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There is a word that has been sitting in the English language since the fifteenth century, quietly waiting for its moment. TRUMPERY. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a trumpery as deceit, fraud, imposture, trickery — something of less value than it seems. Worthless stuff, trash, rubbish. Shakespeare used it. The French coined it. And the man who embodies the word was born on June 14th, 1946.

In this episode, I suggest the launch of A Trumpery Campaign — a crowdsourced lexicon of pointed, humorous observations that name the absurdities, corruptions, and patterns of the Trump administration with precision and wit. Not invented absurdity. Observed abnormalities. Named inanity. Identified idiocies.

The episode provides examples from an early Trumpery Lexicon — from Speed Trumps to Trumpback Whales to Electile Dysfunction. It traces the comic history of a man who has spent his career putting his name on things that subsequently become doomed to failure.  

I invite listeners to create their own Trumperies and share them broadly. Send me an email with your own inventions . The best  submissions will be featured on June 14th — Trump's 80th birthday. The winner will receive a Golden Trumpinal Award to commemorate their wit and wisdom.

Laughter is resistance and the word has been waiting five centuries to take its place in a movement to save democracy. Let's put it to work.

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