See this? This American Land  You don’t necessarily have to read the article, although if you appreciate nature you will likewise appreciate what David Brooks has to say.  I just wanted to rub something in.  I just got back from spending a week in the Teton National Park, pictured at the top of this article.  It is a majestic place, and when planning vacations I make it a point to include a visit here whenever possible. I don’t like mentioning how beautiful the area is, because then you might get the idea you have to go there and I really don’t want you cluttering up my space.  But it is a national park, preserved for all of us to enjoy, so it is only fair that I put my personal feelings aside and hope for the best.  I’m from Wyoming, so when I was a kid my father took our family to the Tetons many times.  The first time I laid eyes on the imposing beauty of those magnificent mountains it took my breath away, and that reaction occurs even to this day.

There are many, many places in our country that are similarly striking and if you are the type that truly does appreciate nature you probably hold a special place in your heart for one of those places.  Chances are it is one of America’s national parks or monuments.  Which brings me to another article with a heading photo of a place in my home state, and it really pisses me off.  Making America Polluted Again.  It is very true that Trump has little interest in policy and practically makes it a point to stay disconnected from any kind of agenda.  The one constant that holds Trump’s interest though is a bazaar, pernicious obsession with the destruction of the environment.

Why?  “I’m, like, a really smart person,” to quote the guy.  He apparently attended a prestigious college- Wharton School of Business, but he leaves to the imagination how accomplished a student he was since he won’t release his transcripts.  Was his educational experience totally related to business and devoid of any academic course involving the humanities?  Growing up, did he live his life walking only along concreat paths and amongst nothing but a forrest of tall buildings? Something in the Brook’s article struck me.  He points out that Trump is “Untouched by wilderness, by the awe and humility that comes with the encounter with nature.”  The closest thing the man has to any kind of naturalistic epiphany is the boner he gets when he visits one of his golf courses.  For a very enlightening perspective of how he feels about golf, get a look at the August edition of Sports Illustrated ( First Golfer ).  It’s a long article, but worth the read if you want a different perspective of how this privileged man has lived his life.  I think you would find how he has screwed local communities out of their educational tax revenue by manipulating the tax assessment of his golf courses in his favor particularly galling.  What caught my attention personally was how he equates golf with status.  Deep into the article he states people should “earn” the privilege to golf.  WTF?  I don’t play a lot of golf, but Geezuz I don’t feel like I’m something special when I do. I do have my own special rule when I’m on a course though.  That’s everyone in my group has to stop off at the clubhouse for drinks every 3rd hole.  I have found that does wonders to tilt the field of competition towards my level of incompetence.

What Trump infers of course is there is no way in hell you are going to play on one of his courses unless you reside in the economic class that can afford to pay his gaudy membership and rental fees.  Only the pampered rich dare belong.  What an asshole.  Instead of playing golf every weekend, I think it would be a good idea if Trump spent a week just relaxing within the confines of one of our beautiful national parks.  Perhaps take a book along, one of those large informational ones about the spectacular places in our country, the kind that has few words but lots of pictures to help him out. Should be a good way to prod a neophyte into appreciating the world around him.  There is a good chance what David Brooks postulates is correct.  Perhaps what we all need is a reconnection with the land.