"The Year is 1798..."

Trump called Inhofe last night. Inhofe was at Alberto Trattoria and put Trump on speakerphone to hear him better. Other diners could also hear the call >> https://t.co/pOxvd8Zja4

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 30, 2020

Gonna start with:

“We’re gonna keep the name of Robert E. Lee?” Mr. Trump asked Mr. Inhofe, 85, who sat at Trattoria Alberto, a Capitol Hill Italian restaurant that is a favorite haunt of Washington Republicans, as he took the call. Mr. Inhofe put the phone to his ear but put Mr. Trump on speakerphone, and the president’s voice was audible by people sitting at other tables.

The Lovely Wife does this; puts her phone on speaker, then talks as if it's not.  Never have understood why.  Then again, Inhofe is 85; it's probably a legitimate hearing issue.

Mr. Inhofe, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, replied, “Just trust me, I’ll make it happen.”

We would also accept:  "Hold my beer."

Mr. Trump went on, “I had about 95,000 positive retweets on that. That’s a lot,” appearing to refer to a Twitter post last Friday in which he said that Mr. Inhofe had assured him that he won’t change the names of “military forts and bases” and that the senator “is not a believer in ‘Cancel Culture.’”

Mr. Trump, in the Wednesday night phone call, could be heard criticizing “cancel culture” and then told Mr. Inhofe that people “want to be able to go back to life,” and then appeared to dismiss the focus on the cultural shift taking place across the country with an expletive.

I love "cancel culture." Can I just tell you that I love "cancel culture"?  It's as invented an idea as "politically incorrect," but nobody's picking it up and Bill Maher's not changing the name of his show (yet).  It's as empty as a phrase can be.  Since I'm teaching English Lit right now,  it seems to be this is kind of like being in the early 19th century and decrying those "punks" Wordsworth and Coleridge for their unseemly take on what they think is "literary."  We are, I think, literally in that kind of cultural tsunami, and people like Inhofe and Trump are never gonna know what hit 'em.  They'll still be complaining about Lyrical Ballads while the rest of us have moved on to Shelley (Percy and Mary) and Byron (let's please not reprise Keats, though.)

Come to think of it, what does Inhofe think about Trump's idea to "delay" the election?  Hmmmmm.....