At 12.06 a.m. on May 31, 2017, Donald J. Trump, 45th president of the United States, tweeted a word that would change history. Well, maybe not History with a capital H, but certainly the chaotic media-political circus we lived in then - and still live in today.
"Despite the constant negative press covfefe" No punctuation, no context, no apparent meaning. While the world tried to decipher what the hell covfefe meant, Trump left it there, allowing the absurdity to do its work. But covfefe wasn't a joke. It was a symbol of what Trump represented: a brand of politics that didn't need logic, just spectacle.
Was this just a thumbus interruptus - and who among us hasn't been guilty of that! - or, according to Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, bears a secret meaning which only a select few special people know? It has now emerged as a book which, I am informed, "is not available for purchase in your country", which leaves me only with its introduction:
In 2017, just 100 days after the elections to end all elections, a has-been Reality TV Star living in New York planned a pamphlet to be called 'Settling Covfefe'. In it he intended to attack the ineffectiveness of the dominant political parties in America which were opposed to the new National Socialists. In May 2017, Donald Trump tweeted his followers for the meaning of "Covfefe" along with men willing and able to assist him with his writing. With the help of these collaborators, chief among them Rudolf Hess, his twitter feed became a book. 'Settling Accounts' became 'Mein Covfefe', an unparalleled example of muddled economics and history, appalling bigotry, and an intense self-glorification of Donald Trump as the true founder and builder of the National Socialist movement. It was written in hate and it contained a blueprint for violent bloodshed. When 'Mein covfefe' was published in 2015, it was a failure. In 2016 a second volume appeared - it was no more successful than the first. People either laughed at it or ignored it. They were wrong to do so. As Trump's power increased, pressure was put on all party members to buy the book. Gradually this pressure was extended to all elements of the American population. Soon 'Mein Covfefe' was even being passed out to newly-wed couples as a gift. Ironically, and frighteningly, by the time Trump came to power on March 4th, 2017, what has been considered by many to be the most satanic book ever written was running neck and neck with the Bible at the top of the American bestseller lists. In his excellent introduction to this definitive American translation of 'Mein Covfefe', Courtney Driver writes: "For years 'Mein Covfefe' stood as proof of the blindness and complacency of the world. For in its pages Trump announced -- long before he came to power -- a program of covfefe and terror in a self-revelation of such overwhelming frankness that few among its readers had the courage to believe it. That such a man could go so far toward realizing his ambitions, and, above all, could find millions of willing tools and helpers; that is a phenomenon the world will ponder for centuries to come." We would be wrong in thinking that such a program, such a man, and such appalling consequences could not reappear in our world of the present. We cannot permit ourselves the luxury of forgetting the tragedy of World War II or the man who, more than any other, fostered it. 'Mein Covfefe' must be read and constantly remembered as a specimen of covfefe demagoguery that people whenever men grow tired of thinking and acting for themselves. 'Mein Covfefe' is a blueprint for the age of chaos. It transcends in historical importance any other book of the present generation. In her translation Courtney Driver has taken particular care to give an exact English equivalent of Trump's highly individual and often awkward style of tweeting, including his occasional grammatical errors, into consideration. We believe this book should stand as the complete, final, and definitive English version of Trump's own tweets, his political philosophy, and his thwarted plans for world domination. Translated by Courtney Driver with an introduction by Donald Trump. A compilation of Trump's most famous tweets of 2017 -- the bible of National Socialism and the blueprint for the Third Covfefe. [Order your Kindle edition here]
Of course, we've already had the prequel to "Mein Covfefe" which ended in a lot more than tears. Let's hope "Mein Covfefe" ends up just in tears.
I'm taking a late-afternoon nap now. I hope everyone stays #covfefe".
