Nine Years Into an American Nightmare

 I knew from the minute he rode down that escalator more than nine years ago - June 16th, 2015.

Really, I knew well before then. From the 80s on, I was aware that he represented the worst of America. His bankruptcies, his fraudulence, his racism, his misogyny - all was clear to anyone even paying half attention.

Descending (both physically and verbally) into the darkest corners of American racism and xenophobia, calling Mexicans criminals and rapists (talk about mirroring and projection!), I did not think this narcissistic buffoon would be no more than an extremist footnote on our body politic.

Boy, was I wrong.

A great swath of the American people disappointed me - again and again and again. Every day was a new low for this scamming blowhard, and every day, those who should know better overlooked it and stuck with him.

Thanks to our minority-enshrining Electoral College, Trump blustered his way into the White House. Having lost the popular vote by THREE MILLION meant nothing to him. It meant nothing to his supporters. I swear to you, had it happened the other way around, the Electoral College would have been shredded by now.

His President, by all measures, was a disaster. He inherited an excellent economy from Obama, and over the course of three years, he slowly ebbed it away. The Covid disaster covered up how much the economy was deteriorating before then. So some still get misty eyed for the return of the Obama economy.

We have been in a vicious cycle for the last forty-four years. Republicans destroy the economy, and then a Democrat has to come in to restore it (Clinton, Obama, Biden). And yet, polling indicates that a majority of people think Republicans are better at the economy. Ah, the enduring power of Reaganesque propaganda!

However, the economy is only one of Trump's problems. He has demonized and divided since Day One. And his lack of Covid response resulted in the needless death of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We had quantifiably the worst response to COVID-19 on the planet. He turned wearing masks and social distancing and vaccines into a political issue instead of community health care. Many of us simply stopped caring about each other. I'm not sure I'll ever get over many's warped, selfish response to Covid.  

He illegally did everything he could to steal an election and insert himself as a defacto dictator. You say that Vice President Pence is endangered by the mob I incited? As Trump said that day when told - "So what?"

It has been so hard. I live in a 90% Trump county. It is not comfortable to live here. You must be very careful who you speak to and how you speak. In person, I sometimes have a fierce temper when confronted by lunacy, so I have to be extra careful. Right or wrong, I have less hesitation when writing.

Every day has been wrenching. Every day, even now, I hope people around me, some of whom are otherwise decent, will wake up and say, "Tom, you've been right all along. Trump is a monster, and I'm no longer going to vote for him."

I see posts on social media that show former Trump supporters who no longer will back him. But in my own life? I don't know a single one. It has been a long, bitter wait to see any Trumpeteer I know return to the fold of Democracy.

It's so hard to accept. They don't want democracy—whether it's fascism, authoritarianism, or Christian nationalism—whatever they want to call what is, in essence, the same thing—they're all for it. And it is so hard to see the breakdown of the civic compact that is supposed to bind us all.

I just pray that this nightmare comes to an abrupt end on November 5th.

If it doesn't ... I'm not sure what to do. My heart and spirit will be broken.  

This is my most heartfelt message to the Trumpeteers in my life: Please wake up. Please return to the diversity and civic strength that are the best of America.

I can't take more sleepless nights.

P. S.  It is impossible to list in any one post all the rotten things Trump has done.  Please look at my label, Trumpocalypse, to get a fuller picture.  Or, just get your head out of the right-wing bubble.

Where's the Policy?

 

Ah, yes. It's time for our quadrennial ode to the independent voter.

The most repeated concern for this election cycle is - "I don't know enough about Kamala Herris's policies."

Really?

That's your concern?

Over time, politicians have learned not to be stupid enough to spend their time detailing elaborate, pages-long plans that map out what they're going to do in great detail. Why? 1) They're not writing fully fleshed legislative bills that they may or may not be able to pass.  2) The independent voter wouldn't listen to it anyway.

They've already made it clear that being undecided in one of the most clear-choice elections we've ever had means you're not paying attention, and many won't even at the last minute.

All detailed plans do is give the press, special interests, and the opposition party opportunities to pick it apart.

You think being more specific helps? Why don't we check with those who felt like they had to concentrate on specific plans - Al Gore? John Kerry? Hilary Clinton? Any thoughts? How did that help you win the Presidency?

Vice President Harris is telling you where she wants to take the country in broad strokes. First and foremost - BY HELPING THE MIDDLE CLASS, the workers that are the backbone of this country. Immigration? Pass the bipartisan border bill that Trump tanked. Inflation? Challenge corporate greed. Housing? $25,000 to first-time home buyers, encourage more affordable homes to be built, challenge private equity buying up, and inflate the price of real estate. Women's healthcare rights? Bust the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade. Voter's right? Pass already pending bills to secure the vote and democracy.  

