March 16, 2026

"It’s a little under four minutes long, all told, but you’ll watch it at least four times over, then wonder if it’s a joke, if Melania is a wind-up merchant playing a complex, hilarious long game..."

"... with an unknowable outcome, if AI has its grubby little robot mitts on it... or if it’s symptomatic of the damage social media has wrought more generally on words, on rhetoric, if a billion drivel-addled Instagram posts have rendered language so empty, so narcissistic, directionless, and light on pith, what more can you expect? Then you think: yeah, but she really did help get 19 kids back home to parents...."

Writes Polly Vernon, in "Is Melania Trump really a 'visionary'? She certainly thinks so!/Everything we learnt about the first lady from her recent White House speech" (London Times).

Vernon calls the speech "just mental." It's: "An elevated puking up of fundamentally unconnected words that do achieve a startling clarity a few times, just not in a good way — ie, when she declared herself 'a visionary,' which I’m not sure anyone should ever do (even if they are one)."
“Often alone, at the top, I follow my passion, listen to my instincts and always maintain a laser focus,” Melania continues.... “In solitude, my creative mind dances, feeding my imagination with originality. Attention to detail, demanding schedules and multi-tasking are everyday realities.”...
Listen for yourself:

34 comments:

RCOCEAN II said...

Oh for the days of Dr. Jill. When first ladies were so great and smart. LOL.

RCOCEAN II said...

Good for her. The 1st Lady has been through a lot. Glad Barron has turned out so well too. Its seems that like Trump, Melania learned from the first term and has picked loyalists as aides. I rarely read any leaks from people around her.

D.D. Driver said...

Yacht girl Good for her.

narciso said...


because her judgement is so solid
https://www.thetimes.com/profile/polly-vernon?msockid=26f6f306ad8d60db1602e2afac6b618b

rehajm said...

…so now lefties are allergic to word salad?

Immanuel Rant said...

Couldn't they just print up a sign or post something that says "I still don't like Trump/Melania." And then just point at the sign or link to the post whenever they need to remind everyone ?

Marcus Bressler said...

They just hate an intelligent, beautiful First Lady who knows how to dress in an elegant manner.

n.n said...

Polly wanna crack her?

Josephbleau said...

Yes, Polly has a secret lesbian crush on Melania.

Aggie said...

The problem that Melania presents is that she's too correct. She's done nothing to create controversy, other than avoiding the limelight, and being absent more than normal in order to raise her kid. Her taste in decorating the White House is well within the norm, nothing tasteless or gaudy, unlike her husband who is driven to gild everything that doesn't move. Her attire is classy and understated. Hard to criticize any of that, but a speech - well, we can always be catty about her accent, or make allusions to English as a non-native speaker.

I'd pay good money to try a Legacy Media dunking stool, one of those old-fashioned carnival ones where you throw a ball at a target, providing I had control of the water temperature.

mindnumbrobot said...

Meh. We all know that if "Dr" Jill or Michelle Obama uttered those words people like Polly Vernon would be showering them with praise.

Howard said...

I won't ever get those thirty seconds back. Don looks like he took an Ambien to get through it.

narciso said...

I know they miss dr jill who provided the nightmare fueled christmas spectacular

Iman said...

Polly’s printed words belong with the other parrot droppings in the birdcage liner she writes for.

narciso said...

airship one just doesn't provide good prole feed,

Hassayamper said...

The womens' press would be absolutely, worshipfully wild about every inconsequential thing this lady does, says, or wears, if only her husband were a pro-abortion Democrat.

Skeptical Voter said...

Like Rodney Dangerfield, Melania don't get no respect from the women's press. Mrs. Trump is beautiful, always elegantly dressed and apparently of more than average intelligence. No bouncing out of Airforce One in wrinkled bermuda shorts and a tee shirt for her--yet Moochie appeared on the cover of Vogue. Dr. Jill could get away with wearing dresses made of fabric originally intended for the living room couch. Kacklin' Kamala's Word Salads get treated as though having the same gravity as the Sermon on the Mount.

As always in this politicized world (and especially women's magazines) of the media where you stand depends upon where you sit.

Jupiter said...

Well. I have to agree with Howard on this one. It should not be that painful to watch a beautiful woman talking. What, is it "Women's Day", or something? Why was Melania Trump induced to give a speech celebrating the ghastly disaster which is "women's involvement in the workforce"? The fact is, she did not claw her way to the top in Law School and make partner by 35. She was a stone babe, and also quite intelligent, and that's why Trump married her. She has clearly been a good wife and mother, and is proud of the fact. She should not be reading that tendentious tripe.

jim5301 said...

Surprising she didn't manage to fit a garner or two in the speech.

Wince said...

Vernon calls the speech "just mental."

"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."
- Yogi Berra

mccullough said...

Michelle Obama tweeted herself holding a sign “bring back our girls.”

Melania brought back 19 girls from Russia. Well done.

narciso said...

its not about her, unlike those shrews hillary and dr jill

Smilin' Jack said...

Polly’s overthinking it. You can’t expect much of any speech titled “Women’s…”, which is why I didn’t bother watching it.

Not Illinois Resident said...

Melania is immune to mainstream media press coverage, apparently resolutely disconnected from mainstream progressive liberal AWFLs. She doesn't care; she literally wore her I don't care jacket 1st term.

D.D. Driver said...

Melania brought back 19 girls from Russia.

What are you even talking about and why is this a good thing? We have too many foreigners in this country. Send the girls back to Russia where they came from.

Kai Akker said...

She's reading pretty hard to start out. If this is going to make her look silly, I don't want to see it. Ciao.

boatbuilder said...

Ya know, the last time she gave the same speech as Michelle Obama and they gave her shit for it.

Lighten up. She has to give a speech. She gave a speech. The accent is a bonus.

Iman said...

Deport DeeDee Dimbulb to Mother Russia.

Just say “Oh, Hell NO!!!” to swine.

narciso said...

Duffuss must remove all doubt

narciso said...

Returned to ukraine

mccullough said...

Driver. She brought them back to Ukraine. That’s where they were from.

Fritz said...

Immanuel Rant at 10:15 for the win.

Oshbgosh said...

"Oh for the days of Dr. Jill. When first ladies were so great and smart. LOL"

I wouldn't let "Dr." Jill grade my kindergarten homework.

MikeD said...

Oshbgosh said "I wouldn't let "Dr." Jill grade my kindergarten homework." Based on her EDD thesis, she'd likely not understand it!

Post a Comment

Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.