ontario to Greenwich, CT. And, not yet 21, meeting the young lady who became my wife, introduced by my sister in a New Hampshire ski lodge. 

 

In his posthumously published poem, “Auguries of Innocence,” William Blake wrote: “To see a world in a grain of sand,/ And a Heaven in a wild flower,/ Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,/ And Eternity in an hour.” But to me the concept of infinity and the passage of time through eternity is incomprehensible. Yet, I detect an answer, in the uncountable ancestors who came before and in the unknowable descendants who will follow. It is in the understanding that we could never be born other than the time and place we were. And it is in knowing that it was Caroline and my union that determined all those who follow us.

 

It is when I look back on the sweet memories of our married life, and ahead to the yet unknown lives of our children, grandchildren, and their children (yet to be born) that I best understand the passage of time.

"Balance"

Apropos of nothing, I want to share a line I came across in Anna Karenina, because it creates such a beautiful image: “...and the conversation began to crackle merrily, like a blazing bonfire.” Is it any wonder that Tolstoy ranks among the best writers of fiction?

 

............................................................................................

 

In case you are wondering (though I am sure you are not), that is not me in the photo hand-standing on the chair. Nor is that me with a cigarette.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

More Essays from Essex

“Balance”

October 4, 2025

 

“life is a balance between holding on and letting go.”

                                                                                                                                Attributed

                                                                                                                                Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī

                                                                                                                                13^th Century Persian Sufi mystic

 

“Don’t fall!” Those words are heard every day by older people. And for good reason. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are the leading cause of injury, and deaths from injury, among adults over 65. Balance is critical. At Essex Meadows there are a dozen exercise classes, all with the goal of improving balance. 

 

In law, balance is symbolized by Lady Justice – the rights of the accused weighed against the rights of society. For most, balance extends beyond the physical, to work, the mind and the soul. Over the past few years there has been an emphasis on life-work-balance, a revival, if you will, of the 17^th Century proverb: “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” However, to some there is worry that young people are less interested in hard work. The “Pepper...And Salt” cartoon in last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal (drawn by Tobias Schülert) addressed that concern. It depicted an older man behind a desk, speaking to a younger man seated before him: “It turns out that your great work-life balance is not that great for our company.”

 

But to blame the young is unfair. One has only to look at self-made young billionaires like Scale AI founders Alexander Wang (28) and Lucy Guo (30) and cryptocurrency pioneer Ed Craven (29), sports stars like Simone Biles (28) and Carlos Alcarez (22), or Taylor Swift (35). These people are singularly focused – interested in realizing the fruit of their talents.  None adhere to the maxim that each day should be divided equally between eight hours of work, eight hours of family and fun, and eight hours of sleep.

 

But for the majority, a happy life entails weighing financial needs against the love of family, the desires of our intellect, and the needs of our soul. Human Resource people speak of the “four pillars” of work-life balance: mental, physical, social, and financial, but no two people find happiness in the same way. With all due respect to Leo Tolstoy, not all happy families are alike. Instinctively we seek balance in our lives. We know we need breaks from work – the love that comes from family, food for the soul, challenges to our intellect, and the companionship of friends.

 

Life is a marathon, not a sprint, so options should be kept open; for the future is over the next rise, where the road disappears into the mist. The last few miles of one’s life should be run (or walked) with the same enthusiasm as the start. To do that, a personally-tailored life-balance is important. Thomas Edison is quoted: “Time is the only capital that any human has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.” So, weigh your choices. Take sensible risks. Be not afraid to fail. Question. Love. And when opportunity comes, grab it.

 

As for me, my family comes first. I revel in friends, read books, worry about financial markets, think of God, and devote some time to writing these silly essays. But I take my ski pole when walking through the woods and fields.