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The Turnberry Turn
Is There Room for Hypocrisy in Post-Truth Politics?
Since Dwight Eisenhower was president, a set of customs has arisen linking the office with golf links. Ike’s two terms began a Kabuki production where the out party accuses the in party of being led by a man who spends time on the links when he ought to be solving the country’s problems. When the out party becomes the in party, the new POTUS heads for the links.
Some wags claim that the association of Kabuki with prostitution during its origins in the Tokugawa shogunate made it a natural description for U.S. politics; others point out we’ll not be needing to describe the golf links dance much longer because Donald John Trump has probably retired the trophy.
That’s a good guess, but it’s wrong. Trump has rolled over Barack Obama like a big orange wheel after setting up Act One by attacking Obama’s time spent golfing on Twitter at least 27 times.
According to Judicial Watch, Obama and his family cost the taxpayers $114 million for travel over his eight years. Trump has exceeded $105 million (the tab as of July according to Forbes) already on golf excursions only.
On the hustings in 2016, Candidate Trump told the nation:
I love golf. But if I was in the White House I don’t think I’d ever see…