And more. Want more details? See her website.

There is no excuse for not knowing her policies. You'll get the gist of where she's going. Detailed specifics are for losers.

Speaking of losers, what about Donald Trump? You sure as heck can't get many specifics out of a Donald Trump speech. I mean, once you get past the Hannibal Lecter, sharks, toilet flushes, and whatever else he's whining about.

Here's what you'll get - immigration is bad, and he'll paint that in demonizing, dehumanizing terms. He'll have mass deportations, INCLUDING legal immigrants. He'll do another round of massive tax cuts for the rich and large corporations. He'll impose massive tariffs, ones sure to spur inflation and wreck the US economy, and cost the average citizen thousands of dollars. Don't think so? Research how excessive tariffs deepened and extended the Great Depression of the 20s and 30s.

Other issues are just braggadocio of how he'll fix it without real explanation.  

But do not despair.

There is a detailed explanation of what Trump will do. It's called Project 2025, an almost 900-page tome that lays out all the autocratic moves designed to make our country a fascist state. Many of the people who wrote it are connected to the Trump administration. His name is mentioned over 300 times. JD Vance wrote the forward.

Most independent voters are not really independent. Many have a clear bias towards conservatism or progressivism. They may hesitate due to character concerns, or stuff they saw on social media, or what their Uncle Ferd told them. They are just searching for enough confirmation bias to justify their decision.

If you're really concerned about policy details, don't expect the candidates to waste their precious time at rallies and interviews gushing out great details (we're not all Michael Dukakis, you know).

If you're concerned about Harris, check her website.

If you're concerned about Trump, find what you can about Project 2025.

Inform yourself and vote. It's what preserves our constitutional democracy.

That is if you're interested in preserving it.

September Wednesday Wanderings

I've been absent from the blog for a while. I would apologize, but I just think that's the way it will be now. Rest assured, I'm not abandoning my blog, even if I can't get to it every day.

PERSONAL HEALTH UPDATE

I'm doing pretty good. I have blood pressure problems and am prediabetic, but I'm doing my best to mitigate those with exercise and diet and shutting out MAGA world when I can.  

I am affected by rheumatoid arthritis, which primarily affects my knees, feet, and legs. It is difficult to sit at the computer for significant stretches when I am in a flareup, like I was until recently. Consequently, during those periods, I write less.

I have received help from my physician's assistant and am on the mend. This is good. I will visit my granddaughter soon and wanted to be as mobile as possible.

WORK SITUATION

I have acquired a part-time job. Yes, it's in accounting and bookkeeping, which is not my favorite, but it's for good people and is only about 10 hours a week. It should help family resources so we can maybe travel more.

UPDATE ON BLOG SERIES

I still want to write the final installment of Getting Off in All the Wrong Places. It's difficult because current events keep overtaking what I want to say. But rest assured, it's still fulminating in the back of my mind.

I also will work towards another installment about the 100 best science fiction movies of the 20th century. I'm going in reverse order, starting with #100. I stalled out at Cocoon; it's not available to stream anywhere. They have also not made a new DVD in many a year. But, thanks to the great resources of our public library, I was able to borrow a DVD of Cocoon! Only to find out my DVD player no longer worked! Not to be deterred, I purchased a new DVD player via Amazon. It came in yesterday. It is installed, and I hope to watch Cocoon as soon as today!

I will post fiction as it comes to me. Currently, I am entering a flash fiction contest in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine - wish me luck!

I will also post about other things—politics, public library support, and family stuff, both current and nostalgic—as time and inspiration allow.

HARRIS/WALZ 2024!

The debate last night was incredible. She was personable, communicated effective plans, and she just wound him up. She stayed calm but strong, while he was loud and angry and incoherent and lying nonstop.

Has anyone else noticed, and I don't mean this in any negative way, that Kamala's voice style and tone are similar to Judy Garland's? 

This remenided me of what the debate was like. It was like Dorothy scolding the Wizard of Oz for being a fraud, with a symbolic Toto ripping back the curtain to show what a manipulative, empty suit Trump really is.

There is no there there. And now the American people know it for sure.

Will this move enough Trumpeteers that I don't have to stay awake at night worried about the outcome of this election?

Probably not. But one can dream.

I'm ready for Harris to click her heels and bring us back home.

A Legacy Devolved: Saturday Political Soap Box 298

 

We are often heavily influenced by political figures that are popular when we come of age.

I became politically aware younger than most. JFK and Camelot meant a lot to me, not just for what they did but also for what they promised to do.

