1. It’s Wednesday, May 31, 2017.

2. It’s the 74th birthday of Joe Namath and the 52nd of Brooke Shields – two people you couldn’t imagine being 74 or 52.

3. The one thing you don’t want to do to an enemy is make him sympathetic. And when it comes to Trump, it’s really hard to do that.

But Kathy Griffin found a way.

I’ve never been a fan of what I guess is a woman whose efforts at self-promotion sometimes go to extremes. Even as a loyal CNNer, I can’t stand to watch her on New Year’s Eve with Anderson Cooper.

Yesterday, she stepped over the line with a video that involved an animated display of Trump’s severed head. She repeated the “blood coming out of wherever” line that Trump use to disgrace himself in his criticism of then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly.

By doing that, Griffin threw a lifeline to Trump. She gave his dwindling supporters something to rally around.

It was idiotic. It was not close to funny, which is how I feel about Kathy Griffin in general. I’m glad she apologized, but I suspect she’ll pay a price for doing something that stupid.

Dumb.

4. Now, if Trump was as smart as he and his flock believe, he would have milked the stupid Kathy Griffin thing for all it was worth.

He, indeed, tweeted this morning how upset his 11-year-old son was about the image, and that Griffin should be ashamed of herself.

The problem is he also covfefed.

Late last night, he tweeted “Despite the constant press covfefe”.

Trump probably meant coverage and was about to launch another of his diatribes about how the connection between his campaign/administration and Russia is fake news.

But it just proves the point that he has no self-control about seeking approval or just plain getting attention.

So covfefe, and not Kathy Griffin, became the news story this morning. And those questions about this guy’s fitness for this job – emotionally, physically and morally – are front and center for another day.

Dumb.
5. Unfortunately, no one had ever womansplained Rebecca Solnit to me.

Solnit is an essayist. She is credited with coming up with the concept of mansplaining – how men (and I might be guilty of this sometimes) often trying to explain things to women in a way that comes off as condescending.

Yesterday, Solnit’s commentary on Literary Hub site dealt with a man. The current president.

One reason to think he’ll never read it is that his name is only on the title. It’s not in the text at all.

Solnit’s argument is profound. Trump is a spoiled rich child who has never had to deal with the consequences of sharing the world with people who aren’t as fortunate. He’s been indulged and pandered to by people either in awe of his resources or who thought they could find a way to take advantage of him.

I think it’s a little too smart by a hair. Maybe it’s something I’m reading into it, but there’s a hint of sympathy for Trump, as if his life is some Greek or Shakespearean tragedy of which we are merely witnesses.

Trump, to me, is pure evil. The tragedy is what will befall most of the people of this country when our standard of living – hell, in a lot of instances, our ability to just live – is devastated.

But I applaud Solnit’s effort. Ranting by people like me and others doesn’t seem to be enough to stop the feeling that we’re skidding on an icy road into a giant propane tank. She’s trying a different tact. It’s worth a read.