Anyone remember this little sound bite from all the way back in June? Apparently some people have already forgotten. Like Sr. B, who is busy promoting the Mar-a-Lago Trump Invitational 2016. Perhaps I’m the one at fault for mistakenly believing he’d distanced himself from his orange comb-overed bff in the first place. But wait! Come to think of it, The Donald’s name was conspicuous by its absence from any press releases regarding the second Central Park Horse Show this September. He was front and center in ESP/COTH news items following 2014’s inaugural edition of the event, which this year was scrubbed clean of any association whatsoever. Yep. I do think it’s safe to assume short term memory loss and not a blind eye is at play here.
I wonder if any Mexican riders have been invited to Mar-a-Lago. I wonder if they will attend if they are invited. Will the grooms (and let’s face it, there are legions of them from Mexico) have to show their green cards or work permits before they are allowed onto the property? What I find the most discouraging of all in this tale of ignominy and bigotry is that when the Trump Invitational takes place on January 3, it is highly unlikely anyone will take advantage of the opportunity to use the event to point out The Donald’s Appalling Attitude. It goes without saying that the riders aren’t going to say a word about it. They wouldn’t even need to. All it would take is for every Mexican-born person involved in the event – and that means not only a lot of grooms but also many others involved in various functions from catering to jump crew – to refuse to set foot on the property, and to give no warning before-hand that they are going to do so. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
I know it won’t happen, but it’s still nice to fantasize. In the meantime, I ask not for the first time on this blog: why is everyone so blinking lazy when it comes to sticking to their supposed values? Whether it’s Endurance atrocities or horse slaughter or Mexican HUMAN BEINGS, we just don’t seem to be able to apply ourselves to standing up for the most basic principles of decency. Mowgli, raised by wolves, would recognize these things for the wrongness they perpetuate. But not us. We’re more than happy to employ illegal Mexicans at bargain rates of pay to clean our stalls and prune our rose bushes, and then patronize the Trump Invitational as participants and spectators.
Needless to say I won’t be attending the Mar-a-Lago shindig. I’d even venture to say I couldn’t get in anyway after writing this post today. At least the Trump Invitational isn’t offering any Para-Equestrian competition.
In other entertainment news, for those of you who are counting the days to Bromont 2018, the good news is the 1000 day mark has passed. The bad news is, you can’t read about that fact because the link to the press release trumpeting the milestone date won’t load. And don’t try going to Bromont’s own website to get up to speed. They still don’t have a single item about WEG 2018 on the site. Not even a logo to click on to take you to another website that does have Bromont 2018 news on it. It’s Canada’s best kept equestrian secret – that is, after the Rio criteria.