The assassination of President Kennedy seemed to me like a dream interrupted. LBJ accomplished much of the Civil Rights agenda, only to fall way short with Vietnam.

RFK felt to me like an opportunity to restore the dream. Bobby was a more brash figure than his brother, starting out more conservative. But after the assassination, he went on a spiritual and political journey that brought him to identify more with minorities and the poor and disadvantaged. He had the rare ability to earn support from both Black and Latino voters, along with the white working class.

In my room at home, I had a poster of a quote that Bobby would often use -

This was initially said by George Bernard Shaw but made popular in my generation by RFK.

Once again, the dream was cut short by an assassination. It left me angry, confused, hopeless. Would the legacy ever be restored?

The youngest brother, Teddy, held some promise, but Chappaquiddick left him compromised. He still had a lot of good things to say, but it was hard for him to overcome what happened in that tragic accident. Although I longed for a Kennedy restoration, I stuck with President Carter in the primaries.

I looked for future generations as they entered adulthood and politics. Joe Kennedy Jr, congressman for Massachusetts, came the closest, but none quite fit the bill.

On the surface, I should have liked RFK, Jr., but I admired his earlier career in environmentalism. But then...

He kind of went off the nut.

His personal life was shaky (babysitter affairs, brain worms, adventures with roadkill). His policies were skewed towards the unacceptable. Some might consider his anti-vaccine routine acceptable or just a minor thing. I do not, not when childhood diseases are making a comeback, not when he was a significant part of the Covidiot nonsense.

So, I knew that he was not someone I could support. Some friends were upset that he was getting resistance from being on the debate stage or fighting to get on enough ballots.

If he was a ground-roots movement designed to build a vital new political party, I might have some sympathy with that viewpoint.  

But his is not. It's another rich guy's vanity project. Funding came from a consortium of right-wing billionaires. I kept being told RFK was a liberal by those who damn well knew that he was not.

Many thought he was a plant to draw Democratic voters away from Biden. I was skeptical and just thought it was narcissistic selfishness.

I was wrong.

Yesterday, he suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, even showing up at one of Trump's rallies.

Well, that rips the cover off that ball, doesn't it?

I am grateful that we don't have a monarchy in this country. We've had few families where we could safely transfer power from one family member to another.

The royal attraction is still strong in this country. John Adams to his son John Quincy Adams. Roosevelt cousins. Bush Sr to Bush Jr. The desire to go from Bill to Hilary. Those who swore until the convention that the Democrats would turn to Michelle Obama.

I am no longer yearning for a return to the Kenedys. However, I do still yearn for the politics represented by Bobby Kennedy—that progressive bent that attracts ALL the working class across all other barriers.

I see that ticket in Harris/Walz. Harris is experienced and competent speaks the right language, is strong in our various American communities, and crosses gender and racial lines. Coach Walz has a simple and direct way of communicating with the working class in ways that they can understand and identify with.

I still wonder what American History would have been like had Bobby not been assassinated and had won the Presidency in 1968. We can only conjecture. We can only dream.

But even though the dream of Bobby might be gone, and his legacy devolved by his own son, Harris/Walz convinces me that the dream is still alive.

I'm voting for Gus's Dad!

Harris/Walz 2024!!!

That's My Dad!

 

Sometimes, there are moments that seer one's soul and are etched there forever.

One such moment is watching Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's children react to his rousing acceptance speech. The open love and joy of that family are truly special, and I will never forget it.

Tim Walz is a once-in-a-generation political figure. No, not just political. He represents the very best of the fabric of American life.

He is a coach and public school teacher and has served in the military for 24 years. He has also served as a congressional representative and governor. That's great, but his best achievement is being a loving father and good neighbor.

More than any figure of my lifetime, he represents progressive politics' true nature and power. I love Bernie Sanders. I love AOC. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY, articulates it better than Coach Walz.

There were so many great things he said in his brief but effective speech (or, as he calls it, a pep talk) that it's hard to select just one.

Nevertheless, this one sticks out to me -

"While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours," said Gov. Tim Walz, the next Vice-President of the United States.

When his 17-yrar-old-boy jumped up and cried and shouted "That's my Dad!" it was a riveting, galvanizing moment. I still turn into a puddle thinking about it. Such love! Such joy! What family bonds!

And the Midwest Dad thing? It's real.

How do I know it's real?

Because I had a Midwest Dad.

No, they aren't clones. But they're close enough to bring tears to my eyes. Close enough that it almost brings me to my knees as I remember.

My Dad was a public school educator, a math teacher, and then a high school principal. He was kind and giving, dedicated to hard work for the benefit of those around him. From him, I learned more about what it really meant to be a Christian than from anyone else in my life.

