Rocket Man

Listen while you read:  I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time

She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour 9:00 a.m.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the Earth so much, I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no, I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact, it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

~  Elton John & Bernie Taupin

If you don't know why I selected this song today, then you haven't been paying attention. Then again, if you don't know, good for you! What I'm sure you DO know is that this is an Elton John song from his 1972 album, Honky Chateau.

Did you know that arugula is called "rocket" (or something similar) in most European countries? I believe it is only called arugula in the United States and Australia. Okay, this was just a diversion from having to explain why I chose this song. Obviously "Arugula Man" has nothing to do with it.

Trump woke up Sunday morning and engaged in a raging tweet storm. Fifteen of them, rapid-fire! I don't even want to talk about the retweet of the GIF in which the Bully Puppet swings his golf club and hits Hillary in the back with the ball. So mature. No, the tweet which got the most attention is the one in which he states that he had a phone conversation with South Korea's President Moon in which he asked "how Rocket Man is doing."

I could be wrong, but my guess is that bullying and name-calling of this nature is not going to sit well with Kim Jong Un. He appears to be as insecure as our own Dear Leader and as unpredictable, as well. And he has nuclear weapons. Hey, Melania, how's that anti-bullying campaign going?

You might be surprised by the video linked above. It is the official video for "Rocket Man," chosen in a contest encouraging filmmakers to create videos for Elton John's songs. Iranian filmmaker and refugee Majid Adin created the winning video which departs somewhat from the outer space theme to address the loneliness as well as the hope felt by refugees.

So on one hand, you have the Leader of the Free World, a man of inherited wealth and white privilege, engaging in name-calling and joking about hitting a woman with a golf ball. On the other hand, you have a talented Iranian refugee making art to draw attention to the plight of those seeking refuge from an authoritarian regime. Hmmm . . . .

If one were to parse the lyrics for relevance to this issue, I think there's a better case for the Tweeter-in-Chief to be referred to as "Rocket Man." Consider these lines:

And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

How was your golf game this weekend, DJT?