Upon learning of the passing of Ken Osmond, forever
identified as the actor who portrayed smooth talking and charming trouble maker
on the late 50 & early 60s TV show “Leave It To Beaver” I couldn’t immediately
help but think of one Donald J. Trump.
It is all to easy to see how Eddie Haskell’s persona was a perfect
reflection of Trump as a kid growing up in a world where nothing was ever his
fault. The smooth talking Haskell was always
charming and excessively polite in view of the parents of Ward and June
Cleaver. But once out his their sight he
had that laugh and sneer that was inescapable.
It was always interesting how Beaver and his older brother
Wally was on to him but at first not their parents who eventually came around.
Haskell’s character was also perfect characterization of Goofus and
Gallant, an old comic strip one found in “Highlights for Children” magazine
that was found in every dentist and children’s doctor office across
America. I remember grabbing those magazines
as a kid and turning immediately to the good kid Gallant vs. the bad kid Goofus
parable to see what kind of trouble Goofus was up to. Haskell was the live version this strip on TV
broadcast into the living rooms across the country. For me, as a kid Beaver’s age, he is the most
memorable of the characters in that show.
His passing made me think immediately about #Trump as a
parallel of Wally as an adult. The problem
here though transcends an individual who became known for the fake reality TV
show he hosted that was also beamed into every living room across America. The reality is Trump IS Wally but with a
slight difference. He’s got the nuclear
codes. Wonder what June and Ward Cleaver
would think about that. Let that sink
in.
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