I love him. I am grateful for the foundation he gave me, which I have tried to pass on to my other boys. I miss him every day.

Joe Biden made a difficult decision, showing he loved his country more than holding onto power. Kamala Harris demonstrated her incredible intelligence and discernment by picking an incredible talent like Tim Walz.

Special note:

For those who are inclined to make fun of Gus Walz, I have an important statement -

Get off my feed. Get away from me. I have no respect for you. I will block you in any way I can. Enough is enough.

I have read he is neurodivergent and may have some learning issues. I don't care - in the sense that whether he has those issues or not, I fully identify with the emotion and love he showed.

Trust me. If it had been my Dad, I would have reacted the same way.

HARRIS/WALZ 2024!!!

Staying Off the Grid

 I haven't blogged much this month.

Overall, things are going well. Both Alison and I have some minor health issues, but nothing devastating. We're enjoying life.

Benjamin is thriving in Warner Robins with his job and friends. We visit every few weeks.

My granddaughter is fantastic. She loves to call us by Facebook Messenger and share things she is excited about—Olympic Bed Bouncing, Fox Face Paint, and eating grapes off the vine. It's a joy to talk with her; we plan to see her in person next month!

I have a secondary income starting soon. Unfortunately, it's related more to accounting than creative work, but it's flexible hours and good people. 

While I did not agree with those who thought Biden was too old, I stand in great admiration for his personal sacrifice to support his country. It's one of the most selfless acts I've ever witnessed.

And what Kamala has done in the last month is miraculous. She has galvanized so much support and enthusiasm - it has even inspired this old cynic. And if her selection of her running mate is any indication of her decision-making ability - then we are in great shape. Governor Tim Walz is an amazing choice - a Midwest Dad that brings echoes to me of my own Dad. A down-to-earth Progressive who communicates well with ALL working-class Americans!

So, why haven't I blogged much?

Part of it is scheduling. I like to write in the mornings, but much of that time has been taken up by mowing, church work, and other errands. My writing rhythm is shot.

Part of it is laziness. I just haven't disciplined myself to do it.

Part of it is that I am mentally stuck on one topic and have been unable to articulate it. I need to address it, but it takes work in the county that I live in. I am trying to thread the needle between communicating my feelings and not crossing a line.

If you see me gone for a while, it's because I'm trying to tell it in a way that helps and doesn't hurt the ones who could be hurt by genuinely open communication.

Meanwhile...

please support your local public library.

The Walk Away

 Tired of all the baggage, he set off down the road.

He carried nothing with him. No backpack. No bottled water. No phone.  

He went without sunscreen. He wore blue jeans and a pale blue T-shirt. He wore slip-on tennis shoes. His socks were white and were almost to his knees.

He left when the temp was 93, the feels like skirting 105, the humidity near 80%.

He did not know where he was going, but going he was.

When he left, no one else was home. Melissa worked, and the kids were in school. He left no message or explanation.

After just one block, he was already feeling the effects of the heat. He suffered heat exhaustion very easily. Normally, he would not go out in heat like this, except maybe to pick up the mail.

Melissa worked. He did not. Not since the incident. Not since his small mistake. Twelve years of devotion flushed down the toilet with one error in judgment.  

And now he made no contribution to his family. He was a useless fifth wheel, draining resources. All his efforts turned to naught. It was hard finding a new job when you were fired from the last one for slugging your boss.

Only a block away from home, and he was already feeling the effects of the heat. He didn't sweat much. It would help if he did. He just felt disoriented.

Three blocks away, he turned to the woods. The shade helped. The swarm of bugs around him did not.

None of that deterred him from continuing to walk.

He crossed a creek. Even though the water was only ankle deep, it was enough to soak his shoes, making them sticky and damp.  

There must have been wildlife in the woods, but besides the buzzing insects, he saw nothing. A snake or a bear was too much to hope for.

By the time he reached the edge of the woods, the sun was starting to set. There was a stretch of farmland, a blueberry orchard. No fruit was in sight—it was not the season. He wouldn't have eaten if it had. There was no need to prolong this.

He found a dirt road and continued down it. It was day again, growing hotter. His brain baked.

He collapsed, twenty miles from home. Not an epic journey, but long enough.

A farmer found him. 911 was called, and he was brought to a hospital. He was feverish and dehydrated, but they soon rectified it.

No one could identify him.  

He had failed. And the hospital bill would cost his family.

He may remain unidentified, but how does that help Melissa collect the life insurance?

He could not walk away from his baggage. He had to go back and do the best he could.

He got up from his hospital bed, pulled out the IVs, and started to walk.

This time, hopefully, the right way.